‘SmartFix4.0’ - The World’s first Industry 4.0 for Fixtures from Forms and Gears

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Chennai, 10th Sept 2020 : Forms & Gears, Asia’s leading fixture builder has introduced ‘SmartFix 4.0’ which is the world’s first ever Industry 4.0 solution for Fixtures and Workholding. Industry 4.0 is commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution. It is the ability of machines, devices, sensors and people to connect and communicate with each other via the Internet Of Things. SmartFix4.0 is that revolution in the Fixture building business.

SmartFix4.0 is jointly developed by Forms and Gears, one of India’s oldest and largest fixture building companies and ASM Technologies, a Bangalore-based public limited company specializing in Product Engineering, Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence. SmartFix4.0 is a Precision Workholding Device with the ability to collect, transmit and analyse data in a useful format for the end-user. Developed for the first time in the world, it takes Workholding devices and Fixtures into the digital and cyber space.

As the Fixture is in continuous contact with the component, it is the ideal device to collect and analyse data at the component level. Sensors to monitor vibration, pressure, sequence of clamping, component presence, etc are mounted on the fixture. And sensors to monitor oil levels, oil contamination and temperature are mounted on the powerpack. The high volume of data collected from these sensors are continuously transmitted wirelessly to the cloud where it is parsed and stored for analysis. The raw data is then analysed using Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence tools and sent back to a custom-built Dash- board of the end user, which resembles their factory floor, showing all the machines in action as well as a quick summary on the health of each machine, fixture and powerpack.

Speaking about the launch Reji Varghese, Managing Director, Forms and Gears said , “Over the last 48 years, we have seen seismic shifts in manufacturing. We used to do Workholding for conventional machines in the 70s which slowly transformed to Fixtures for indigenous Machining Centers to advanced Workholding solutions for high-speed imported Machining Centers. To keep up with the advancements in the Machine Tool and Cutting Tool technology, Workholding technology has also to keep pace so that the capability of the machines and the tools can be fully utilized. Over the last few years we came to the conclusion that the next revolution in Workholding would be to make fixtures smarter by making them IoT- and Industry 4.0-enabled and that’s how we have come up with SmartFix 4.0. Smartfix 4.0 can also be used on existing fixtures, test rigs and special equipment also making it a very flexible and easily adaptable system”.

Forms & Gears has done branding for Smartfix 4.0 on the Aston Martin GT4 race car in Europe in 2019 and 2020.

About Forms and Gears

Forms and Gears provides complete fixture solutions to clients in over 10 countries. Set up 48 years ago by R.T Varghese, a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Kharaghpur, Forms & Gears is synonymous with precision fixtures solutions that are used by the world’s leading machine tool and automobile manufacturers.

PWR
PWR

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