THE INDUSTRY is making great steps towards the most important trade fair event of the year, the Ligna in Hanover. On a stand space of more than 400 m2, the Bavarian machine manufacturer MARTIN will present premium machines for professional woodworking to the international trade fair public.
Ligna will take place again from 15th to 19th May 2023 after a now four-year interruption, and will once again attract visitors from all over the world to Hanover.
MARTIN will present the complete range of sliding table saws, spindle moulders, thicknessers and surface planers as well as the special sanding machine for wood window construction at Stand E30 in Hall 12.
“We at MARTIN are very proud to be able to present our innovative, now patented ConnectControl control technology to visitors for the first time at Ligna. We are convinced that with this innovative concept of machine control we have once again given a noticeable innovative impetus to the entire industry,” Michael Mühldorfer, marketing manager at MARTIN, says.
A highlight of this Ligna, Mr Mühldorfer continued, is the cloud-based, patented Connect-Control control concept that characterises the latest generation of sliding table saws and table milling machines from MARTIN.
With this multi-award-winning MARTIN invention, users receive a uniquely designed, high performance machine control system that not only opens up completely new horizons for the user in machine operation, but also opens up the entire world of modern data exchange.
The innovative, patented ConnectControl control system is available for the new T14 and T29 spindle moulders and the two new T66 and T77 sliding table saws. Thanks to the modular design of ConnectTouch, the permanently installed touch-screen control, ConnectPad, the Apple iPad, with the ConnectApp and the cloud solution ConnectDrive, the customer has the option of upgrading or downgrading the control of his machine at any time, even after purchase. This provides a comfortable level of investment security and flexibility.
The state of the art in the operation of stationary standard woodworking machines is dominated by electronic controls that are permanently connected to the machine; the possibility of multifunctional use of the existing control electronics is not given.
These controls are also only connected to the internet in exceptional cases, mainly for maintenance. With ConnectControl, MARTIN is taking into account the increasing digitalisation of the working world, which is also unstoppable in the traditional trade. A central cornerstone here is communication.
Modern companies and their employees increasingly work with electronic work documents, ie tablets. On the one hand, because the tablet carries all relevant work documents, on the other hand, because it is a central means of modern communication.
It made sense to take this development a step further and use the tablet as an extended machine control system. With the tablet or the corresponding app, users have access to extensive extensions of the essential machine operation, which runs on the 7” touch screen permanently installed on the machine. In addition, access to data centrally managed in the company, such as order data or mould information, is ensured via the tablet or the associated cloud application.
Of course, every machine equipped with ConnectControl can be operated without a docked tablet as well as without an on-line connection, but then without the possibilities of communication to the “outside”.
The intelligent combination of a mobile tablet and a 7” touch screen permanently installed on the machine enables the multi-level operating concept to provide efficient electronic support for the operator directly at the machine.
On the other hand, the tablet also ensures communication between the machine and the work preparation department as well as between the machine and the construction site, for example. The tablet as the employee’s central work device ensures that work processes are perfectly organised even if changes occur that flow into the company from outside. Examples of this are changes or rework that are necessary at short notice, which occur from time to time during an assembly operation. Through the use of modern communication technology, these flow seamlessly to the machine — quickly and efficiently. Neither outdated work instructions nor obsolete drawings need to be exchanged; everyone has the current status directly at hand at all times. By integrating modern technology into the machine operation, even the last hurdle of the information flow is taken.
The ConnectControl control concept has already received two awards. On the one hand, the innovative, successful design of the control structure was honoured with the German Design Award 2022. Secondly, and MARTIN is particularly proud of this, the innovations that were realised in this concept were also honoured with the German Innovation Award 2022.
Visitors can also look forward to the new, fresh design of the MARTIN machines. The entire range now comes in a modern white, the familiar water blue is now reserved for the area around the logo.
“Our machines have long stood for woodworking at its best. Many functions that you may not even have thought about complete all models, from the entry-level class to our top models. And they really leave nothing to be desired,” says Mr Mühldorfer.
At the Ligna stand, MARTIN will present the complete range of the company to visitors. In addition to the two new spindle moulders T14 and T29, both of which offer all the possibilities of digitalisation thanks to ConnectControl, the combined planer T32, which has been newly added to the range, will also be shown for the first time at Ligna. This planer will be accompanied by its “sisters’, the tried-and-tested T45 thickness planer and the T54 surface planer.
Thanks to ConnectControl, companies can now also make full use of the possibilities of digitalisation on the new T66 and T77 sliding table saws. Both sliding table saws are already equipped with infinitely variable speed control as standard, as are the table routers. The cutting height of the T66 is now 155 mm with a 450 mm saw blade, whereas the T77 reaches up to 205 mm cutting height. Where a T66 swivels on one side up to +46°, the T77 swivels to 47°. Optionally, a T77 can also swivel on both side from +47° to –46°.
The Q-FIN special sanding machine, which won the German Innovation Award in Gold, has literally ushered in a new era. The machine, which has been in use in numerous leading European window manufacturing companies since 2014, is now able to process the glass neck in the quality finishing process in addition to the other main surfaces thanks to the chamfering unit shown for the first time at Ligna. Both the profiled scantling and the glass bead can now be prepared on all relevant surfaces in such a way that the resource-consuming intermediate grinding can be omitted.
“Be ready for a new era in wood window manufacturing and experience how Quality Finishing from MARTIN works at Ligna in May,” concluded Mr Mühldorfer.
MARTIN at Ligna: Hall 12/Stand E30, 15th to 19th May 2023.
For contact details, see page 14-15 of our April/May 2023 issue on our Back Issues page.
