A shop-floor 'all access' pass.

Speaking of customizing a machine-tool's CNC hardware to fit the customer, one of the features of a new control design from Gildemeister is something the builder calls SmartKey. About the size and shape of an iPod, the device docks into the side of a new control-panel series from the German machine-tool builder, and it carries personalized information about the worker assigned to that particular SmartKey.

When it's plugged into the control panel, one of four clusters of bars--reminiscent of a cell-phonesignal-strength meter--lights up, denoting the access level allowed that keyholder. The two-bar cluster might be associated with a supervisor who is permitted to enter new programs; three bars could mean a programmer or maintenance worker; and four would show full access to all control functions.

"When there's a crash, it seems it's always the fault of the machine," Gildemeister chairman Dr. Rudiger Kapitza quipped in his introductory comments. "This way the machine knows who you are and what you're allowed to do." The lock-out idea has been used in some auto-industry transfer lines; what the Gildemeister hardware does is simplify its implementation for stand-alone machines.

The SmartKey is but one feature of Gildemeister's introductory ErgoLine HMI (human/machine interface, previously known as man/machine interface) that's now standard across the entire range. The control-panel concept was demonstrated at the EMO booth operated by DMG Europe Holding, Gildemeister's marketing arm (the letters stand for Deckel-MahoGildemeister). The ErgoLine panel, which forms the front end of whichever CNC (Siemens, or Heidenhain, or Fanuc) that does the actual commanding of the machine tool, is equipped with a 19-in. screen whose added size enables the addition of extra SoftKeys and status displays. The whole cantilevered control package can be swiveled about the machine for optimal user

convenience, and it also allows for an optional seat (more of a back rest, really).

The ErgoLine control interface, in turn, is an integral part of the new design called DMG LightLine that unifies the look of the company's offerings. Aside from a high level of brand recognition with its matte-white and high-gloss-black panels, the LightLine concept includes a average 40% enlargement of the machine's safety-glass viewing windows (an increase in window size up to 80% in some cases).

The huge, a 43,000-sq.-ft. stand occupied by DMG was the largest at EMO, ahead of Mazak's and MAG's. It held 70 machines, including 14 that were world premiers. Gildemeister chairman Kapitza figures his company is currently tops in worldwide sales (although differing fiscal-year closing dates make comparisons difficult), with 64 DMG distribution outlets and 15 production facilities. He estimates its growth will be a little ahead of the forecast produced by VDW, the German machine-tool-builders' association: +10% for 2007, +6% for 2008, and +3% for 2009. Among upcoming changes at Gildemeister: a worldwide spareparts operation headquartered at Geretsried, Germany, due to start up at the beginning of the year; a restructuring of some work in the North American unit near Chicago; increased development at turning-machine producer Famot Pleszew S.A. (Pleszew, Poland), the newest addition to the Gildemeister group; and a DMG automation and handling firm whose goal is to lower the cost of robotizing the loading function.

Gildemeister A.G, Bielefeld, Germany. 49-5205-74-0.