Smart manufacturing gains ground in Taiwan.

Faced with rising labour costs, Taiwanese companies are increasingly utilising the latest sophisticated technologies to go beyond conventional automation to embrace Industry 4.0.

A growing number of Taiwanese manufacturers are making the leap to smart factories, reflecting the worldwide trend towards industrial automation. Smart manufacturing entails automating both the operations of a factory and its management, utilising a combination of automation technology, IoT (Internet of Things), and artificial intelligence (AI). Revamping a factory with smart machinery carries the potential of significantly reduced operational costs and improved efficiency and quality.

Victor Taichung Machinery, one of Taiwan’s leading manufacturers of CNC machine tools and plastic injection moulding machines for the engineering, motor manufacturing and plastics manufacturing industries, has opened its new US$120 million smart factory, which is also referred to as the Victor Intellectual Factory

The trend also poses some major challenges for Taiwan’s industrial sector. One is the need for specialised talent, including those trained in AI, automation, robotics, industrial control, IoT, communications and software. Another larger challenge is ensuring information security – a critical factor given the central role of the Internet in smart manufacturing processes.

Victor Taichung Machinery, one of Taiwan’s leading manufacturers of CNC machine tools and plastic injection moulding machines for the engineering, motor manufacturing and plastics manufacturing industries, has opened its new US$120 million smart factory, which is also referred to as the Victor Intellectual Factory.

Victor Taichung moved from its Zhonggang road factory (Taiwan avenue factory), which it had occupied since 1973, to the Taichung City Precision Machinery Innovation Technology Park, in January 2020.

Insisting on ‘Technology Innovations and Quality Superiority’, Victor Taichung is continuously devoted to developing new generation machine tools. Likewise, the company has deployed the same concepts and ideas with its new manufacturing building and headquarters, which is situated alongside the smart factory.

Production lines making machine tools now operate independently on a continuous basis, while plant managers monitor operations remotely on mobile devices. The company’s smart machines, robotic arms, sensors, and automated warehousing devices are all connected by means of the company’s industrial IoT system

“To provide a better working environment for all our employees and a greener environment for the Earth, which is what really concerns us as individuals and a company, we have incorporated all the green factory elements, along with the smart factory elements, into these new buildings,” said Victor Taichung Chairman Bert Huang.

“This includes ecological landscaping of the area, making use of the wind and solar panels for energy, water recycling, using recycled building materials and a specialised smart monitoring management system that will monitor power usage and air conditioning, for example.”

The total area of Victor Taichung’s new smart factory complex is close to 64 000m² under roof with the manufacturing building making up 47 000m² over three floors, which cover automated parts storage and material handling, automated unmanned machining lines and assembly areas. Each area is serviced by AGV (automatic guided vehicles) to collect, transport, load and unload machines to ensure components are ready for assembly.

The total area of Victor Taichung’s new smart factory complex is close to 64 000m² under roof with the manufacturing building making up 47 000m² over three floors, which cover automated parts storage and material handling, automated unmanned machining lines and assembly areas. Each area is serviced by AGV (automatic guided vehicles) to collect, transport, load and unload machines to ensure components are ready for assembly

“Smart and adaptive is what we have deployed in all our enterprise resource planning and manufacturing execution systems at our new Victor Taichung factory complex in central Taiwan, all with the common goal of manufacturing better quality equipment delivered on time. Production lines making machine tools now operate independently on a continuous basis, while plant managers monitor operations remotely on mobile devices. The company’s smart machines, robotic arms, sensors, and automated warehousing devices are all connected by means of the company’s industrial IoT system,” explained Huang.

Vturn-S26: A new turn in slant bed technology
The Victor Vturn-26HD has long been a favoured option among manufacturers looking for a mid-sized turning center that delivers power, precision and uncompromising levels of reliability. Now, Victor CNC has added to this line with the arrival of the new Vturn-S26 horizontal turning center.

“To provide a better working environment for all our employees and a greener environment for the Earth, which is what really concerns us as individuals and a company, we have incorporated all the green factory elements, along with the smart factory elements, into these new buildings,” said Victor Taichung Chairman Bert Huang

Complementing the existing Vturn-26HD and VT-A26CM machines, the new arrival has been re-engineered to provide a host of new features that include the option of a servo-powered C-axis with fast servo driven BMT live tool turret. This new facility gives end users the option of the cost-effective 2-axis Vturn-26HD workhorse or the equally cost-effective, more flexible 3-axis Vturn-S26.

The foundation for the new Vturn-S26 is a large sturdy single-piece slant-bed. The single-piece construction eliminates the possibility of coolant leakage whilst the 30° design lowers the centre of gravity to enhance rigidity and performance. In addition, this innovative new configuration provides a large swing diameter that enables end-users to load larger billets. The performance of the new Vturn-S26 is encapsulated in its 18/24m/minute rapid feed rates and high thrust force of 1 441Nm that reduces chip-to-chip times and ensures that productivity levels are optimised.

The Victor Vturn-26HD has long been a favoured option among manufacturers looking for a mid-sized turning center that delivers power, precision and uncompromising levels of reliability. Now, Victor CNC has added to this line with the arrival of the new Vturn-S26 horizontal turning center

Further contributing to the productivity level of the Vturn-S26 is the optional 12-station live tooling turret. The BMT-65 turret has an indexing time of just 0.8 seconds whilst the powerful 4.5kW motor delivers live tooling speeds of 4 000rpm with high levels of torque, rigidity and repeatability generated from Victor Taichung’s own turret configuration.

Despite its nimble and productive performance, the Vturn offers a high spindle output of 22kW with 574Nm, which permits heavy-duty cutting under the most challenging conditions and materials. Surface finishes and tool life are optimised with the high rigidity and machine stability that are the hallmark of the Victor CNC brand. The machine has a weight of 6 130kg, thanks to the Meehanite casting and heavy-duty boxways that are 64mm and 80mm in X and Z respectively.

The Victor P106 CNC vertical machining center is designed for high performance machining, particularly in the mould and die industry. The extra wide castings allow for fast 48m/min rapid travel rates and a 12 000rpm spindle with BBT-40 tooling

The latest addition to the Victor CNC stable has an increased swing over the bed of 600mm compared to the 520mm on previous Vturn-26HD models and this increases the maximum turning diameter from 410mm to 430mm and is available with 600mm or 1100mm between centres. The new machine also incorporates the latest Fanuc 0iTF CNC control with a large 10.4” colour screen display and intuitive manual guide, hydraulic chuck, programmable tailstock, chip conveyor, handwheel, tool-holders, coolant flush on Z-axis cover and a three-step warning light.

For further details contact Victor Fortune on TEL: 011 392 3800 or visit www.victor.co.za