Press lines intended for the forming of parts with large dimensions usually consist of several presses in line, which are fed by shuttles or robots.

Unlocking new possibilities in metal forming

By using cutting-edge, digital twin technology and virtual commissioning to migrate their controllers, Siemens and Nidec Arisa — an original equipment manufacturer from Spain — have unlocked whole new functionalities, new benefits and new opportunities for the future.

The challenge: a new controller and new opportunities

Nidec Arisa is a Spanish original equipment manufacturer that specializes in making presses and transfer systems for the automotive industry — and relies on Siemens innovations to develop their product offerings.

We decided to start with the transfer because it is a very important point of our products, probably one of the most important, and also the most difficult to program.

Roberto Gonzalo, Engineering Director, Nidec Arisa

From SIMOTION to the new SIMATIC S7-1500T

Last year, the two companies agreed to migrate all of ARISA's programs that were based on Siemens SIMOTION to SIMATIC S7-1500T, the new generation of programmable logic controllers for motion control related applications.

But this wasn't just any migration — in combination with new metal forming specific solutions from the Siemens Press Shop Suite, the migration brings ARISA's programs to the next level and opens the door for digitalization.

In a first step, teams from Nidec Arisa's engineering department and Siemens in Spain began by generating a digital twin of the machine. The teams also decided to start with the migration of the transfer system — the part of the machine that moves the piece being worked on along the press.

Using a digital twin to migrate the transfer not only simplifies and accelerates the process; it also unlocks new use cases for ARISA.

"The use of a digital twin lets us test all the new software developments in a virtual scenario — helping us avoid possible damage to the real machine and detect possible errors in the initial phase of the development," said Jason Lopez, Head of Production Machines and Application Center at Siemens Spain, and part of the team supporting Nidec Arisa with the migration in Spain.

"And it can be used by the customer in the future to train machine operators," he explained.

Optimization of servo press software to reduce downtime and commissioning costs.

A new way of thinking, a new step into Industry 4.0

In addition to the migration the new generation of controller, Nidec Arisa also wanted to standardize and optimize their servo press software in order to reduce downtime and to save cost by reducing the commissioning time.

This idea to standardize applications is new for ARISA — and thus, one of the biggest challenges facing the team. "It's a completely new step into Industry 4.0 and the internet of things," says Roberto Gonzalo.

Helping Nidec Arisa in this regard are steps Siemens took in the past.

"It's not easy to cut old behaviors and think in new ways when you are working with historically grown software," Stefan explained. “This is a challenge we faced — and our learnings are something we can now share with the customer.”

The new software platform, standardized with the help of the Press Shop Suite, will open doors for Nidec Arisa to add functionalities to their machines, offer new benefits to the end-customers, and implement new service offerings.

Two years before, we at the Siemens headquarters were in the same situation. We were working on standardizing our applications and solutions with the goal of enabling Industry 4.0 in mind.

Stefan Hartenfels, Business Development Manager, Siemens

Work in progress

The first steps are over, but the project is still in progress. After all, this migration to a new generation of controllers is just part of a larger automation project Nidec Arisa is working on with Siemens.

The goal: a machine so clever, no human programming needed

Currently, machines such as the ones produced by Nidec Arisa require extremely skilled operators — people who have the knowledge it takes to program and operate them correctly. And such human talent is not always available.

The problem is compounded when it’s a new machine. Operators don’t often know how to work with them, resulting in reduced efficiency and productivity.

ARISA hopes to solve this problem by creating a machine that is less dependent on the operator thanks to Industrial Edge applications that will function as the "brain" of the machine.

To teach this brain, the team is currently working on collecting data from existing presses to transfer this knowledge from people to machine.

The big goal here is to have a machine that is able to be self-programmed by 2025.

Roberto Gonzalo, Engineering Director, Nidec Arisa

Real customers, real benefits

With implementation done, ARISA is currently testing and validating the new software modifications in existing presses belonging to its customers — and the initial numbers are extremely promising. Initial tests of the solution conducted by Nidec Arisa with real customers saw dramatic increments and reductions to the production process.

20% faster response time

28% increase in customer production

20% reduction in energy costs

15% reduction in overall costs

Faster commissioning in a pandemic

The successful first step has also seen 25% faster commissioning thanks to digital twin technology and virtual commissioning.

Prior to 2020, engineers used to travel in person to their customers to commission their machines — a process that was both costly and time consuming. The COVID-19 pandemic, and resulting border closures, put an end to this old way of working.

Thanks to digital twins and the ability to virtually commission machines: ARISA does not need to send its engineers for the beginning of the press installation.

The engineers can join the project later and work from the comfort of their own offices — saving on travel-related expenses and helping Nidec Arisa ensure the health safety of their own people.