TDM-App: Mobile Tool Data Management by iPhone

TDM Systems GmbH proudly presents the latest version of its Tool Data Management Software (TDM). Process optimization and crib management for ever-ready production equipment are at the center of attention at the trade show booths. A top highlight: plug-and-play tool data management software on a USB stick! And brand-new: iPhone access to the TDM-App!

"We've just released our latest Version 4.4," says TDM Managing Director Jürgen Auer, "and the AMB were the perfect platform for presenting our many new functions to a large audience of professionals." He has brought along two real treats with him, namely "TDM on a Stick" and the "TDM-App". Over the last 20 years, TDM Systems has developed into the market leader for tool data management software. Today, this Tübingen systems company is the Sandvik Tooling Group's Center of Competence for Tool Data Management.

Managing Director Jürgen Auer knows one thing for sure: "Hardly any other company can rely on such a wide background of experience in Tool Data Management as TDM. And even though we keep our eyes firmly focused on our core area of competency, we have also developed comprehensive solutions for other important areas linked to production resource readiness." For example, the Tübingen company's software experts are showing TDM MPO, the Tool Data Management software that keeps track of gauges and calibration equipment, TDM FMM, the Facility Maintenance Management software, CAD tools like the 2D Graphic Editor and 3D Solid-Editor, software modules for crib management and order tracking, and TDMshopcontrol, the software module for machine-specific tool tracking and accounting.

Tool Data: No Matter Where, No Matter When:
From now on, TDM users can have mobile access to their tool data management systems with smartphones like the Apple iPhone: TDM has developed a fully new TDM-App. No matter where the user may be, he can now dial into his database. That means mobile access from anywhere to technical data like cutting parameters, 2D and 3D tool models, and much more. "We're thinking here of our tooling salespeople in the field too," says TDM sales manager Eugen Bollinger. "Direct database access means being able to call up and download graphic images for selected tools, along with data sheets and the like. And orders could also be placed directly online with this TDM-App."

TDM on a Stick
Even more tool data mobility comes from the option of starting TDM software in future from a USB stick - pre-installed, complete with database and operating system! Just insert it into the PC, and TDM starts right up. "The functions are easy, and it's also very fast," promises TDM Managing Director Auer. "This stick variant is a comprehensive, fully functional TDM system with a full set of modules." As he points out, this is the optimum solution for testing TDM easily and with no need of prior installation.

What's more, the user can either import his tool data or create it from scratch. And if he installs TDM on a PC later on, he just takes over the data he has already gathered and stored on the stick.

Digital Resource Management for Optimum Process Support
Tool data management software makes data organization transparent and economical for the production area - among other things by automatically generating lists of parts, tools, and production needs. It always includes an integrated database with systematically filed master data, technical data for tool items, tools and adapters. Search-and-find procedures for production resources are no longer time-consuming work. No longer do drills disappear unnoticed into a drawer, or milling cutters lay unused in the crib or in a Pater Noster cabinet while members of the work team place new orders for the very same tool. Not only is time saved, but tool costs drop as well.

TDM offers more than 50 interfaces with all standard upstream and downstream systems in the production environment. That means seamless Integration and consistent processes from start to finish. Highest-quality technical tooling data are on hand for managing CAD/CAM, simulations, production processes, and machines - in an easy-to-understand, application-specific manner. TDM's 3D Data and Graphics Generator and its high-performance 2D Graphic Editor and 3D Solid Editor provide true-to-life drawings and graphics for production preparation and simulated viewing. Many new functions and modules support CAD/CAM processes in the programming and simulation process even better than before. And duplicate filing of tool cutting parameters in multiple-client systems is now avoided by the option of extending technical data search processes to all clients. Mix-ups in NC programming are excluded, since the programmer can select tools from a graphic structure according to classes, groups, technological characteristics, or processing methods. And while he is doing so, plausibility checks prevent errors in putting tool assemblies together. The result: long-lasting, better quality in the production process.

"Digital resource planning is a big time-saver in selecting and preparing needed tool data," says Sales Manager Eugen Bollinger, who can point to many concrete applications. "Setup devices go to the machine on time, downtimes are reduced, and tool data quality improves markedly all the way from the planning stage to the machining stage."

Barcode-Guided Booking Entries with QuickPick and Picklists for Fast Order Picking
In tool logistics too, the Tübingen software developers have optimized even further to ensure that tools flow smoothly from the crib to the production process. For example, improvements have been made in barcode-guided issuing of tools with a TDM barcode terminal and docking station or hand-held, mobile scanners. When issuing tools with the scanner and QuickPick, the user sees and activates practically all TDM functions via barcodes; that makes it easy for him to issue newly registered tools with precision, to follow tool movements, track items and assemblies, and view tool lists via barcode - all error-free.

Last but not least, TDM's TDMstoreasy software now offers graphic crib management for a better overview in managing and operating tool cabinets, vending automats, lifts, and Pater Noster cabinets. Now it's easier than ever before to allocate crib locations. A new feature here: not only high-bay rack and crib locations can be specified, but also grids and heights. If the machine operator orders a tool or a package of indexable inserts at the tool cabinet, just three clicks - with mouse, keyboard or touchscreen - are enough, and he is already holding the item he needs in his hands. That gives the operator round-the-clock access to the tools he needs, even when no one is present in the tool issue area. The removal is booked to his cost center. What's more, the cabinet control software promptly sends a notice when pre-defined minimum stock levels have been reached and can even trigger an order automatically - e.g. in SAP - via a standardized ERP interface.

About TDM Systems
TDM systems GmbH in Tübingen has been developing software for the organization of tool data and plant resources for more than 20 years.

As the Sandvik Group's Competence Center for Tool Data Management (TDM), TDM Systems has access to the know-how of a range of tool manufacturers in developing its own software products, and the TDM software is now already in its fourth generation. One key to the success of TDM is its customer-oriented solutions.

TDM today takes the stage with a complete system for improving the organization of production resources: tools, jigs and fixtures, gauges and calibration equipment, setup and chucking devices, and their digital data are organized and managed with TDM software. The current version, TDM V4, is available in ten languages and is sold on all international markets. www.tdmsystems.com