Shop Floor Automations in Texas

We are looking for a quality candidate for our Texas Support Department. The Field Technician will be based out of Houston TX or Dallas TX. For more information, go to About Us>Careers

We are also offering a $250 referral reward to the person that brings us our next great employee!

More about SFA and working for us:

At SFA, we are not only coworkers, but we also treat each other like family. There is a reasonably flexible schedule when you work with us, as well as benefits and, if you are in our main San Diego office, Friday company lunch meetings every week.

Founded back in 1998, Shop Floor Automations, Inc. (SFA) started as a small company focused on distributing the Predator Software product line to the San Diego and Los Angeles markets of California.  Within 6 months, the company expanded to cover the entire West Coast as a reseller with the goal to be the #1 reseller in a year.

The goal was met in 1999 when SFA was awarded the status of largest distributor of Predator Software in North America. SFA has been ranked #1 in Predator Software Sales, Service, and Support for many consecutive years. We are also known for our other Software and Hardware solutions from brands like MOXA, Scytec, Smartware, Ascendant, and more!

If you are technically savvy or want to learn more about how to contribute to the growing American manufacturing industry, send us your info. You may be our next great team member!

CMMS from Shop Floor Automations

Shop Floor Automations, a DNC networking, communications and automation solutions provider, announced that its manufacturing customers are gaining full control of plant floor maintenance operations by using newly enhanced Bigfoot CMMS.

Shop Floor Automations“ Typically maintenance operations teams try to keep up with equipment repairs, and the barrage of mobile calls and text messages from beleaguered machine operators,” said Greg Mercurio, President of Shop Floor Automations. “By implementing Bigfoot CMMS, we are helping maintenance teams shift from high-stress reactive mode to an organized preventive maintenance culture, handling routine maintenance and ad hoc repairs ahead of breakdowns and before complaints start rolling in. Bigfoot customers report saving more than 40 percent in annual maintenance costs.”

Bigfoot CMMS is a web-based solution that fundamentally automates preventive maintenance schedules for Every piece of plant floor equipment and all components entered into its database. Personnel submit requests for repairs through Bigfoot that generates work orders. Bigfoot captures data from work orders to drive calendar and meter-reading based preventive maintenance schedules. Additionally, Bigfoot collects valuable information to use on replace/repair decisions, outside vendor repair cost negotiations, capital investments and new hires.

Bigfoot’s advanced capabilities include predictive maintenance, asset life cycle analysis, parts replacement inventory, and history tracking with built-in reporting. Latest features include:

• PM balancing analysis.

• Assigning work orders to multiple people.

• Work order/asset criticality (RIME) analysis.

• Enhancement requests – direct to appropriate staff based on priority, type, etc.

• Employee certifications tracking.

• Enhanced tracking of replacement parts inventory.

• Bar coding work orders for easy access and retrieval.

• Additional languages have been added. Bigfoot is available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese, and Hebrew.

Bigfoot Web is now supported by Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari.

“Through work order information capture, analysis and reporting on all aspects of equipment maintenance, Bigfoot optimizes preventive maintenance, and ensures that all monitored assets achieve maximum up time, safety and longevity,” said Mr. Mercurio.

More over at Manufacturing News

Floppy Drive Emulators for CNC Controls

UPDATE, as of the Summer of 2016 – the “FD Connect” has been renamed the Floppy Drive Emulator, as part of the Connect Series (Floppy Connect).

Floppy Drive EmulatorShop Floor Automations has updated its FD Connect solution, which eliminates cumbersome floppy disks on the manufacturing floor. The new model includes support for Mitsubishi WireEDMs, Bridgeport and Siemens controls. The released model is also available in a “Universal” model to allow emulation of drive type such as Sony, IBM, Citizen, Teac and NEC, commonly found in older CNC controls such as Haas, Fadal, Mazak, Okuma, and Anilam.

Shop Floor Automations has updated its FD Connect solution, which eliminates cumbersome floppy disks on the manufacturing floor. The new model includes support for Mitsubishi WireEDMs, Bridgeport and Siemens controls. The released model is also available in a “Universal” model to allow emulation of drive type such as Sony, IBM, Citizen, Teac and NEC, commonly found in older CNC controls such as Haas, Fadal, Mazak, Okuma, and Anilam.

“Floppy disks are easily damaged in the shop environment due to dirt, oil and grime and are becoming impossible to replace. The FD Connect solution eliminates the need for floppy disks making it an ideal program and data storage solution for industrial equipment and machine tools,” said Greg Mercurio, President, Shop Floor Automations. The device is a simple plugin thumb drive that allows easy transfer of files to the Floppy Connect. Users simply remove the existing drive and the FD Connect plugs directly into the ribbon and power cables of the old drive. It is compatible with 720K or 1. 44MB systems.

Read More over at Manufacturing News

More on our Floppy Drive Emulators

Our Floppy Drive Emulator, available in two models, acts as a Floppy USB Emulator, is easy install, requires no system configuration or debugging, & replaces the need for floppy disks, which are very difficult to obtain. The drive emulates your existing floppy drive & acts as if the floppy drive was never removed. Works with almost any existing 720k/1.44MB capacity DOS format floppy drive. 28 or 32 pin ribbon cables systems are supported & will connect to your existing power cable.

Works in PCs & in CNC machinery such as Haas, Mazak, Fadal, Mitsubishi, Omniturn, Centroid, Robots, Flame Cutters, & Greco boxes, with new models being added to our compatibility list monthly!

Your time is valuable in the shop floor environment. Stop using it to search for old media!

  • Interface to the existing ribbon cable
  • Plugs into floppy power connector
  • Supports 720k/1.44MB capacity IBM
  • Support Wired EDM, Mills, Lathes, Robots, & other types of equipment
  • No need for Floppy Disks anymore
  • Our Haas Floppy Emulator is also off-the-shelf in functionality and pricing!

Shop Floor Automations NewsletterThe following is a copy of the Shop Floor Automations Newsletter – June 2012 issue.

Changes to our Website

We have recently made a lot changes to our website. Our improvements should make things easier to find and better explain what SFA can do for you. While there is still much work to be done, please visit us and provide us your feedback on what you would like to see on our website.

If you already know what you want, look at the “Software” and “Hardware” drop down menus to see all our available products.

If you are looking to improve your shop floor and looking for ideas, go to the “Solutions” drop down for more information on a broad range of topics.

We sell, service and support a wide variety of software and hardware solutions from the industry’s leading manufacturers. We have brought together the best vendors, to make your shop floor run more efficiently and be more productive.

If you are Upgrading to Windows 7

If you are considering upgrading to Windows 7 soon, we want to make sure you are prepared.

Over the years, many of our customers have purchased serial hardware which uses a serial card inside the PC or is connected via a network cable.  Most of this hardware was introduced in the early 2000’s and compatibility for this equipment from the manufacturer is no longer supported.  We have several options to move forward with new hardware or extend the life of the existing equipment.

Specific Hardware

  • ISA or PCI hardware needs to be updated to Wireless or Wired Ethernet Hardware
  • New SIM? Check the SIM on the back of your PC to see if it’s a parallel SIM, plugged into the printer port.  This will need to be upgraded to USB SIM.
  • Drivers? Hardware uses drivers to communicate between Windows and your machines.  Check to make sure your version is the latest and greatest available from our site.  If not, call us for help with updates or any other issues with your DNC product.

Specific Software

  • Version 9 or newer for Predator
  • xtremeDNC can be upgraded to SFA DNC
  • JobPack needs to be upgraded to the 2012 version
  • Bigfoot includes free upgrades on web versions
Send Us Your Story & Photos

Email us your success story on how SFA improved your shop floor with pictures and (1) winner will be selected from a random drawing for a $100 gift card by 8/3/12

Link to original newsletter HERE.