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The Matrix 4
The Matrix 4
What could be mistaken for a creation of a mad scientist is actually an
industry game changer. At the Sandvik company Seco, the application of data
matrix codes on its products is improving traceability and boosting
sustainability goals.
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At the Seco Innovation Laboratory in Fagersta, Sweden, R&D technician Jan
Gravningsbråten, could easily be mistaken for a mad scientist, surrounded by
blinking red lasers, trays of inserts under observation, diagnostic equipment
and countless other measuring devices, all in aid of his ongoing work with
data matrix codes.
“This is a game changer,” says Jan
Gravningsbråten, head of R&D at Seco Tools. “It’s about optimizing the whole business.”
Gravningsbråten’s current work came out of a “eureka” moment three years
ago, when he had the idea that if data matrix codes could be laser-etched
onto every single insert and holding tool produced by Seco – 50 million or so a
year – the advantages for the business would be incalculable in terms of
traceability and sustainability throughout a product’s entire life cycle. Fast-
forward three years and his idea has become reality for Seco’s popular Turbo
16 family of square holder cutters.
Full traceability
As a demonstration Gravningsbråten opens the Seco “How R U” internal app
on his smartphone. By scanning/photographing the data matrix code on an
insert – some are only 1.2 millimeters wide – Gravningsbråten can retrieve
CAD drawings of the piece and find out how much electricity was consumed
during its production, its relevant CO 2 emissions and even where in the
sintering oven it was placed, as this plays a minuscule yet important role in
the piece’s final performance.
The knowledge about each specific product is so detailed that customers can
also access pertinent information for their own processes via the Seco
Assistant app.
“We now have full traceability of each and every Turbo 16 piece in our
production and throughout its life cycle,” says Gravningsbråten. “This was not
the case before – quite the opposite, in fact.”
He explains that previously production was analyzed by the batch, and if there
was something wrong, the whole batch would have to be scrapped, wasting
valuable resources along the way.
“Like a coin separation machine at a bank, this process was not cost-effective
previously,” says Gravningsbråten. “But we now have the tools to fully engage
in this circular economy, and with all this traceability we are now uniquely
poised to engage in what people are calling Industry 4.0. The next step is to
roll it out to other product families.”