Shop Floor Automations NewsletterThe following is an archived copy of the Shop Floor Automations Newsletter – April 2012 issue.

Congratulations to our contest winners!!!

Our “Success Stories” contest winner is Nathan Pierce from Lesco Automotive Industries in San Luis Obispo, CA. He won a $250 gift certificate to Amazon.com for submitting the best success story.

Hosted Machine Monitoring is now available!

Josh Davids from Scytec Corporation unveiled his company’s latest product – Hosted DataXchange. It allows customers to collect machine data and store it in a secure offsite location. Hosted DataXchange is available starting at $45 per machine per month without any long term commitment.  Volume discounts are also available starting at just 6 pieces of equipment. Collect multiple types of real time cycle status and have access to reporting and charting from anywhere with internet access.  Hosted DataXchange is easily integrated with network based machines using Fanuc Focas or MTConnect on Mazak, Okuma, and many others.

For Shop Floor Automations customers, until the end of May, we can offer 50% off the already low setup fee of $1,000. Call to set up a personal online presentation today!

Tech Tip

#3 of 4 Big Manufacturer Mistakes:

Padding a job with extra hours OR giving the customer a padded delivery promise

When you have no faith in the accuracy of your production schedules, the way to cushion the schedule is to deceive yourself by padding the time standards or padding the delivery promise dates. Rather than “just‐in‐time”, you now have “just‐in‐case” production management. Anytime you put incorrect information into the system, you make all of your answers incorrect. The problem becomes larger because the inflation of rates and dates grows as employees become less confident about the information they receive.

With JobPack Master Scheduler, the real‐time, finite capacity scheduling system, the accurate time standards and accurate machine/resource capacities deliver a reliable, achievable production schedule with dependable customer delivery dates. As production jobs are completed and reported on, you capture the actual performance results, so you can use the actual performance to fine‐tune the time standards for future production jobs. Gradually, employees and customers believe the accuracy of the production schedule. This reduces the amount of work‐in‐process inventory, minimizes expediting costs, and improves overall customer satisfaction.

Link to original newsletter HERE 

pdm

Predator PDM Version 10 Release

La Mesa, CA – April 4, 2012 –Shop Floor Automations (SFA) has announced the release of the newest version of its shop floor PDM solution, Predator PDM version 10.
Version 10 of Predator PDM offers the most extensive expansion of features of any version yet, according to the company. Features include: direct integration with Predator DNC systems, including systems utilizing Remote Request; improved integration with Predator MDC (Manufacturing Data Collection) systems; expanded workflow, approval control and history options; new and improved bar code and RFID integration options and unlimited flexibility in definition and naming of PDM vault elements.
“All previous PDM systems have been designed and built with CAD & CAM files and design departments in mind and as such, have rarely been a good fit for controlling access to files on the shop floor,” said a company spokesperson. “Predator PDM is designed to be much more flexible than traditional PDM systems while still retaining the ability to provide absolute control over what files are being used on the floor and capturing a history of those files’ use as well.
“Our basic PDM systems can be utilized to simply control and track access to NC files, but they can easily be expanded to include almost any type of file used on the shop floor, including drawings, tool lists, setup sheets, videos, manuals, etc. While designed to be as simple as possible to implement and use, Predator PDM still has the power to be the single solution for file access control, file viewing, file use history, quality and manufacturing status history, initiation of DNC file transfers (when combined with our DNC software solution) and updating of machine status (both to our data collection solutions, as well as existing data collection systems).”

For more information: fill out a contact form here 

Tel: 619-461-4000, fax: 619-461-5918, toll free: 877-611-5825.