ironMIND – know your machine

With a skilled labour shortage and full order books, businesses need to rely on their technology. But how do manufacturers know if repairs or downtimes are imminent?  

To fulfil requirements for modern and efficient production, the NSH Group, with its machine tool brands NILES-SIMMONS, HEGENSCHEIDT-MFD, RASOMA and WEMA-Gauchau, has developed its new software and service tool ‘ironMIND’.

Predictive and production-adapted maintenance and repair planning is essential and ironMIND has modules that provide a detailed picture of the condition, mechanics, controls and peripherals of machines at all times. 

Monitoring is often interpreted differently. One way is to collect and analyse data. NSH goes further, monitoring operating resources, consumption, drive temperatures or control status, it also undertakes regular tests on axes to examine axes condition. For each axis test, one axis is subjected to a specific motion profile. Drive data is recorded during these defined motions and is followed with the structured evaluation of the data. How does potential damage manifest itself in the data? What parameters need to be calculated for condition-based evaluation? How to define the limits that characterise the condition? 

Answering these questions requires information about the parts installed, the control system, and the machine data set – in-depth knowledge that the manufacturer can provide. It also requires knowledge of the test results and experience in identifying damage. ironMIND supports users in performing condition-related data and tests themselves. This diagnosis can be made with regular automated test execution and successful condition-based maintenance.

Interdisciplinary benefits 

Condition monitoring requires interdisciplinary collaboration between different departments. By knowing the condition of the components, it is possible to detect and correct failures before they occur. This enables early procurement of spare parts and reduces downtime. Dynamic maintenance intervals can also reduce maintenance costs. For the operator, ironMIND results in faster troubleshooting and fault elimination. Knowing the condition of components and control settings enables consistent machining quality. The result is reduced scrap, energy savings and financial benefits. By keeping an eye on consumption, green management approaches can be improved. 

The machine operator can use ‘ironMIND – Monitoring’ on the control panel, supported by an intuitive app and multi-window technology. All other departments can use the ‘ironMIND – Cockpit’ to log into the web front end with access from any device.

Data security

Data needs to be stored securely. NSH uses ironMIND to avoid this hard-to-trace data traffic by storing all measurement and control data on the machine or the local company network. One of the basic principles of ironMIND is that you are always in full control of your data.

Using the ironMIND application does not require an additional IPC or sensors. The only thing that is required is access to the control data to run the test. ironMIND uses existing sensors to visualise information on the fill level, consumption and filter status of the media. However, it is also possible to integrate additional sensors. 

A common approach is to record as much information as possible with additional sensors. One of the most common stumbling blocks to successful condition monitoring is the high initial investment for implementation. This discourages potential users and makes implementation more difficult. With ironMIND, NSH is taking a completely different approach, utilising existing hardware. In addition, ironMIND is scalable with a low monthly usage fee model.

The NSH Group delivers customised machine tools worldwide, as a matter of principle, NSH adapts its solutions to the customers. The top priority in the development of ironMIND is to provide added value. For this reason, NSH has worked with pilot customers throughout ironMIND development to understand customers needs and develop a customer-oriented solution.

With the constantly evolving ironMIND system, customers can record and evaluate machines and estimate and perform necessary maintenance before potential failure occurs. The ironMIND system is practical, affordable and safe. It delivers value by maintaining machine tool performance and service life, increasing productivity and reducing costs.