Archive for category: Newsletter

The following is an archived copy of the Shop Floor Automations newsletter from October 2012.

Looking for a better DNC solution, but don’t want to spend a lot of
money? Have an old DNC System?

SFA has the answer! We are currently having a clearance sale to clear
out some of our older style hardware. You probably have a wide range
of hardware in your shops, some machines are 20+ years old and others
are a lot newer. We have solutions for a variety of CNC controls.

If you are running on an XP or earlier operating system but don’t
want to deal with the hassle of installing a new PC, we have some
great PCI to serial hubs with 8 or even 16 ports. We also have
bar code readers available for purchase at substantial discounts which
go great with a variety of our products.

Does your Shop need a tune-up? 

How old is your PC? Have you seen performance issues? We can:
-add new machines (including network CNC’s!)
-move software to a new PC or Server  migrate to Virtual Servers
-install current versions of software and drivers
-implement a backup system  update your configuration and streamline processes
-clean up your file structure
-review your current hardware configuration
-optimize baud rates and save machine parameters
-fix cabling issues, grounding issues and more!

Take advantage of our Year End Service specials.
If you are on our Software Support program,
you can purchase service before the end of the year for 25% off
our standard rates. Service will need to be provided by 2/28/13.

Technical Note: Predator Software drops support for Windows 2000.
Read more on our website under About Us \ News Section.

SFA Monthly Survey – Win $25 

Congrats to last month’s winner – Terry Piekarski of Classic Turning Inc.
who won a $25 gift certificate. A randomly drawn winner receives a $25 Gift
certificate to their favorite store.  Ask about a survey today!

Why use a VAR?
Value Added Reseller

To paraphrase BASF “At SFA, we don’t make a lot of the products you
buy. We make a lot of the products you buy better.”

We bring our 75+ years of expertise on the shop floor to help
integrate all of the Systems you have in place AND the ones you want
to put in place. We have the broadest scope of knowledge about what
is available and what YOUR shop should have.

Let us analyze your needs and provide you with the best solution to suit your needs! 

* DNC Networking
* Machine Monitoring
* Job Scheduling / Capacity Planning
* Document Control / Paperless
* CNC Editing / File Compare
* USB Solutions / Mobile / PDAs
* Wireless /  Wired Serial Hubs

California Office Tel: (619) 461-4000
Toll Free:    (877) 611-5825
link to original newsletter HERE

The following is an archived copy of the Shop Floor Automations Newsletter from August 2012.

Book your installations and service for the 4^thQuarter soon!

Frequently after a large tradeshow, we get really busy. Please plan ahead for your year-end budgets so that we can meet your needs for 2012.  Be sure to sign up for our promotions and end of year clearance on hardware as we close out our inventory levels.  Special bundle pricing will happen immediately after the show on software and hardware packages, so be sure to ask your Account Executive.

USB Connect Portable Backup Solution

It seems to happen to all of us.  The CNC machines are making chips and the parts are on schedule when, all of the sudden, the operator notifies you he cannot transfer the NC program into the machine for the last operation.  He tried several times, checked the cable, reset the hardware and is still unsuccessful.  The PC crashed and IT department has to order a new power supply, which is 3 days out.  Now what??

The rugged, portable, USB Connect is a great solution to interface to any CNC to transfer NC programs or drip-feed large programs using any brand or size USB flash drive.  The LCD display allows the operator to quickly select the file, and load the program into the controller with the supplied RS232 cable.  The unit can be configured for multiple baud rates, flow control and parameters to store a variety of machine configurations.  When the PC crashes, this unit can be the lifeline between production and downtime. Are you prepared?

Did you know?
The Predator CNC Editor Light can be installed on an unlimited number of PCs for editing, saving and printing of G-Code programs.  You can download a copy from our website for FREE and register the product at no charge to help improve editing files over using Windows Notepad.  The CNC Editor integrates with all CAM systems and a great tool for the shop floor or programming office.

SFA in the NEWS

Communicating with the Shop Floor

Greg Mercurio, President of Shop Floor Automations is interviewed in the August issue of
Manufacturing Engineering

Link to original newsletter HERE

The 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

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.

The 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!

#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 

The following is an archived copy of our Shop Floor Automations Newsletter from January 2012.

Happy New Year! We hope you are looking forward to 2012.

Floppy Disk Emulator

Are your machines still using floppy disks? If you’d like them to enter the 21^st century, we have Floppy Disk Emulators that work with virtually any CNC machine and eliminate the 3.5″ media on the shop floor that is plagued by dust, oil and chemicals.

You are still limited to 1.44MB or 720KB for your files, but it will be much easier to transfer the NC programs on USB memory sticks with reliability.  Easy to install, low cost and operation remains the same on the control.

Success Story
A year ago, one of our machine tool partners was trying to find a reliable solution for a customer who had several Haas CNC machines. They used 3.5” floppy disks to load NC programs on the machines.  The media became difficult to find and costly to maintain the floppy drives.

In July, they contacted SFA to see if we could help them.  After our assessment, we recommended they use our Floppy Disk Emulator.  The drive replaced the existing 3.5” disk drive and allowed the user to load NC programs from a USB memory stick with ease.  The unit was installed by the end user and operation on the machine was the same. Within months, they ordered additional units for other controls used in the manufacturing plant and increased production by using a better method to transfer NC programs into the control.

• Serial is best for connecting your serial based CNC controls using DB25 or DB9 ports.
• Serial cable’s capability is limited in length and has connectors such as DB9, DB25, RJ45.
• Serial cables should use a drain wire for earth ground to prevent damage to the CNC control board.
• Ethernet is best for new machines that have a CAT 5 connection on them provided by the machine tool builder.
• Ethernet cables are recommended for long distances and available in category 5 and 6 and are typically used to connect network based equipment such as PCs, printers, routers and Windows based CNCs.

Link to original newsletter HERE