Sustainability, digitization and optimization

"The metal sector focuses strongly on sustainability, digitalization and optimization in production. Hoffmann Group offers various products and services to support its customers in this," said Marcel Schwarts, head of product management for Hoffman Group Netherlands and Flanders. 

"A first, important issue that no one can ignore is sustainability," Schwarts states. "Many workplaces use substances that have negative effects on the environment or can pose a risk to the safety or health of employees. We all need to do something about this. Sustainable alternatives offer great advantages. They have less impact on the environment, employees need to take fewer precautions, which can also save costs on PPE, and transportation to other countries also becomes easier when hazardous substances are no longer involved. To support customers, we introduced GARANT GreenPlus last year. It offers a thoughtful and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional products. The market is enthusiastic to all intents and purposes, but occasionally has to get used to it since other treatment processes are sometimes required. Think of removing adhesives and greases instead of dissolving them." 

The GARANT GreenPlus line is being expanded even further, Schwarts said. "In August, our new catalog will be released. In it we will present a more extensive range of products. Think, for example, of expansions in the sanding and grinding range. But also in the area of ultrasonic cleaning, we will soon launch new products on the market. The results from the development and test phase look promising in every respect."

A second major theme for the metal sector is digitization. 

"Three years ago we launched the software solution Hoffmann Group Connected Manufacturing, for planning, control and general organization of production. For example, the software supports the CAM programmer with a tool assembler, which simplifies the creation of new tools and their transfer to the CAM system. For example, the system can locate and identify tools and show tool usage history. It immediately becomes clear whether the tool has already been intensively used or can be used for the next job without problems. The software solution offers many more possibilities, of course. We notice that the industry is increasingly open to optimization possibilities that software or digital tools can offer." 

Schwarts gives another example: "We are constantly expanding our range of Hoffmann Group Connected Tools (HTC tools). These are tools that can insert data directly into measurement reports via bluetooth, eliminating human error when manually copying data This type of tool may be slightly more expensive than the traditional variant, but customers are increasingly inquiring about it because they want to know whether this form of digitization and optimization suits their business operations."

Not only digitization can lead to optimization in production. Automation can also help. 

"A great example of this is our slide grinder GMT35, where polishing, deburring or cleaning is no longer done manually, but automated by rotofinishing technology. Due to the acute shortage of technicians, it is important to take the work that can be automated away from employees so that they have more space for things that really require human work. Moreover, this leads to extra motivated workers."