Walter Opens New Technology Center
This futuristic factory promises to help tooling customers unlock the power of digital technology and the Smart Factory.
Posted: March 15, 2017
To help their customers unlock the power of digital technology and the Smart Factory, Walter AG (Tübingen, Germany) has opened a new Technology Center at their worldwide headquarters in Tübingen. This new 16,400 sq ft facility combines the functions of an interactive experience center and a research facility. Customers, partners and staff from around the world will now be able to collaborate on future solutions. “Users today expect reliable, customized processes,” says Mirko Merlo, the chairman of Walter. “In this Technology Center, they can help to shape the development of their machining processes in real time.”
This new site provides an innovative environment, encouraging the development of solutions that go beyond just tools. In this practical setting, the digital factory of the future is becoming a reality – production, logistics, engineering, control and management processes are digitally connected and will be able to communicate with one another in real time using an application platform. Customers can watch the tools, machining processes and digital applications live and can try them out. In this ‘futuristic’ factory, the company will collaborate with users to create and optimize prototypes for real-world applications in an environment called ‘Real Life Engineering.’
“The Technology Center interactively demonstrates process and tool solutions,” says Holger Langhans, the director of Walter Multiply. “Using new types of functions, networking the “intelligent” systems and other innovations will permanently change how we think and work with users.” The facility is equipped with the latest processing and communication technology. Thanks to live broadcasts from the machine hall, staff at all Walter distributors will be able to take part in global training sessions. The spacious auditorium, which is equipped with the latest presentation technology and can seat up to 200 people, will host expert conferences and customer events.