New and improved website

shop floor automationsShop Floor Automations website

Shop Floor Automations has released a more mobile and user-friendly website. We have our entire line of products and services available, as well as new support tools available.

We are also adding to our Customer Testimonial and FAQ sections. Please let us know what else we should add.

More about our services:

Shop Floor Automations (SFA) provides the leading software brands in the manufacturing industry to integrate & support the best solutions for our customers with our years of applicable experience. The developers of the software SFA carries understand your shop floor needs & with our integration services, we can make your company more efficient using machine monitoring, job scheduling, DNC communication, document control, revision control, CNC editing, & more.

SFA is committed to addressing manufacturing automation needs of customers with individualized solutions. By offering an extensive collection of software & hardware products, we scale automation solutions to customers of any size & variety of equipment.

Do you have a small shop? A large shop? Regardless of your number of machines, or types of controls, SFA has you covered with a complete hardware connectivity suite. Don’t shop around & waste time trying to find the lowest prices – using our 18 years of experience & full support (onsite & digital) will pay for itself with working solutions.

We make our own cables & regularly test hundreds of models of controls with our equipment to confirm what works with wired, wireless, USB, & floppy disk drives for CNCs to eliminate downtime.

Call (877) 611-5825 for more information on how to improve OEE on your manufacturing shop floor!

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March ad in the Southwest Manufacturing News

Manufacturing News

We are proud to be up and running for a month in Texas

Check out our other ad in MFG News

More about our Support Services, available across the USA:

Support / Services

When selecting a vendor for your shop floor automation needs, it is important to select a company that is committed to service and support. Our clients list continues to grow through recommendations from our customers, as well as our partners. You can speak to a real person over the phone with us, versus sending emails or leaving messages on a cell phone, then waiting for a response. The information contained on these pages is intended to give you direct access to the latest software revisions, support options and technical documentation available! Read more below.

Read more

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CNC Software And OEE Hardware Products in MFG News

Greg Mercurio Shop Floor Automations

CNC Software And OEE Hardware

Manufacturing News spoke with Greg Mercurio about some of our OEE software and CNC hardware this month.

Shop Floor Automations (SFA), distributor of Scytec Data Xchange, will be presenting its latest data collection in a cloud SAAS product along with its latest automation products for the shop floor.

CNC Software

SFA will showcase a cloud-based machine product to capture utilization, downtime and OEE data as well as display real-time machine performance. SFA will demonstrate how real-time utilization and OEE information can now be collected with no database or reporting servers to install or maintain. The pricing model is designed to allow users to explore machine monitoring without a huge upfront cost or unknowns.

Read more below

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January/February 2015 Shop Floor Automations Newsletter

Shop Floor Automations NewsletterThe following is an archived copy of our January/February 2015 Shop Floor Automations Newsletter.

U.S. MANUFACTURING OUTLOOK FOR 2015 LOOKS PROMISING

The U.S. manufacturing outlook looks promising for 2015 according to MAPI Foundation. “Manufacturing is expected to grow faster than the overall economy and aerospace production is starting to ramp up again. The forecast is predicted as 4.0% for manufacturing, 8.5% for computer and electronic products, and 3.8% for non-hi-tech manufacturing.”

Since 1998, we’ve partnered with manufacturers and have now over 3,000 customers. SFA was recognized as Predator Software’s number #1 dealer for 2014. We are proud to receive this award for multiple years in a row. We stand by Predator Software, a U.S. made product.

NEW REGIONAL SUPPORT OFFICE IN TEXAS

We listened to your requests and we are expanding!  We now have a new regional office in Houston to better serve our customers.

This presence in the Bayou City will enable us to provide more training, lower implementation costs and provide faster response times to nearby customers’ service requests.

If you would like to meet with us for a free 1 hour consultation, contact us here

THE RS232 CABLE PROBLEM RESOLVED

Are you looking to connect your CNC but frustrated with pinouts and soldiering of RS232 cables?

We carry a variety of lengths, pre-made, terminated and ready to be shipped for any machine control.  We have over 80 different configurations of pinouts to interface with any type of connect.

All cables are manufactured in the U.S. and include a 5-year warranty.  You can order online or call us anytime.

ORIGINAL NEWSLETTER LINK HERE

Call (877) 611-5825 for more information on how we can help increase OEE and productivity.

Our customers are at the heart of our business, and Gaby Ray in customer service is passionate about her role in making sure they are happy.  If you’re already a customer, you may have spoken with her. Whether it is following up after a purchase or just seeing if there are any concerns, Gaby is here to help. We have a 99.5% satisfied customer rating based on our surveys and feedback.

Gaby will be contacting you periodically to stay in touch, address your concerns or handle licensing needs.  If you have any questions, please contact her directly at ext. 1008.

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Predator’s Enhanced Ethernet Based Machine Monitoring called CNC Service

Enhanced Ethernet Based Machine Monitoring

Shop Floor Automations announces a new solution for Machine Monitoring utilizing MTConnect, FOCAS and other solutions called CNC Service (originally an article in CNC West).

SHOP FLOOR AUTOMATIONS ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF PREDATOR’S
ENHANCED ETHERNET-BASED MACHINE MONITORING

Predator SoftwareLA MESA, Calif. – December 16, 2014 – Shop Floor Automations (SFA), the largest distributor and Service Center for Predator Software Inc., today announced the release of Predator’s popular Manufacturing Data Collection (MDC) software for Ethernet-based machine tools.

For many years, Predator has offered its fully automated, real-time MDC system for any size company to monitor and improve shop floor productivity using PLCs, macros, and paper-based solutions. This solution integrated well into equipment with stack lights and older machines to capture running, alarms, feed hold, and idle time, but left some users objecting to adding more equipment due to the costs of hardware requirements.

Today, most CNC machines include Ethernet ports and can be leveraged for data collection. CNC machines that use a Fanuc controller may have a feature called FOCAS, which allows for the capture of real-time data such as overrides, spindle speed, program number, feed/speed rates, alarms, and indicates control mode. Read more below.

Read more

Shop Floor Automations Newsletter – NOV/DEC 2014

Shop Floor Automations NewsletterThe following is an archived copy of our Shop Floor Automations Newsletter – November/December 2014 Issue

MACHINE MONITORING WEBINAR

Do you know what your machines are doing, right now?

Consider what your shop rate is along with the cost of lost productivity time. Now, by knowing exactly what your machines are doing at all times, and by receiving proactive notifications, could you increase uptime by 30 minutes a month per machine?  How about the gains of knowing when machines are running at a lower feedrate, or sitting in feedhold? The software typically pays for itself within the first few days of each month.

JOB SCHEDULING WEBINAR

Improve your view of scheduling, job tracking, and machine capacity with JobPack On Time Graphical Scheduler.

Integrate with any ERP system or eliminate the white board and Microsoft Spreadsheet.  You make the part, we will plan and schedule the job on time, increase your throughput, reduce your overtime and drive your costs down.

JOIN THE NTMA (NATIONAL TOOLING AND MANUFACTURING ASSOCIATION)

Looking to connect with others and join a group that promotes our industry?

An NTMA membership immediately connects you with peers at the local, regional and national levels – opening up conversations that can lead to new opportunities while helping you discover industry trends and better ways to operate.

NTMA is organized into nearly 50 local chapters throughout the country.

We are part of the San Diego Chapter monthly meeting.

HERE IS A GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR YOUR STAFF

For all you CNC programmers and machine tool operators, we have the perfect Holiday gift. If your’re the boss, have your team look cool in a stylish black SFA t-shirt.

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We have sizes M through 3XL. You can order on our website.

Link to original newsletter HERE 

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Cloud-based machine monitoring from Shop Floor Automations

manufacturing technology trendsCloud-based machine monitoring

Cloud-based machine monitoring from Shop Floor Automations enabled aerospace parts manufacturer Tech Manufacturing to reduce lead times and improve productivity.

When companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Bombardier have urgent orders, how can a shop that is already running 24/7 reduce its lead time? This was the problem faced by Tech Manufacturing (Wright City, Missouri), a long-time manufacturer of machined metal parts for the aerospace industry. By introducing cloud-based monitoring from systems integrator Shop Floor Automations (La Mesa, California), Tech Manufacturing was able to pinpoint exactly where productivity issues needed to be addressed to maximize efficiency.

One way the company could have solved this problem would have been to purchase additional machines; however, Jerry Halley, chief engineer at Tech Manufacturing, was interested in finding a smarter, more efficient approach.

“It was clear to me that we needed, first and foremost, a much better understanding of how our machines were actually performing for us in real-time,” Mr. Halley says. “In addition, if we had both live and historical machine performance data available, we should be able to identify any technical or process issues that were detrimental to individual or overall productivity.” Read more below.

Read more

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Predator CNC Editor v10.0.16 Released

CNC EditorPredator CNC Editor v10.0.16 Released

Predator CNC Editor v10.0.16 has been released. This new version primarily replaces backplotting with a light version of Predator Virtual CNC. It also adds several new features and improvements.

This latest release makes the following improvements:

  • Added Windows 8 support
  • Added new Predator Virtual CNC for backplotting
  • Added option to upgrade to higher levels of Predator Virtual CNC for solids, CAD Compare, 4 Axis, 5 Axis, Mill/Turn and machine simulation
  • Added backplot dialogs to simplify Virtual CNC preferences, job properties, machine configuration, OpenGL graphics and many more
  • Added backplot support for sub programs and subroutines
  • Added backplot support for branching such as IF, THEN, GOTO, DO and WHILE
  • Added backplot inspection support
  • Added backplot option to save the Predator Header
  • Added backplot option to Check Code
  • Added -hiderememberpassword command line argument – Enterprise Only
  • Added -hidedatabase command line argument – Enterprise Only
  • Added importing new components – Enterprise Only
  • Added importing new reference attachments – Enterprise Only
  • Added -trace command line argument
  • Added new external resource files
  • Added new PREDITOR.INI file for backplot integration with Predator Virtual CNC
  • Added new bar code label configuration for Summary Info Report
  • Added new command line variable \Template for the current template
  • Added new command line variable \FileFullName for the current file
  • Added new French language support
  • Added new German language support
  • Added new Portuguese language support
  • Added new Polish language support
  • Added new Spanish language support
  • Added new Installation that eliminates a required pvcnc.ocx dependency
  • Improved New Template wizard
  • Improved Edit Template wizard
  • Improved backplot graphics quality and performance
  • Improved Windows 7 and Vista installation
  • Improved splitter bars and scroll bars
  • Improved Summary Info report with a new bar code
  • Improved active window border
  • Improved help about dialog
  • Improved component editing
  • Improved history report
  • Improved error messages
  • Improved online help

Customers on software maintenance can download v10.0.16 of Predator CNC Editor from 

Icon
Predator CNC Editor
Version: 10.0.25
Download

SFA in September 2014 Modern Machine Shop

See Shop Floor Automations’ recent advertisement here in Modern Machine Shop September 2014 issue below.

A red, yellow, and green bar graph showing increase, with the tallest bar crashing through the roof of its bounding box. There are several lines of text referencing software and hardware solutions for the shop floor.Shop Floor Automations can help improve your bottom line! We provide the best software, hardware and installation services since 1998!

Our solutions include DNC software, machine monitoring, data collection, updating floppy drives to USB, helping companies monitor data wireless, and many more specialties. If you want to update your machine shop without buying new machines, call us!

SFA is located across the social media landscape. You can like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, connect on LinkedIn, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and so much more. Check out our social media resources page by clicking here. You may also read our blog by clicking here.

  • Customer Success Survey. 8 quick questions. Reward: Free Shirt – Click Here
  • Purchase Origin Survey. 4 quick questions. Reward: Coupon Code – Click Here
  • Case Study. 10 minute to 15 minute phone interview. Rewards: Free publicity and upon publishing of the case study, you will get a free shirt! Click Here
  • Google Review. Leave a Star Rating & optional comment. Reward: Making our day! Click Here 
  • Facebook Review. Leave a Star Rating & optional comment. Reward: Making our day! Click Here

If you want to leave a less than perfect review, we encourage you to reach out to us first. Please call (877) 611-5825 or contact us via this form. We would love the opportunity to fix the situation.

Shop Floor Automations Newsletter – SEPT/OCT 2014

Shop Floor Automations NewsletterThe following is an archived copy of the Shop Floor Automations Newsletter – September/October 2014 issue.

Predator Software has released a new version of the Predator CNC Editor.

The new features include support for Windows 8, a new backplot engine, support for sub programs and subroutines, a new check code and several new improvements.

If you need a simple product to upload and download to your CNC machines, backplot, and do a file comparison, the CNC Editor v10 might be the right package.  Save 10% if you order by Oct 31, 2014 – promo code: EDITv10

Customers on maintenance can download v10 from our website at anytime.  Customers running v9 or older should contact us for upgrade details and pricing.

Are you moving or adding new machines in the next 12 months? 

We have found that we can be of great assistance if we are brought into the planning stages early.  We have 16 years of experience in setting up new systems and migrating plants to new locations.

If you are using RS232 cabling, consider upgrading to a wireless solution. We also offer consulting on computer requirements, infrastructure, and the next step toward document control, paperless manufacturing, and machine monitoring.

Reach out to us to migrate your DNC system to Windows 7 or 8 with the ability to control and manage your network based CNCs.  Our Account Executives are here to support you with a click away.

In a recent case study done by Modern Machine Shop in October 2014 issue, Scytec Data Xchange maximizes efficiency on the shop floor.

“Productivity monitoring can be a vague concept to wrap your head around, but once you see it for yourself with our own machines and with live data, you wonder immediately how you ever operated without that knowledge and awareness.” said Jerry Halley.

The cloud-based machine monitoring from Shop Floor Automations enabled aerospace parts manufacturer, Tech Manufacturing, to reduce lead times and improve productivity.

The process started with a few machines at a low cost, of $45 per machine, per month and the ROI was seen within a few weeks. Low cost upfront, no long term contracts and easy to get started with any type of CNC controller.

Link to original newsletter HERE