MANUFACTURING SOFTWARE Machine tools connected through MTConnect, an open-
architecture, royalty-free protocol for machine communica- tions, or through a variety of proprietary protocols available from CNC controls suppliers, can turn a growing stream of data coming off the plant fl oor into useful information. Key operational metrics such as overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), machine uptime and capacity utilization allow shop managers to quickly view the performance of a particular ma- chine or factory, and adjust as needed.
IoT, Big Data Concerns
The coming onslaught of connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices and the Big Data deluge may prompt more manufacturers to seek rock-solid solutions for dealing with extremely large amounts of operational data.
the “Third Platform” of computing—a convergence of mobile computing, social media, the cloud and Big Data, he said. “As this third platform takes hold, plant managers of manufacturing companies are beginning to understand they cannot manage what they cannot measure,” McPhail said. “IoT or the Industrial Internet of Things [IIoT] has some boardrooms buzzing about the possibilities for data-driven manufacturing, so it’s helpful to us, but it’s still a high-fl ying concept that could take several years to land on earth.” Helping this concept land is partly depending on that
fi rst step—capturing and analyzing data that offers the most value, which isn’t as simple as it seems considering the vast amount of data available in a manufacturing environment. “Our developers are constantly improving the process- ing of the immense quantity of events that can be streaming into a database from a shop fl oor,” said Jody Romanowski, CEO of Cimco Americas LLC (Streamwood, IL), a developer of data-collection software solutions. “When a new system is implemented, it is important to determine if the information will be valuable to you and plan the collection of relevant data carefully. “It’s easy enough to collect ‘Big Data,’ but
make sure you are collecting events from which you can assemble useful information,” she added. “I think some of the Big Data arrays may be fi lled with information that is not relevant or can’t be processed into useful information.”
The MERLIN (Manufacturing Execution Real-Time Lean Information Network) MES software from Memex Inc. features dashboards with critical shop-fl oor metrics including OEE, availability, part quality and machine performance.
More technology providers, such as Cisco, are moving into the manufacturing space with solutions for handling large amounts of unmanaged data, said David McPhail, CEO of Memex Inc. (Burlington, ON, Canada), developer of manufacturing execution systems (MES). “Within our industry there are 20 million CNC machine tools installed globally, two million in North American alone,” he added, “and three more support assets are typically associated with each CNC, which creates an 80-million-machine universe. Yet over 90% of the world’s CNC assets are not connected because of a plethora of different data protocols.” As an increasing amount of this data is captured, those within manufacturing see a higher-tech, data-driven manu- facturing industry taking shape. Big Data is just one part of
54
AdvancedManufacturing.org | October 2015
Embracing Advanced Technologies Shops today are looking for ways to streamline operations, improve productivity, and reduce cost,
noted Mohamed Abuali, CEO of Forcam Inc. (Cincinnati and Friedrichshafen, Germany). “More manufacturers are embracing advanced technologies,” Abuali said. “At large enterprises, there is a necessity for global manufacturing intelligence and bench- marking, where managers can access KPIs and analytics at their fi ngertips, anytime, anywhere, in any language. At smaller manufacturers and job shops, there is a growing desire to moni- tor the shop fl oor, understand part fl ows, planned versus actual performance, run programs, and access paperless information.” All manufacturers are trying to enhance the skills of an aging workforce and use technology to drive productivity, he added. “At Forcam, we offer an scalable solution that can address the needs of large and smaller manufacturing enterprises, via a cloud-based or on-premise solution and
Image courtesy Memex Inc.
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