, , ,

Onsite Services Special

Onsite Services Special

Looking to improve communication to your CNC machines? We are offering onsite services to fine-tune your existing DNC system. We constantly have special discounts for our services.

Add cabling to a new machine, troubleshoot, move the system to a more reliable PC, or provide onsite training and consulting. We will make sure everything is set up properly and that your shop floor workers are trained before we take one step out of your shop and label the job as “done.”

We also have remote assistant services available, if you don’t have the time or current resources to bring one of our friendly techs to your shop. We have many references, via our Customer Testimonials page. We also have many customer success stories you can watch on YouTube. Call us toll free at (877) 611-5825 if you are ready to go!

What some customers have to say about Shop Floor Automations:

Your team did an excellent job getting us out of a jam with recent damage to our Extreme DNC PC which got zapped by lightning. Within minutes after its arrival, only about 14 hours after my phone call to your tech named Guy, my guys had it working to load programs into our CNC machines. -Matt Slay, Jordan Machine Co.

I am very happy with the software and it is having a positive impact on our productivity. Shop Floor Automations had been somebody that we worked with really before we acquired it 13 years ago. We had Predator and some of the software you supplied. Recently, we added the Scytec DataXchange stuff a few years ago, and you guys are just good problem solvers for us! There was minimal startup cost and it requires little software management on the user end. Significant increases in machine utilization, better information flow between engineering guys and programming guys, quality guys, shop floor guys, and us as owners! Knowing what’s happening on the shop floor. I would recommend you, and I have – we’re big proponents of the software and you have been a really good resource for us. We’re happy to use cloud-based solutions like Scytec DataXchange! -Jerry Halley, Tech Manufacturing LLC

Our Predator DNC system is running so well, that after over 2 years, I have moved the keyboard and monitor off my desk and into a corner. It requires no maintenance and provides us with a trouble-free system. – Mark Chambers, Tech Manufacturing

New Michigan Support Office

Shop Floor Automations in Michigan

Shop Floor Automations, Inc. (SFA), the largest independent supplier of Predator Software products, has recently open a new support office in Kalamazoo, Michigan. SFA will now be able to provide local support to customers in the Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. With the new office opening, support will be provided on the East Coast Time Zone from 7:00AM to 8:00PM, Monday – Friday.

About Shop Floor Automations, Inc.:
Shop Floor Automations, Inc. is the largest independent supplier of Predator Software products in the world. Serving as a United States Service Center for Predator Software, SFA provides sales, service, and support for all Predator products. Based in La Mesa, California, with offices and personnel in California; Texas, Michigan, and Arizona, SFA has remained Predators top reseller for twelve years running.

SFA has become the industry leader in Shop Floor Communications and Machine Monitoring Solutions. Totally redefining what “Shop Floor Automation” solutions should be.  With thousands of customers from across the United States, Mexico, Canada, Europe and Asia, SFA was called upon by other vendors to provide other solutions that could be met by our knowledge, support and sales experience of the manufacturing industry.  In 2010, SFA aligned itself with these vendors to close the loop with maintenance management software, job management and scheduling software, hardware manufacturers, and machine tool companies.

The founders of SFA have many years of experience providing effective solutions to manufacturers large and small from coast to coast. Their expertise in designing and implementing DNC and Shop Floor Networks allows them to take the best hardware and software products to the next level. That level is a fully implemented, turnkey solution tailored specifically for a customer’s requirements and environments.

Shop Floor Automations is appropriately positioned to provide our customers with a complete technology environment. Customers are not looking for products so much as they are seeking solutions to their business problems. Our total solution approach for manufacturing customers provides hardware and software packages, installation and support services, and expert consultation where required. Our principal goal is to help customers save time and make money.

Thank you for taking a moment to learn more about us! Sales Contact Form | 24 Hour Support Contact Form | Join Our Email List | Find us on Social Media

, , ,

Shop of the Future

Shop of the Future Article

Using Shop Floor Automation’s software, manufacturers are now able to increase the efficiency and precision of their machines. These advancements in software technology have allowed manufacturers to reduce the amount of manpower as well as errors in their manufacturing processes, truly making them the shop of the future.

Joe Morales, director of manufacturing of Implant Direct states in the article:

“We chose Shop Floor Automation’s Predator DNC software,” he says. “All our machines have plenty of built-in memory, so we don’t use the drip-feed feature of the software, but we use most of its other features. All our machines are linked to their own computers, which, in turn, are linked to a server with Predator software. That way, our guys can read their travelers, input the program they need and Predator will deliver it to their workstation.”

“One thing we really like about the Predator software is its editor,” he says. “With as many parts and programs as we have, document control is extremely important. In the past, if an operator made changes to the G-code, the change could slip through a crack. But Predator prevents that. As soon as a program is no longer needed on the floor, it goes back to the programmer via Predator Software. The programmer uses the Predator editor to compare the returned program with the original. The software instantly flags changes so the programmer can check it out.”

Another useful feature, according to Morales, is the software’s “mass” editor. “The mass editing capability lets you call up multiple programs all at once and make changes to them,” he says. “This saves a tremendous amount of time. For instance, let’s say we wanted to alter speeds, feed rates or G-code. With Predator we can make one change and the software will change the entire family of parts all at once. It’s one of the key links in our manufacturing chain that helps us run this factory on the cutting edge of technology.”

Read the full article here.

SFA moved to a new location

Shop Floor Automations moved to La Mesa

Shop Floor Automations is settling into our new location in La Mesa, which is part of San Diego County here in California. We are now located at 5360 Jackson Drive, Suite 118, La Mesa, CA 91942.

Update: we are now located at Suite 202 in the same building.

We are focused on not only our local community but also the manufacturing community. We are part of NTMA’s San Diego Chapter, where we take place in as many local events as we can.

For information on upcoming NTMA San Diego events, head over to this page we have set up.

More info: Shop Floor Automations is a proud associate member of the San Diego Chapter of NTMA. The National Tooling & Machining Association works to create allies within the San Diego region of the local machining and tool industry by fostering mutual success through education, technology and communication.

We encourage you to take advantage of what this great organization has to offer. Please check the schedule below in order to find upcoming events held by NTMA.

SFA is located in San Diego County, situated in the bustling suburb of La Mesa, California, about 10 miles East of San Diego, ever since our founding year.  We expanded our support offices throughout the USA over the years to meet customer demands.

More about us here!

SFA has added a web call back feature to the website

Get a call back on YOUR time

SFA has added a web call back feature to the website. You can now request a phone call from our sales or technical departments.

More about the care Shop Floor Automations gives their customers:

The founders of SFA have many years of experience providing effective solutions to manufacturers large and small from coast to coast. Their expertise in designing and implementing DNC and Shop Floor Networks allows them to take the best hardware and software products to the next level. That level is a fully implemented, turnkey solution tailored specifically for a customer’s requirements and environments.

Shop Floor Automations is appropriately positioned to provide our customers with a complete technology environment. Customers are not looking for products so much as they are seeking solutions to their business problems. Our total solution approach for manufacturing customers provides hardware and software packages, installation and support services, and expert consultation where required. Our principal goal is to help customers save time and make money.

Thank you for taking a moment to learn more about us! Sales Contact Form | 24 Hour Support Contact Form | Join Our Email List

Because Shop Floor Automations is passionate about bringing your legacy machines up to date, we also realize that social media is a growing and helpful tool in the manufacturing industry. We would love to connect and be added by you on our major social media channels! Chat with us on one of our social media channels!

, ,

Wireless Hardware & Software provider for Alumco

SFA Inc. & Alumco

SFA is the featured wireless hardware and software provider for Alumco in a CNC West article. Look for us in the CNC West April – May 2004 issue.

More about our wireless shop floor solutions: 

SFA offers industrial grade wireless devices with quick installation to connect to your CNC machines. Consumer level devices, like DLink or Netgear products, cannot withstand the manufacturing environment. Our products allow you to connect your RS232-based machines to your existing wireless network & we can even help if you lack an existing wireless network!

Costs of stringing cable will vanish. Machines with overhead cranes, traveling gantries, or those simply too far to cable are efficiently & reliably networked. Want to move your CNC machines? No need to change cables or re-configure software. Best of all, nearly any CNC machine can be connected using wireless! Any PC with a Wi-Fi compliant network card on this wireless network can be configured to access the wider PC network.

Encryption & spread spectrum technology, thanks to WEP, WPA, & WAP encryption features, means wireless DNC is the most secure & interference-resistant way to network CNC machines.

Want to get in touch with Shop Floor Automations? Call (877) 611-5825 toll free, or visit on social media. We also have a convenient chat engine on our site.

Orders via the internet

Shop Floor AutomationsOrder from Shop Floor Automations online

Shop Floor Automations nows accepts cabling and CNC Editor orders via the internet. Avoid extra time you do not have over the phone through our safe, digital Shopping Cart.

AS OF 2016: We have done a complete overhaul of our shopping cart for customer convenience. Our solutions have been broken down by your needs.

For software – we have machine monitoring, DNC communication, CNC editor, plant maintenance, job scheduling, document control, tool management, and MTConnect.

For hardware – we now have the Connect Series. Connect options via ethernet, wireless, serial, USB, floppy, tape reader (BTR), and more.

We also have a line of accessories and much more. Go shopping in our store!

Shop Floor Automations is appropriately positioned to provide our customers with a complete technology environment. Customers are not looking for products so much as they are seeking solutions to their business problems. Our total solution approach for manufacturing customers provides hardware and software packages, installation and support services, and expert consultation where required. Our principal goal is to help customers save time and make money.

SFA has become the industry leader in Shop Floor Communications and Machine Monitoring Solutions – totally redefining what “Shop Floor Automation” solutions should be.  With thousands of customers from across the United States, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and Asia, we were called upon by other vendors to provide other solutions that could be met by our knowledge, support and sales experience of the manufacturing industry.  In 2010, SFA aligned itself with these vendors to close the loop with maintenance management software, job management and scheduling software, hardware manufacturers, and machine tool companies.

 

Website Redesign Launched

Shop Floor AutomationsSFA Inc. Website Redesign

We at Shop Floor Automations are proud to announce that our Website Redesign has launched. We wish our visitors to have a smoother website experience and hope that your time on our site is enjoyable and informative.

More about the services on our website:

Our shop AKA Hardware & Software – Our solutions in DNC communications, machine monitoring, CNC editors, CMMS plant maintenance, job scheduling, document control, tool management, and MTConnect pairs well with our hardware solutions – connect to your equipment via serial cables, Ethernet, wirelessly, or replace old tech like floppy discs.

Support – Get some extra help with your hardware and software installation

Company – Our blogs, newsletters, webinars, training videos, customer testimonials, and more

Contact – Get in touch with Sales, send a request for a demo, contact Support, subscribe for Email updates, and connect with us on social media

Help – 24 Hour Support and Remote Assistance links are located here for customer convenience

Call Shop Floor Automations at (877) 611-5825 for more information! The founders here at SFA have many years of experience providing effective solutions to manufacturers large and small from coast to coast. Our expertise in designing and implementing DNC and Shop Floor Networks allows us to take the best hardware and software products to the next level. That level is a fully implemented, turnkey solution tailored specifically for our customer’s requirements and environments.

New Website Launched

shop floor automationsShop Floor Automations Website Relaunch

Shop Floor Automations is proud to announce that we have launched a new website. Easier to navigate, easier to shop, easier to get in touch with our staff – we are very pleased with the end product.

We have separated our products into hardware and software categories, with categories matching the needs you are looking for. We also make sure customers can go right to our shop, if they know what brand or product they are looking for.

We also have lots of blog entries, archived newsletters, and many more resources. We look forward to helping you improve YOUR shop floor!

More about Shop Floor Automations:

Founded back in 1998, we 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, we 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. We have been ranked #1 in Predator Software Sales, Service and Support for many years running.

SFA has become the industry leader in Shop Floor Communications and Machine Monitoring Solutions – totally redefining what “Shop Floor Automation” solutions should be.  With thousands of customers from across the United States, Mexico, Canada, Europe, and Asia, we were called upon by other vendors to provide other solutions that could be met by our knowledge, support and sales experience of the manufacturing industry.  In 2010, SFA aligned itself with these vendors to close the loop with maintenance management software, job management and scheduling software, hardware manufacturers, and machine tool companies.

“Every day, more and more manufacturing companies come to rely on Shop Floor Automations, Inc. for shop floor solutions, services, and expertise to increase their manufacturing productivity and profitability.”

Greg MercurioPresident & Co-Founder of SFA
, , ,

Virtual Machine

Virtual Machine — Machine Simulation & Verification

Predator SoftwareProduct Description

Predator Virtual CNC and Virtual Machine integrates CNC verification and machine simulation within a single Windows-based product. Predator Virtual Machine is designed to accurately simulate the CNC, the machine and the machining process.

How it Works

Predator Virtual Machine works just like a machine tool. It requires CNC programs, offsets, stock material, tooling, and fixturing details. A 3D virtual machining environment is displayed to the user with VCR buttons to control the simulation. Unlike a machine tool, Predator Virtual Machine will safely detect machine crashes, broken tooling, CNC programming errors, and numerous other problems.

Initial setup requires the user to design a machine with any major CAD/CAM system. By leveraging the strengths of today’s solid modelers, machine design is faster and easier then ever before. The machine’s base and moving parts are imported into Predator Virtual Machine and the kinematics are defined. A library of machine types such as VMCs and HMCs simplify the kinematic definitions. CNC specifics are configured down to the G-code & M-code level. A library of 150 CNC controls that can be edited by the user, dramatically simplify initial configuration.

Read more below.

Read more