, , , ,

Are You Improving Operations With Data Collection?

Data Driven Manufacturing Data CollectionImprove Lean Production Operations With Data Collection

“Cloud” applications can be found virtually everywhere today, and for good reason. Join us on April 14th at 12:00 p.m. PST to learn how cloud-based machine monitoring and data collection can make predictive maintenance a reality in your operations.

The webinar will be hosted by Smartware Group, Inc., makers of Bigfoot CMMS, and Scytec, makers of DataXchange. These experts will introduce the latest technologies to monitor and collect asset data and integrate this data for actionable and results-oriented operations and maintenance management.

Register for this machine monitoring webinar to glean real-world examples of the benefits of cloud-based machine monitoring and asset management, and see how high your utilization and asset management strategy can soar.

Get more information and register.

, , ,

Smarter Shop Floor With Cloud-Based Monitoring

Cloud-Based Monitoring Project Introduction:

Tech Manufacturing, a long-time manufacturer of machined metal parts for aerospace clients such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Bombardier, needed to raise production capacity and reduce lead times for their clients’ largest and most urgent orders. With their 5-axis CNC machines already running 24 hours a day up to 7 days a week, Jerry Halley, Chief Engineer at Tech Manufacturing, looked towards smarter operation and real-time performance data to increase the productivity and useful life of their existing machines.

“We needed a better understanding of how our machines were actually performing for us in real-time,” said Halley. “Live and historical machine performance data would also help us identify technical or process issues that were detrimental to productivity.” With a combination of hardware and software, a CNC monitoring system would collect, analyze, and visualize the necessary performance metrics. However, Halley needed to weigh the productivity gains of such a system against the cost and effort of deployment, especially if it involved a new and unfamiliar server-based IT infrastructure. The ideal system would be easily deployed without specialized IT equipment, knowledge, or effort, and would not require repeated software installation, updates, or configuration.

manufacturing technology trendsApplication Requirements:
-Live dashboard with alerts based on historical and target performance metrics
-Easy to use with existing CNC machines that may not have built-in Ethernet interface
-Does not require investment or expertise in specialized IT infrastructure, servers, or software
-Knowledgeable and experienced integration and vendor support team

Solution:
Tech Manufacturing selected Shop Floor Automations, one of the most prominent systems integrators in North America specializing in CNC monitoring systems, to assist with cloud-based monitoring. Each CNC machine was connected to the existing local area network, so no additional IT infrastructure was required. For legacy machines that did not have a readily available Ethernet port, Shop Floor Automations provided an easy-to-deploy solution that was developed with Moxa. “The industrial networking units from Moxa make it easy for us to get our clients’ legacy machines connected to the cloud,” said Greg Mercurio, President of Shop Floor Automations.

“For industrial users like Tech Manufacturing, these solutions are invaluable in extending the capabilities and useful life of their still-functional but older CNC machines.” With the local network connected to the Internet, machine performance data was easily viewed and analyzed by cloud-based software such as Scytec DataXchange or Predator Machine Data Collection. Key performance metrics were organized on a visual dashboard so owners and machine operators were able to see exactly how productive each cell was, down to the machine level. Read more below.

Read more

, , ,

Southwest Manufacturing News – May 2015

Southwest Manufacturing News – May 2015

In the May 2015 issue of Southwest Manufacturing News, we proudly ran two ads to let the manufacturing industry further know of our services. Our big highlight focused on cloud data collection services for $45 per month, per machine.

Scytec Hosted DataXchange through Shop Floor Automations means the client will not need servers, have access to a real-time dashboard, and many more benefits. Better yet – they will see up to 10 percent productivity on an immediate time frame!

Check out our Southwest Manufacturing News advertisement

We also announced the opening of a regional office in Texas advertisement

Contact us to find out what data you can gather and store in the cloud. Get machine monitoring info or call (877) 611-5825

Machine Monitoring gives you the ability to see what your machines are doing in real-time. Collect & process data from your machines using software like MTConnect, FANUC FOCAS, custom macros, or hardware devices. Optional data collection terminals can be used for additional operator input. Run time, downtime, & OEE data is then presented via dashboards, historical reports, & charts.  Emails or text messages can be sent to notify you of production issues on the shop floor.

, , ,

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

Read more

, , , ,

Manufacturing Engineering – Real-Time Manufacturing Data – November 2013

Greg Mercurio in Manufacturing Engineering

President of SFA, Greg Mercurio, is featured in the Manufacturing Engineering November 2013 issue. In the interview, he talks about real-time data and machine monitoring for the shop floor.

“One of the challenges we face every day is trying to educate the manufacturing industry on how critical this data is,” Greg is quoted. “It’s at our fingertips and it’s not being utilized because a lot of manufacturers think it’s too complicated or it’s cost-prohibitive.” 

“Technologies including wireless, bar code readers, touch screens, and tablets have started to drive implementation prices down,” Greg says. “The reality is most shops run only at about 60 percent to 65 percent machine utilization.”

Read the entire piece! Call 877-611-5825 – we invite you to be surprised just how affordable and easy these solutions are!

More about data monitoring (AKA machine data collection and machine monitoring):

Improve manufacturing by supplying accurate shop floor productivity metrics to improve operations & make better decisions. Enjoy automatic, error-free, & unattended machine monitoring for events such as job start/end, setup start/end, log on/off, cycle start/end, & more. Data collected includes cycle time, idle time, setup time, teardown time, machine downtime, & scrap reasons.

Drive improvements based on real-time data. In today’s competitive manufacturing environment, it is more important than ever to be as efficient as possible. Increase machine up-time & drive innovation on your shop floor. What is the overall equipment effectiveness formula? Ask us!

 

 

Scytec DataXchange IconScytec
,

Scytec DataXchange Silver Released

DataXchangeScytec DataXchange Silver Released

Collect user defined Planned and Unplanned Downtimes with bar code scanners. More Details

More about machine monitoring through Scytec:

  • Choose from On-Premise or Cloud Based
  • As low as $45 monthly per machine for Cloud option
  • Real-time data collection from any age CNC controls & equipment
  • Unlimited reporting, charting licenses & users
  • View & report on data results from anywhere
  • Track multiple cycle time types

OEE and IIoT reports and charts from Scytec DataXchange help improve machine utilization and minimize downtime.  “Collecting data from the machines is one thing, but utilizing the data for actionable results is critical in order to convert manufacturing data into manufacturing intelligence,” Scytec proclaims to customers.

Timelines, equipment status summaries, OEE summaries, trends, downtime Pareto, scrap Pareto, histograms, plots, comparisons, and more can be charted. These charts can be displayed in the real-time dashboard of the program, which includes being able to saving group or personalized chart templates and ability to export this data to CSV or Excel.

“DataXchange is a Cloud and On-Premise manufacturing machine monitoring system,” Scytec says of their services. With over 15 years of experience in manufacturing, they were able to create this program from scratch. “Increasing utilization by roughly 30 minutes per machine will cover the cost of the software. How about the gains of knowing when machines are running at a lower feedrate, a program stop, or sitting in feed hold?  The software typically pays for itself within the first few days of each month.”

Call (877) 611-5825 for more information!