NX CAM takes production to an entirely new level with digitalization
Volgaburmash accelerates product design and production planning time and reduces manufacturing costs with Siemens PLM Software solutions
Volgaburmash JSC is the largest Russian rock cutting tools manufacturer. They design and manufacture drill pipes and cutting tools for oil and gas, mining and construction industries, serving customers in Russia, the CIS countries and more than 60 other countries. To maintain its leadership in the domestic market, Volgaburmash continuously improves product competitiveness with a focus on quality, order-to-delivery time and competitive pricing.
The company’s approach to production enables it to successfully compete with the leading U.S, Swedish and Chinese manufacturers. Volgaburmash offers a full range of highly customizable boring tools to meet customers’ needs. The key priorities are continuous technical support for the customer’s drilling operations and delivering an attractive price-to-performance ratio.
Recently Volgaburmash completely upgraded its manufacturing facility and replaced more than 90 percent of its equipment. The upgrade was the first stage of the company’s transformation to advanced processes, then further to digitalization. Volgaburmash’s customers are rapidly introducing digital technologies, and the company’s primary objective is to become a partner for digitalization in the boring industry.
When digitalization emerged, the company’s level of digital technology coverage was quite low. It lacked a unified software deployment strategy. The company sought to introduce a unified approach to digital technologies.
“We compared the experience of vendors with comprehensive deployment projects. All the factors led to choosing Siemens PLM Software as our partner for the digital transformation.”
Marat Matevosyan, Director General, Volgaburmash JSC
Digital twins of rock cutting tools
Volgaburmash decided to implement the digitalization project in stages, beginning with the design stage and continuing through manufacturing. The company wanted to establish a concurrent, collaborative approach to new product development using NX software for CAD, the Simcenter portfolio of simulation solutions, and Teamcenter software for PLM. This integrated software platform enables Volgaburmash to build parametric product models and easily switch from new product design to product configuration. It has also enabled the creation of product digital twins.
The project continued to the production planning stage with the use of Teamcenter Manufacturing and NX CAM software. Advanced computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools perform 100 percent of the machining operations. NX CAM and Teamcenter Manufacturing have taken the production to an entirely new level in which all manufacturing processes are virtually verified prior to running on actual CNC machines.
Volgaburmash has created a digital twin of the entire factory for optimal production utilization. A key aspect is the end-to-end change management capability embracing every product development stage. The new digital technologies enable much faster changes, and the change effects are tracked instantly and automatically. Siemens PLM Software technologies have enabled the company to eliminate paper drawings and conventional manufacturing documents, saving significant time in product development and production.
Read the full Volgaburmash customer success story!
