PROCESS INSIGHTS

PROCESS INSIGHTS is a solution package for the documentation, analysis, and optimization of manufacturing processes. Machine, sensor, and other process data are centrally merged and structured in the fusion software platform. This makes machining processes transparent, traceable, and comparable.

No. PROCESS INSIGHTS can also be used software-only with machine data. In this case, relevant data from the machine is acquired, stored in fusion, and analyzed.

For a more detailed view of actual tool load, PROCESS INSIGHTS can also be combined with spike® sensor technology. This provides absolute force data directly at the tool and enables additional analysis and visualization options such as spike® Map.

spike® sensor data thus expands the package with additional features and ensures higher data quality, accuracy, and sensitivity.

PROCESS INSIGHTS addresses typical challenges in machining, such as a lack of process transparency, unclear causes of process deviations, complex tool and process comparisons, missing objective key figures, and limited information on tool condition and tool life.

Through the central acquisition and analysis of process data, causes can be identified more quickly, different machining strategies can be objectively compared, and optimization potentials can be evaluated based on data.

Typical areas of application are:

• Documentation and traceability of manufacturing processes
• Analysis of process deviations and quality problems
• Process validation
• Tool benchmarking
• Comparison of different tools, materials, and machining strategies
• Process optimization
• Evaluation of process stability and productivity
• Analysis of tool condition and tool life

PROCESS INSIGHTS is therefore particularly aimed at application and process engineers, manufacturing and quality managers, machine operators, production managers, and data analysts.

Via fusion, machine data, axis data, spike® sensor data, and other process data can be combined in a common data context, among other things.

PROCESS INSIGHTS thus not only displays individual measured values but also enables the structured assignment and analysis of measurements, machines, sensors, and other relevant process information.

PROCESS INSIGHTS Lite is the Viewer and focuses on documentation, transparency, traceability, and basic process analysis. This includes, among other things, the central process database, the analysis of individual measurements, the comparison of measurement series, and – with appropriate sensor technology – spike® Map.

PROCESS INSIGHTS Pro supplements the Viewer with the Analyzer and thus extended analysis functions. These include, for example, KPI calculation, tool benchmarking, trend analysis, trend correlation, and functions for evaluating tool condition and remaining useful life. Pro is therefore particularly suitable for process validation and continuous process optimization.

PROCESS INSIGHTS can be used in three versions depending on the required data basis:

• S: Acquisition and analysis of machine data
• M: Acquisition and analysis of spike® sensor data
• L: Combination of machine and spike® sensor data

For the variants with spike® data, appropriate spike® sensor technology is required. This allows the solution to be configured to match the existing infrastructure and the desired depth of analysis.

spike® Map connects recorded process and force data with the tool’s position in the machining process. The force data is visualized on a digital model of the component, and critical areas are highlighted in color.

This makes it possible, for example, to identify where particularly high loads occur along a tool path. This facilitates root cause analysis and targeted optimization of tools and machining parameters.

With PROCESS INSIGHTS Pro, developments over several measurements can be analyzed, and the tool condition can be evaluated based on data. The Trend Analyzer, Trend Correlator, and Tool Health Index (THI) are available for this purpose, among others.

Additionally, the Remaining Useful Life Calculator (RUL) can be used to assess the remaining tool usage time. The goal is to better understand tool behavior, visualize wear trends, and optimize tool life more precisely.

PROCESS INSIGHTS combines process data in a central location and enables the analysis of individual measurements as well as the comparison of multiple process runs.

If, for example, quality deviations or unusual loads occur, relevant measurements can be examined and compared with other processes. With sensor data and visualizations like spike® Map, critical load areas can also be localized directly in the machining process.

No, that is not the primary task of PROCESS INSIGHTS. PROCESS INSIGHTS is designed as a post-process solution focused on documentation, process understanding, and optimization.

PROCESS AUTOMATION is intended for continuous monitoring during machining, automatic anomaly detection, real-time warnings, machine triggers, and automatic machine reactions. PROCESS INSIGHTS forms the data-based foundation for this.

PROCESS INSIGHTS primarily answers the question: “What happened in my process and how can I improve it?”

PROCESS AUTOMATION extends this foundation with in-process monitoring and automated reactions. This allows, for example, tool breakage, wear, chatter, or critical process states to be detected during machining, and corresponding warnings or machine reactions to be triggered.

The development thus ranges from Document → Understand → Optimize with PROCESS INSIGHTS to Monitor → Detect → React → Scale with PROCESS AUTOMATION.

PROCESS INSIGHTS is designed to structure and clearly evaluate manufacturing data without requiring a specialized data analyst for every analysis.

Visualizations, comparison functions, and – in PROCESS INSIGHTS Pro – automated KPI, trend, and tool health evaluations support users in gaining directly usable information from raw data. Expert understanding of the respective manufacturing process remains helpful, of course.

PROCESS INSIGHTS can reduce the effort for documentation, troubleshooting, process comparisons, and optimization tasks. Instead of manually collecting data from different sources, relevant process information is centrally available in fusion.

This allows causes to be identified more quickly, tools to be compared more objectively, and improvements to be implemented on a reliable data basis. Typical target metrics are higher process stability, better quality, longer tool life, and higher productivity.