• Advanced Manufacturing

Lantek reinforces its OEM collaboration policy -Open systems the route to the Smart Factory-

  • Advanced Manufacturing
Lantek has been a leader in the sheet metal industry for 35 years and one of the key activities it has been working on since its inception is collaboration and support for OEM machine tool manufacturers in the sector. Not only has this collaboration helped OEMs to solve technological problems, optimising the functionality and performance of their machines, but it has also enabled sheet metal manufacturing companies to take advantage of these new techniques, boosting productivity and reducing costs.

Artificial Intelligence, the symbiosis between human and machine

  • Advanced Manufacturing
Contrary to popular belief, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not going to replace people, but should rather be seen as an ally, given that it’s more geared towards optimizing business processes, such as task automation processes. The most widespread AI is currently based on learning from questions and suggestions made to humans to deal with the challenges presented by the different processes. Full automation is only possible in very simple processes, generally with little added value.

Software for the coexistence of different sheet metal cutting machines at the same plant

  • Advanced Manufacturing
Typically, a second machine tool is added to plants in an attempt to increase production and/or diversify. However, we are also seeing it as a phenomenon aimed at resolving the issue with small series. This occurs when there’s a machine with a large automated production capacity which is expensive to interrupt in order to manufacture small series. To cover this gap and avoid interrupting serial production, many factories use an additional, cheaper machine, without automation but with greater availability.