I. The Concept of Interconnectivity in the Mold Industry

Interconnectivity is one of the five intelligent-level requirements for the intelligent architecture of smart manufacturing systems, as outlined in the "Guidelines for Building a National Smart Manufacturing Standards System," jointly issued by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Standardization Administration. As shown in the figure, interconnectivity refers to the layer that enables mutual connection and information exchange among equipment, between equipment and control systems, and between enterprises, through wired and wireless communication technologies.

Interconnectivity can refer to the physical network connection between production equipment and information technology devices within a single factory (in-factory interconnection), or it can also be... 2 The physical network connection (off-site interconnection) between one or more factory production equipment and information infrastructure facilities. Interconnectivity places greater emphasis on whether the aforementioned physical network connections can provide different quality of service and various types of information transmission channels for different scenarios, devices, and applications—covering both physical networks and information networks. In discrete manufacturing, interconnectivity can be categorized into two aspects: device interconnectivity and software interconnectivity. Device interconnectivity refers to the effective data exchange with various hardware devices and installations through a unified interface framework, while software interconnectivity involves using a unified data middleware to provide data interfaces and services for various application software programs.

II. Technical Analysis of Interconnectivity in the Mold Industry

According to the product form and production process organization method in industrial manufacturing, industrial sectors can be classified into process industries and discrete industries. 2 A typical type. The process industry refers to industries that rely on chemical reactions and / Industries that produce through physical separation typically include process industries such as petroleum and chemical manufacturing, which feature high levels of automation. Discrete industries, on the other hand, primarily refer to sectors where products are created by altering the physical form of raw materials and assembling them into finished goods—products that are measured in discrete units. Typical discrete industries include mold making, automotive, and aerospace. In discrete manufacturing applications, since processing is discrete in nature, material scheduling becomes essential. The quality of products and production efficiency largely depend on the skill level of workers, and the degree of automation is relatively limited. Overall, the coordination among various production stages still relies heavily on manual operations. However, interconnected technologies play a crucial role in enhancing the production capacity of discrete manufacturing workshops that adopt multi-variety, small-to-medium-batch production methods. These technologies not only enable seamless information exchange within flexible automated production lines but also integrate data from individual discrete production units, digitizing the entire manufacturing process. This integration facilitates comprehensive process management, reduces energy consumption, and enables efficient, human-machine collaborative production.

At the application level of interconnectivity in the mold equipment manufacturing industry, it involves achieving effective information sharing and interaction among equipment itself as well as between equipment and production management systems, as shown in the figure. The realization of interconnectivity in the mold equipment manufacturing industry can be divided into physical and network aspects. 2 At the physical level, interconnectivity throughout the entire mold manufacturing process is achieved, encompassing electrode and steel component milling operations. CNC ) Steel part electrical discharge machining ( EDM ) Interconnection of manufacturing processes and control systems, with a focus on control connectivity; at the network level, how to achieve network interoperability among the sub-control systems in the mold manufacturing process, with an emphasis on network communication.

3. Interconnectivity of the Mold and Equipment Manufacturing System

To achieve interconnectivity in the mold manufacturing process, the key is to integrate electrodes into the mold manufacturing equipment. CNC Steel parts CNC and steel parts EDM The exchange of processing and manufacturing information for single automated production lines, enabling electrode-based... CNC Steel parts CNC and steel parts EDM Automation and informationization of the mold manufacturing process, which is primarily focused on machining.

In the composition of intelligent manufacturing systems, MES The system and its constituent components are critical links in realizing intelligent manufacturing, serving as a vital bridge for coordinating and transmitting enterprise production plans and production information throughout the process of manufacturing informatization. Combining the characteristics of flexible mold manufacturing systems, the structure of flexible mold manufacturing systems in workshops can be divided into: 3 Layers: workshop layer, unit layer, and equipment layer, as shown in the figure. 3 As shown. The workshop level is primarily responsible for process management in mold manufacturing, including tasks such as production scheduling, production execution, and logistics dispatch. It is mainly managed by: MES 、 WMS The system consists of scheduling and other components. The unit level is responsible for data acquisition, monitoring, and control during the mold manufacturing process, and primarily includes a data acquisition and monitoring system ( SCADA ) Human-machine interface ( HMI ) and others, responsible for executing control over the loading and unloading logic of industrial robots, downloading and running programs for machining centers, as well as barcode or... RFID Identify control, HMI Display and monitoring of production operations. The equipment layer is responsible for tasks such as mold processing, inspection, transportation, and storage. The machining equipment primarily handles the processing of steel parts and electrodes, and is divided into steel part processing... CNC Processing, electrode CNC Machining, steel parts EDM Processing and other types; the inspection equipment primarily performs dimensional inspections of mold electrodes after processing, typically using a three-coordinate measuring machine; transportation is mainly handled by industrial robots and... AGV The small vehicle has been completed; the storage equipment primarily handles the storage tasks throughout the entire manufacturing process of mold steel parts and electrodes, and consists of material racks, a three-dimensional warehouse, and pre-set platforms. The interconnectedness of the mold manufacturing process aims to achieve automation and informationization—from the source of processing instructions all the way through to the execution phase—thereby promoting the implementation of the intelligent manufacturing concept for molds.

IV. Interconnectivity in the Mold and Die Manufacturing Industry Based on the Industrial Internet

The industrial internet is the realization of a systematic industrial communication network. OT ) + Data communication network connecting information systems and terminals ( IT ) is an important carrier and key platform for integration. With the development of the Industrial Internet, building an industrial internet system that connects mold equipment—from the device end to cloud platforms—has gradually become a priority in China’s smart manufacturing efforts. This initiative holds significant importance for advancing mold manufacturing technology and deepening industry applications.

Currently, mainstream industrial internet organizations focus on connecting equipment at the production site with... OT+IT The primary focus is on the architecture, whose advantage lies in leveraging fieldbuses and industrial Ethernet to connect mold equipment across various levels—from the device layer at the bottom all the way up to the workshop level and even the enterprise level, as illustrated in the figure. 4 As shown. However, the overall structure is complex, leading to high costs and making it difficult to achieve a high degree of integration and connectivity across all levels. Additionally, user usability is relatively poor.

Currently, the Industrial Internet of Things ( Industrial Internet of Things ), industrial internet, cloud-based deployment, and other aspects are OT and IT The research focus of integration. As... “ Internet +” Continuously penetrating the industrial sector, the overall network layout of mold equipment can be directly implemented using an internet-based model. Specifically, mold equipment is connected in series and parallel within the workshop’s local area network via Ethernet or similar protocols, and then accesses a cloud platform through the internet, thereby achieving interconnectivity and interoperability among mold equipment.