Manufacturing technology changes each day. Companies want more innovative ways to increase productivity through machine automation. A wireless shop floor is one avenue to pursue.
Customers who have issues with floppy disks or inferior cabling are a big wireless demographic. This was what brought Stollen Machine of New Jersey to SFA.
Stollen invested in six wireless hardware devices from SFA to help to replace an old cabling system. A case study done with the customers found that they were able to get back 15% more time daily.
Sometimes, innovation is not the reason for the switch. Unexpected events can turn customers to industrial automation.
In Modern Machine Shop, editor Stephanie Hendrixson shares the story of a manufacturer in 2005 that went wireless. A lightning strike destroyed their CNC machine circuit boards. This lead to an upsetting amount of downtime and lost profit.
“At the time of print, [the manufacturer] reported no problems with downloading numerical control (NC) programs wirelessly thanks to an error-checking protocol,” the article states.
“Download speeds were adequate for its needs,” Hendrixson writes. “Data encryption and other security measures kept NC programs safe from interception and [the] corporate network safe from attack.”
“My favorite features from the changes implemented are process control, process security, and enhanced availability of knowledge base information. Total cost was also very affordable.” – James, Amarillo Gear
“Wireless DNC has been fantastic for our production. We went from losing the wired system to [choosing] a wireless system, and it actually works very well.” – George at Gyford Production Standoff Systems
Whether an emergency prompts it, or a shop floor has the liberty to try new means to improve their manufacturing process, going wireless is an amazing investment. Want to know more? Call (877) 611-5825, or send us a message.
https://www.shopfloorautomations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SFA-Site-Logo-300x138.jpg00Greg Mercuriohttps://www.shopfloorautomations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SFA-Site-Logo-300x138.jpgGreg Mercurio2018-07-11 21:16:442022-05-18 10:54:24The Benefits of a Wireless Shop Floor
In this Legacy Blog, Shop Floor Automations thanks these digital publications for sharing our recent news about DNC software, machine monitoring, hardware, and more:
Manufacturing Tomorrowposted a piece we wrote about return on investment (ROI) for shop floor automation solutions. “A great example of actually showing your ROI comes from one of our customers who had an ROI sheet showing that their company had 30 machines, they ran two programs per day, and they loaded 300 programs per week…they then showed how expensive this older process was where they were using outdated shop floor media to transfer programs and estimated how much time/money would be saved by upgrading to DNC.”
MFG Talk Radio published quite a few of our pieces lately. They shared news of our new technology, the LAN-USB Connect. They also shared a piece where we shared with manufacturers how to approach decision makers with ways to prove automation ROI.
FabShop Magazine hosted SFA in the MFG ETC section once again. OSHA’s Top 10 safety violations in 2017 that apply to the shop floor were explored and how some automation solutions can help address some of these issues for 2018 onward.
In a throwback, Manufacturing Engineeringpublished a blog about managing and collecting shop floor machine data. Within this piece, SFA owner Greg Mercurio was interviewed.
For our latest appearances in manufacturing trade magazines, check out our press page. Otherwise, we would love to start the conversation with you about automation! Call (877) 611-5825 or fill out a contact form.
https://www.shopfloorautomations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SFA-Site-Logo-300x138.jpg00Greg Mercuriohttps://www.shopfloorautomations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SFA-Site-Logo-300x138.jpgGreg Mercurio2018-06-26 20:56:332019-02-05 20:35:07Legacy Blog – Edition XV
Click the photo to see the full detail of these hilarious CNC control operator buttons!
Everyone works differently on the shop floor. Some machinists use sticky notes, or custom stickers on machines, other use full sheets of paper to leave notes, and there are others who embed reminders in their coding. That being said, here are some funny CNC control photos we have seen over the years!
SFA has serviced all manner of manufacturers over the years. We have helped increase productivity for CNC machinists, fabricators, moldmakers – you name it! We are also fascinated with the #instamachinist movement on Instagram. Read more below!
When working production on a manufacturing shop floor, productivity issues happen. Nothing is perfect – this includes your employees and equipment.
Some leaders may automatically assume that machinists are to blame for productivity decreases. They think they are not doing their job since they are directly handling the machines.
Before we jump to this conclusion, we need to ask if we are being fair. Especially to skilled workers who are the backbone of the manufacturing industry.
According to a study shared by Harvard Business Review, “when leaders are fair to the members of their team, the team members display more citizenship behavior and are more productive, both individually and as a team.”
With this in mind, here are three productivity problems and the tools you can use to combat each of them. Read on for more!
https://www.shopfloorautomations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SFA-Site-Logo-300x138.jpg00Greg Mercuriohttps://www.shopfloorautomations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SFA-Site-Logo-300x138.jpgGreg Mercurio2017-12-26 21:09:522018-11-14 21:02:59Machinists Are Not The Problem
Unplanned downtime and the impact on production are common aggravation factors in manufacturing jobs. New manufacturing software on your shop floor in 2018 could help with this stress.
Machines go down, other machines can’t pick up that slack, and production is halted. An avalanche of consequences follows. Updating manual spreadsheets to track jobs adds to the pain.
According to an August 2017 piece from MetalForming Magazine, District President for Robert Half’s Accountemps program Bill Driscoll states 52% of workers are stressed on a daily basis.
Three causes of this stress are heavy workloads, hovering deadlines, and perceived unrealistic expectations from management. Address these problems with smart manufacturing.
https://www.shopfloorautomations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SFA-Site-Logo-300x138.jpg00Greg Mercuriohttps://www.shopfloorautomations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SFA-Site-Logo-300x138.jpgGreg Mercurio2017-12-22 16:59:002019-02-21 21:49:13Software for Less MFG Stress in 2018
The following is an archived copy of the Shop Floor Automations Newsletter – the NOV/DEC 2017 issue.
Machine Monitoring Webinar in January
Do you want to improve your shop floor efficiencies? Would you like to get text messages or email notifications if there is a problem on your shop floor? Our machine monitoring solutions empower managers to identify issues and resolve them quickly.
You will see popular features of the data collection system in action, as well as get a chance to ask us questions.
If you can’t make the webinar, please feel free to contact us and ask about other opportunities to see DataXchange software. We also have quite a few videos on our YouTube channel to check out.
Holiday Discount Code
It is not too late to spend end-of-the-year funds on solutions to help your shop floor. Get a head start on combating productivity issues and eliminating downtime with some of our best-selling solutions:
Portable USB Connect – backup for your DNC system
Pendant USB Connect – adds USB to any CNC machine
Floppy Emulators – replaces the floppy drive on your machine (ask about our Haas Floppy emulator!)
Wireless Connect – go wireless with any CNC machine
Use discount code “HappyNewYear” for a discount in our online store. Code expires 1/2/18
DNC Software – The Heart Beat of the Shop Floor
If there was one new piece of technology we would recommend for your shop floor, it would be DNC software. Within weeks or a few months, you will see ROI when you implement this system to streamline your management of CNC programs.
If you want to control which file is delivered to the CNC, you need DNC. If you are still carrying USB sticks or PCMCIA cards out to your CNCs to load programs, you need DNC. If you want a better system to manage your CNC programs while saving time, you need DNC.
As a manufacturer, you have a lot of daily concerns, such as downtime and productivity. Is your manufacturing ROI an issue that is falling to the wayside?
With a new year coming up fast, your ROI (or return on investment) should be bumped up to one of your largest concerns, if it is not already. You may remember when we did a previous blog explaining different types of costs for a manufacturer. For this blog post, we wanted to take the time to explain the top 3 ways that working with a manufacturing integrator like Shop Floor Automations will help you with ROI!
#1 Reduce procurement costs:
The only time you ever want the amount of money you are spending on raw materials to go up is because your productivity is at sky-high levels. Unfortunately, you may be spending a lot on raw materials due to downtime on the machine interfering with the quality of products. You may even be spending a lot on paper for spreadsheets and other shop floor documents. Using tools such as machine monitoring software can help you increase utilization of machines, and combining products like job scheduling software and PDM software can help you go paperless. Do you still use floppy disks or constantly invest in CAT-5 cable that needs to be replaced and restrung once a year? Invest in new hardware that will replace these processes and old media sources. These solutions should help bring down some significant procurement costs.
#2 Time-sensitive efficiencies:
Manufacturing is one of the most time-sensitive processes in the world. Certain quantities need to be done perfectly and they need to be on time. What happens when downtime takes down one of your machines? Or you have to spend time manually updating spreadsheets for your production schedule? Or your CNC’s have communication failures on a regular basis? Using the tools of DNC software for CNC communications, machine monitoring for combatting downtime, and graphical job scheduling to be able to see production changes in real time, all make for the perfect trinity to help jobs get out to customers on time.
#3 Marketplace advantage:
American manufacturing is coming back to a place of significant prominence. While the industry deals with a skills gap combined with reshoring, you need to make sure you can take on as many jobs as possible to stay ahead of the competition. If you spent less time updating spreadsheets, invested in less overtime to fix human error and were able to prevent more downtime on your shop floor, imagine how many more jobs you can take on. Implementing any of the tools mentioned above can help with productivity and cement your place in this industry as a top manufacturer.
If you have recently made the decision to add DNC software to your shop floor to help with productivity and CNC communications, you are off to a great start.
Did you also know that adding hardware to DNC software solutions is the best way to leverage this business decision? Here are three pieces of hardware that best compliment DNC software:
Option 1: Wired CNC Connect. This device supports 100’s of CNC’s per each Server PC that has a seat of DNC software on it. Simply run Ethernet cable to each machine and place the device on the control for drip-feeding. The IP address converts into a comm port with drivers. By using the network backbone, you are sending the serial signal five feet wth the supplied cable, giving you the most reliable and strongest serial signal. Available in 1 to 16 ports.
Option 2: Wireless CNC Connect. The best option for those who like to move machines around and change the layout of their shop floor often. No cabling required. The device comes with an assigned IP – just to add your network, properly mount the device and it’s ready.
Option 3: Multi Connect. While this device is not available for purchase yet, it is anticipated to be a ground-breaking piece of hardware for manufacturing shop floors. The unit connects to machines via MTConnect, PLC, Wireless, Ethernet, and RS232 Serial. This solution can also be used with DNC Software and Machine Monitoring products, which makes it very versatile.
What are the best DNC software options available? Check out Predator DNC, Predator Touch HMI, Predator EditLock, and ExtremeDNC by visiting our DNC software landing page!
Not sure what DNC Software is or why it would benefit you? Check out why some customers use DNC. You may also call (877) 611-5825 for more information about any products in this post.
https://www.shopfloorautomations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SFA-Site-Logo-300x138.jpg00Greg Mercuriohttps://www.shopfloorautomations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SFA-Site-Logo-300x138.jpgGreg Mercurio2017-08-16 15:51:512018-11-08 00:15:04DNC Software & Hardware – Peas in a Pod
MFG costs and budget comes into play whenever productivity improvements are considered. Costs are sadly not predictable.
There are four variables of expenses when running a manufacturing company. We have broken it down into a driving analogy for our readers:
Fixed Costs: You get in your car, you set up your GPS and map out the trip to avoid tolls. You know how much time it will take to get there and how many miles.
Fixed costs are part of the routine in manufacturing. These cover utility bills, taxes, property costs, and salaries (not counting commission). This also includes office supplies, too.
Variable Costs: When you plan to take your trip, you account for normal traffic patterns that will add a likely delay. It’s an annoyance we have come to both accept and expect for road trips.
Variable costs can best be described as costs directly in relation to production. For example – when you produce more, you ultimately need more raw materials. These patterns are predictable – remember the old saying “you gotta spend money to make money”?
Semi-Variable & Step-Variable Costs: When you’re on your trip, let’s say a horrific accident happens, or you hit an unexpected detour. These unforeseen but likely scenarios can add time to your trip.
Semi-variable costs account for costs that can vary. This includes commissions for salespeople or production-based bonuses.
Step-variable costs, however, are costs that remain fixed for a period of time, and can suddenly spike up. Unexpected machine downtime, for example, costs money due to stopped production. You may even have to hire a specialist to come out or replace it with another machine.
What is the common factor in all of these examples, though?
If you invested in the GPS, it will reroute you, or add time to your route when you hit traffic or unexpected snags in the road. It is monitoring conditions for you to give you expectations and suggestions on how to improve your route.
How does this relate to manufacturing integration solutions & ROI?
Investing in manufacturing integration solutions is the best ROI when taking into account situations that lead to step-variable costs in your production. It’s essentially giving yourself a GPS to help meet and exceed production goals.
If your machines are consistently having communication errors that cause thousands of dollars in stopped production time, then DNC software or hardware is a drop in the bucket to help prevent this from happening. If there are other issues with machines causing downtime that are not relative to CNC communication failures, then machine monitoring can help for better OEE and for machinists to better communicate issues for proper solutions.
Get in touch with Shop Floor Automations for more insight! You can fill out a form here, or call us at (877) 611-5825.
https://www.shopfloorautomations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SFA-Site-Logo-300x138.jpg00Greg Mercuriohttps://www.shopfloorautomations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SFA-Site-Logo-300x138.jpgGreg Mercurio2017-08-14 20:00:322019-02-19 23:05:41MFG Costs, Budgets & Integration ROI
People try out new technologies each day. The manufacturing industry is no exception.
They buy new phones, lease new cars, upgrade the software on their phones and computers, or add implements to their homes to improve their quality of life. Embracing new technology is a move that would benefit the manufacturing shop floor industry most.
Here are the Top 3 ways that new manufacturing technology adopted on the shop floor can benefit your company:
1 – You can keep up with the competition. According to recent results from the Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey, the National Association of Manufacturers states that in 2017, there is a record-high level of optimism in the manufacturing industry. 91.4 percent of manufacturers said they would increase investments, hire more workers, and that they generally feel good about our industry’s growth. Do you fit in this category?
Are pieces of old tech, like floppy disk drives and handheld terminals holding you back? Are you experiencing communication failures due to lack of CNC memory for your programs? These are all problems that new technology can fix, so that you can get in on this wave of prosperity.
2 – Increase profit. When implementing new hardware and software into older machines, this can help drastically decrease downtime. When there is no downtime to deal with, or less of it, machinists are free to perfect their craft. According to SME, there have been proven studies that show on average, time will decrease 5 percent every time the number of completed pieces doubles.
Therefore, if a machinist has more time to actually do their job than deal with machines going down, that will ultimately make the company more productive. Implementing machine monitoring to track machine trends increases OEE and DNC software can help with CNC communication failure, which are two sure fire ways to combat downtime.
3 – More freedom. When there is less worry of machines going down, this can create a better work/life balance for those who work on the shop floor, and in the front office. Machine monitoring, which is a powerful IIoT (industrial internet of things) tool, is an amazing way to get notifications of what is going on with machines not only on the shop floor, but via email or text notifications.
When this proven solution to deal with downtime is combined with more accountability through the means of graphical job scheduling, PDM, and other resources on the shop floor, there is more trust in the workplace. More people can use their PTO to go on vacation, or workers who are home sick can help give guidance when a machine goes down via a notes section through machine monitoring.
If you are interested in new technology for your shop floor and experiencing the benefits listed above, contact us by filling out a sales form here, or call (877) 611-5825.
