Connected hardening shop – challenges for the hardening plant in the world of Industry 4.0

The industrial world is facing a further, profound change. With IoT (Internet of Things), it will be possible for the individual production steps to connect with each other. The material transport is carried out via transport equipment, which is networked and will automatically take the product to its next production step. These small, intelligent modules for the heat treatment industry present a new challenge. They enable higher variants, smaller quantities per variant and are flexible and cost-effective. The storage of finished products, which includes the entire value added, is reduced for cost reasons. Production starts, as soon as the customer has configured and ordered his product via internet. The order is transferred directly to production and production starts fully automatically. Raw parts are taken out of the warehouse and driven from production step to production step in a targeted manner. Each process step is documented and can be assigned to the individual component. In the event of a failure of the entire assembly in operation, complete traceability can be ensured..