Smart Factory for AR Showcase of the Felss Group

The Felss Group knows how to use cold forming technologies such as rotary swaging, axial forming, bending and end machining efficiently as a solution provider. The presentation of the Tube+ process at the last Tube trade fair in Düsseldorf was really „sensational“, with the company presenting an AR measuring demonstrator as a showcase to demonstrate how it works. This allows visitors to visualise this innovative tube processing method in order to understand the cold forming process for thickening the wall thickness of tubes. The AR application provides an attractive visual explanation of the pipe thickening process.

The aim of this first showcase is to open the door to digital tools for your own company. Production and digitalisation are to be increasingly interlinked. The visualisation for Tube+ defines the start of the digital transformation for Felss, initially at system level.

Digital companion and preparer

On this future-oriented path, Felss benefits from the areas of expertise of the Software Factory, which acts as a digital companion and catalyst for the group of companies to support some of the numerous Industry 4.0 topics of the Felss Group. On the product side, the AR application can be used to create a link to the machine data, which makes production processes more transparent. At Felss, this can replace the conventional and often complex graphic user interfaces and at the same time prepare the cloud connection for diagnostics and maintenance. On the development side, virtual models open up more creativity and control over the real products or parts. By superimposing the two models, colours, materials or entire components can be adapted and changed with little effort, whereby the objects are reproduced three-dimensionally in real size in the actual environment.

In logistics, the Factory software shows how to recognise geometries that ensure the identification and picking of parts. This benefits stock levels. The advantages in field service and after sales are taken one step further: technicians have on-site support, which, for example, makes repairs and their process sequences clear. This connection to the ThingWorx platform could be particularly useful in component manufacturing, as it opens up completely new potential for their production and service world.

Expanding business areas with AR

In terms of the Felss Group's showcase, the centrepiece of the joint development is the processing of data from various systems such as CAD, PLM or SLM, which use the IoT platform Thingworx as a basis. Vuforia from PTC is the most widely used platform for AR development. Software Factory provides strategic digitalisation for the implementation of visualisation, depending on the use case and its utility value.

From experience, the Software Factory knows the various fields of application for VR and AR methods, which, in addition to the aforementioned, also include manuals and maintenance lists through to training and education. Felss outlines the value of digital transformation as a way to develop new areas of business while also being able to operate across industries.