Use case:
Component matching
Component matching refers to the practical problem that there are very tight tolerances placed on any two components to be joined in order to produce a precisely fitting pair of components.
Depending on the digital equipment and production organisation of the company, these are communicated, for example, via component drawings that the machine operating personnel then use for the process planning. This can also be done via a computer-aided process using CAM software.
A check of the production quality and hence compliance with important tolerances for assembly follows in the downstream step after production. For this purpose, hand-held inspection gauges and measuring equipment as well as mechanical devices such as coordinate measuring machines can be used. The specification of narrow tolerances is intended to ensure accurate fitting. However, in the consortium’s opinion, this leads to waste in the form of overproduction. This means that it is not uncommon for tolerances to be chosen so tightly that they can compensate for quality fluctuations, for example from purchased parts. In terms of series production, this is a challenge, especially for the manufacture of individual parts, since fitting surfaces must be precisely executed.
When considering the joining elements, waste can be seen in the form of multiple finishing operations with small tooth feeds and high speeds at low removal rates or grinding processes. In the production of series components, joining components are manufactured in large numbers. Thus, in principle, a selection of components with a high probability of matching is available. Waste occurs here in the form of warehousing and high resource and energy consumption.
From the project’s point of view, the research question is how a common European data infrastructure can be used to share component-related manufacturing data in the value chain and thus trigger the production of optimally matching components or to facilitate the finding of optimally matching components using automated pairing identification.
The consortium plans to set up a transnational demonstrator for this purpose. A typical case study is the pairing of drive shafts, bearings and housings, which is a familiar topic in the course of electromobility and for drive train manufacturers.
