Industry 4.0 – Smart Cutting Tools, an Essential Part of 21st Century Manufacturing

November 1, 2021 3:10 pm

Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are driving today’s manufacturing, combining physical production and operations with smart digital technology.

With a heavy focus on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, real-time data utilization and artificial intelligence (AI), Industry 4.0 brings to mind high-tech industries like medical devices, aerospace, and computer technologies. Certainly not cutting tools, right? Wrong.

“In the 21st century manufacturing environment, companies are embracing Industry 4.0 technologies, and efficient access to digital product data is essential to meeting the level of precision that is required in the cutting tool industry today as well,” said Bill Orris, ARCH Cutting Tools Senior Director – Product Development and Custom Solutions. “We are now capable of exporting tooling data of our products directly to our customers’ CAD/CAM, ERP, and other shop environment digital platforms, fast-tracking solid modelling and simulations.”

First, what is Industry 4.0? It’s the fourth industrial evolution that began around 2000, with data becoming a primary driver of manufacturing. The history of industry and manufacturing is summarized in the previous three industrial revolutions – around 1765, when the production of goods became mechanized, followed by the second industrial revolution in 1870, when industry became electrified and the third industrial revolution in 1969 when electronic automation was introduced.

As industry evolved, cutting and material removal technology had to be at the forefront to support faster, more efficient production; and to handle new and more diverse materials as they entered the markets.

Now, as data and digitization drive manufacturing, cutting tool technology is again leading the way – as it did in the late 1700s at the dawn of the first Industrial Revolution.

Cutting tools have always been “high-tech,” as defined in each era; and now, just as with all industry, the high-tech component is digital and data driven. That’s how the cutting tools industry continues to lead in manufacturing, and ARCH Cutting Tools is setting the industry standard with its approach to digitization, cloud-based management of customer data and information, and the integration of its solutions.