The ANCA Integrated Manufacturing System (AIMS) optimizes cutting tool production through streamlined manufacturing, automation, and connectivity. With ANCA and AIMS, customers can achieve continuous, unattended production that dramatically reduces non-productive machine time, with smart automation that connects sequential tool production processes and offers connectivity across the whole factory. 

This is Industry 4.0 — factory-wide integration. The technology considers a factory as a single machine, rather than separating it into many different process elements. This concept brings together one ecosystem and builds it to be as efficient as possible. AIMS, being a modular solution, can be deployed in stages, allowing for easy, gradual, and smooth transition from traditional to automated and integrated manufacturing.

A fully operational manufacturing cell will be displayed at IMTS, demonstrating a fully automatic process of tool manufacturing, from blanks to ground tools. Included will be ANCA’s latest premium machine MX7 ULTRA capable of manufacturing high quality cutting tools, along with an AutoSet job preparation station, AutoLine for pallet and tool transfer as well as AutoFetch – a robot responsible for material transfer between processes - pallet and individual tools between job preparation, grinding and tool measurement on ZOLLER measuring machine.

Jan Irzyk, AIMS product manager said: “AIMS can be configured in many ways but at IMTS visitors can see an unattended manufacturing workflow of two varieties of endmills on one MX7 machine. An important part of this workflow is closed loop measurement and compensation process using Zoller Genius as a measurement station. Depending on an individual customer’s requirements, our system can automatically transfer a tool from the ground batch, clean it, measure required geometries and transfer the results to the respective grinder where grinding parameters compensation is taking place to achieve required dimensional tolerance of the batch.”

CPX In-Process OD Measurement System

The CPX in-process OD measurement system is a quality control system that monitors and controls the OD of ground blanks within a batch production. 

Batch grinding on a CPX with high material removal rates and to tight tolerances is a basic function of the machine, the OD measurement system takes it further by utilizing the Statistical Process Control (SPC) feature that comes standard with the OD measurement software. SPC is user defined, the tolerances along with the Cp and CpK values are constantly monitored, controlled, and reported to the user.

The OD measurement system is permanently mounted inside the machine and only called upon when required, based on the set tolerances and the frequency of measurement, an accurate in-process measurement and compensation is applied to maintain the blank OD to the nominal diameter.

The system is flexible with the ability to handle multiple diameters in one setup, making it perfect for complex blank geometries/shapes and longer batch runs. 

 GCX LINEAR

Driven by the automotive industry's electrification and the general rise of e-mobility, the demand for skiving cutters has seen 30% year on year growth. The GCX Linear provides a complete solution for customers to tap into this rapidly developing market, including the ability to produce skiving cutters, shaper cutters and regrinding of hobs. It offers advanced stand-alone software to design and optimize the tool, neatly interfaced with the gear tool package inside ANCA's renowned ToolRoom software. 

The machine is designed for accuracy with features including all axes with LinX linear motors and an enhanced headstock. GCX Linear boasts a series of technologies: AEMS dressing, MTC on grinding spindle and dresser spindle, integrated gear tool measurement and direct compensation – setting the new standard for producing skiving tools that achieve the highest DIN AA quality class.

ANCA has developed a world-first integrated gear tool measurement system, which enables all the grinding-measuring-compensation to be done in the machine. This is the only practical closed-loop solution in the market and will be on display at IMTS as part of the skiving cutter production process on GCX Linear. 

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