Machine Tools

The machine tools market is facing challenging times and after a big drop during the corona crisis will take years to recover.  To make this challenging market a success story, machine builders and automation suppliers need to focus on the right vertical and offer the fitting solution to it. 

Machine Tools: Adding Digital Value

The individual technical quality of different machine tool providers aligns more and more to the level of the industry leaders.  As in other industries, the USP of machine tool builders is shifting from a technical focus to digital value-adding services.  More than 80 percent of the OEMs report to have first products available or provide even a broad portfolio of digital enhanced services like virtual commissioning, remote access, or smart maintenance. 

Many AI applications and new digital services already provide valuable advancements for manufacturing technologies.  For example, during the machining process, AI is optimizing machine parameters and the NC program on the fly through sensor data.  This can reduce wear and energy consumption and increase the output quality.  A smart quality management using cameras or other sensors can monitor and document the manufactured quality and detect drifts in the machine parameters.  Furthermore, AI is playing an important role in the field of maintenance.  It is applied to predict the status of machines or components and indicates potential failures.

The challenge for many machine builders is not only to add digital value to their existing portfolio but also generate money from this new digital value add. In a conservative industry, this is challenging.  Business models have not yet been established and will take some time, until models such as pay per part are accepted in the industry and payment models are proven. 

Machine Tools: Moving Hybrid

In contrast to the multitasking machine tools, hybrid machines combine additive manufacturing techniques with subtractive technologies to integrate both processes within one machine.  Manual handover of the workpiece for different post-processing steps becomes obsolete. 

Since the hybrid technique builds on AM, the technology is still relatively new to the industry and many OEMs are still in R&D phase.  Nevertheless, this technology enables a higher level of automation for AM and post processing.  Today hybrid machines are too expensive to replace proven traditional machine tools for large batch sizes.  They are deployed for R&D purposes and for complex components in higher quantity, which cannot be produced by traditional machines.  Since there is a great potential for AM, the demand of hybrid machines will also increase.  With larger sales quantity, hybrid machines will become a profitable alternative for more and more use cases.