Chicago, Illinois – Machine tool manufacturer and Industry 4.0 proponent Trumpf has opened a smart factory for Industry 4.0 solutions in Chicago, designed for digitally connected production processes.
Investments for the 50,000ft2 facility totaled $15 million and $15 million in equipment. This smart factory will focus on customer consulting and training. Trumpf engineers designed a factory that intelligently connects the entire sheet metal process chain – from initial order for a sheet metal component to design, manufacture, and delivery.
Trumpf selected Chicago for its central location in the middle of the Midwest manufacturing center of America. Some 40% of the entire sheet metal processing industry is based in directly neighboring states.
“For us, North America is one of the most important markets. And in Chicago, we can present our vision for connected production to our customers in the Midwest practically at their doorstep,” says Trumpf Group CEO Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller.
Custom architecture at the factory includes a control room with large screens to provide visitors with real-time performance data for ongoing production processes.
A 180ft production hall houses a connected sheet metal manufacturing line, the centerpiece of which is a high storage bay that supplies materials to the machine tools connected to it. A skywalk spans the production hall, offering a bird’s-eye view of the factory and giving those who walk on it a comprehensive view of the production systems as well as their material and information flows.
The building’s self-supporting steel ceiling structure was manufactured by one of Trumpf’s customers in Atlanta, Georgia.