Equipment monitoring ERP - Scytec DataXchange

Maintenance, particularly on the shop floor, involves expensive machinery – which translates into high costs for actions like repair work. These costs can represent anywhere from 15-70% of expenses, says IEEE. But maintenance costs may not even be the biggest liability.

 

Equipment monitoring ERP - Scytec DataXchange

Inefficient maintenance processes, like manual data collection, contribute to unplanned downtime and costs, according to Forbes.

For companies with strict quality standards and challenging customer expectations, the cost of a nonconformance, rework or even rejection can be enough to draw the attention of executives due to the shipping, additional labor, materials and reallocated machine time required to correct the defective product. This says nothing of the damage to the customer relationship and the impact on their own tight schedule. It behooves manufacturers, then, to ensure shop floor equipment is always performing optimally with minimal downtime.

The Move Past Manual Downtime Tracking

To do so effectively, manufacturing machinery must be continuously monitored. Today’s smart factory showcases plants with modern machine monitoring software, like Scytec DataXchange, which replaces previous steps of manually tracking, handwriting or physically keying in cycle times, set up times, downtimes, costs and reason codes, and then piecing this data together to understand trends, performance and opportunities for improved efficiency. While these manual processes were time- and labor-intensive to compile, report and analyze, they were also often riddled with inaccuracies, in addition to the time delays that further hinder a company’s ability to react quickly. In fact, Forbes specifically cites these types of inefficient maintenance processes as bad attributes that contribute to unplanned downtime and costs.

Bigger Business Benefits

The utilization of equipment monitoring software becomes crucial, therefore, for businesses working towards the goal “to prolong production performance until it reaches a point that the machine requires complete replacement due to wear and tear or technology change, if justified,” writes Salman Taghizadegan in Essentials of Lean Six Sigma. But the benefits of equipment monitoring systems extend past precise predictive maintenance. Through Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) integration, ideal machine monitoring software can capture and populate data, like these, for an even bigger business-wide impact:

  • Actual set-up and run times. By comparing your estimates to your actuals, you’ll increase the accuracy of your job costing to give you a better handle on your margins and overall profitability. The visibility afforded by these actual times will allow for easier and more reliable planning and scheduling, as staffing requirements become predictable.
  • Machine statuses. Uptime and downtime records and notifications to maintenance, production and management can ensure service is planned for and executed when – and exactly – as needed.
  • Completed quantity. Inventory of raw materials, intermediates and finished goods can be affected in real-time by machine processing, as it occurs.
  • Scrap quantity. Material requirements may be altered based on the volume of actual scrap produced, adding to the dependability of planning and scheduling.
  • Scrap codes. Opportunities to reduce waste may be presented through reason code analysis.

Integrate Machine Monitoring with ERP

While machine monitoring software offers a lot towards optimal maintenance management, its integration with ERP is the lift that expands the effect of equipment data across the enterprise to grant clearer visibility into production, inventory, accounting, lean, planning, scheduling – and yes, maintenance – to help drive greater consistency into each process for more effective decision-making. Learn more about connecting your ERP with machine monitoring software by contacting a Shop Floor Automations representative today.

Shop floor employee working on a laptop in front of a CNC Control

The benefits of DNC software when it comes to managing your CNC programs, machine parameters, and offsets are well known. As a result, many businesses look to offer some form of DNC software or their own, ranging from thousands of dollars to absolutely free. While free DNC software options may seem like a great deal, the limitations they create are often detrimental to your business.

As professional manufacturing integrators for over 20 years, Shop Floor Automations has seen and experienced both the good and the bad DNC software options out there, and now we want to share some of the things we’ve learned about free DNC options with you. Below, we’ll outline exactly why you should look to invest in your business’s success and skip free DNC software.

Drawbacks of Free DNC Software

In short, free DNC software is simply incapable of offering the same value you can expect from full versions. While perhaps useful in the short term for the smallest of shops, those free options won’t be able to deliver any worthwhile benefit if you’re looking to increase your capabilities and production rates. Let’s dive further into a few of the major limitations.

              Lack of Capability & Flexibility

Free DNC software almost always comes with limitations on both the types of machines and programmed instructions it can support. If you are looking to connect various types of machines performing several unique functions, your free software option won’t keep up. Instead, choose an option that allows you to connect any brand, type, and age of CNC machine to ensure your software can grow alongside your business.

              Inability to Grow with You

One of DNC software’s significant benefits is its powerful ability to increase production rates easily and rapidly. While a free version may work for you now, it will severely limit the number of machines you can connect. Anything more than a small handful of devices is going to demonstrate the limitations of free software immediately. In addition, newer machines with Ethernet connection are left out and you will be forced to use other software to manages these machines.  As you begin growing, your needs will quickly outpace the capabilities of any free DNC software option you choose.

Does Free DNC Software Offer Any Value?

Free DNC software options are not all bad. If you are relatively new to the world of DNC software, it may be beneficial to try one of these free options out for a few weeks. While it will not give you anywhere near a clear image of what exactly DNC software is capable of, it can be an effective way to dip your toe in the water. However, we don’t recommend relying on a free option for any extended amount of time. Keep in mind, if you need support or help getting your CNC machine communicating, it usually endss up costing you more since there is no one to call and support is left to an email address with hopes a timely response is provided.

Invest in Your Success with DNC Software

Improving your CNC networking, securing ethernet transfers, combining with PDM for CNC revision control, and integrating with other manufacturing automation software: these are the benefits you can expect from true DNC software. Investing in this software now means upgrading your capabilities, your productivity, and your overall profitability.

Interested in True DNC Software? Try the Real Deal For Yourself.

Whether you have grown frustrated with the abilities of your free DNC software or want to try DNC software for the first time, Shop Floor Automations is here to help. We offer a 30-day software trial run to help you test out the software and be sure it meets your needs.

After discussing your current system and needs, we will work together to help you configure a few of your machines, give you an overview of the interface, and validate bi-direction communication for the full extent of the 30 days. From there, we will let you run things, giving you a chance to truly experience the software without intervention. Participating in this trial comes at no charge, and there is no obligation to purchase the software after the trial ends. Just complete this form, and we’ll walk you through the rest!

We look forward to helping automate your shop floor!

Shop Floor Automations (SFA), has been a leader in the realm of working with CNC machines to connect them to DNC or to add A Dynatorch plasma cutting machine at work, one of the many types of machines that are compatible with machine monitoring technology.Machine Monitoring to them. Since many shops have a wide variety of machines to handle various needs, it is important to know what we can connect far more than just CNC’s.

The core benefits of machine monitoring still apply to Plasma Cutters, Ovens, Grinders and more.

  • Uptime reporting
  • Operator assignment stuff
  • Other things that still apply to non CNC’s

With LAN-USB, network outage protection also occurs via a local server to CNC connection that is independent of the shop floor’s network. The USB function of the device allows it to act as an interface between commercially available USB sticks and any CNC control with a functioning RS232 port. Machine programs can be sent from the CNC memory to the USB stick, USB to CNC memory, or can be drip-fed (DNC) from the USB.

A shot of a shop floor, featuring various production machines that are set up on a machine monitoring network.Flexible CNC communication firmware is built into the unit. This allows for a connection to a large variety of machine tool controls. The device buffers the entire program at the machine, and acts as a dedicated computer that responds instantaneously to data flow changes from the CNC.

Positioning this device on the control allows the machine to run at its maximum baud rate. This will prevent a machinist from having to walk back and forth from the DNC PC to the machine in order to initiate machine operation. This important feature allows the LAN-USB to increase your shop floor efficiency by maximizing productivity and reducing downtime.

Find out if we can connect all of your machines.

You can call us at (877) 611-5825 or email us at info@shopfloorautomations.com or complete the form below and we’ll contact you. Once we help you add monitoring to your machines, we’ll support you with our industry leading support team!

A desk with many piles of paper scattered over it, which can be fixed by going paperless with the use of computers and PDM software.

Many machinists, production managers, and other shop floor workers wish they had paperless manufacturing. It feels like an impossible pipe dream to them.

It may be trendy to do so, but we wish to quote organizational expert Marie Kondo. Her insight is wonderful when thinking of taking on the daunting task of going paperless.

“People cannot change their habits without first changing their way of thinking,” Marie says in her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. “Clutter is caused by a failure to return things to where they belong. Therefore, storage should reduce the effort needed to put things away – not the effort needed to get them out.”

Other than the need to be organized, there are far more important reasons to go paperless. Digital revision control, being prepared for audits and keeping track of crucial documentation also weigh heavy on our daily processes.

Yes, the task of going paperless can take time. But it is not an impossible task. Shop Floor Automations has even successfully gone paperless!

There is also a terrific article written by Eli Plaskett of Modern Machine Shop on this topic. His December 2018 piece “Turning the Page on the Paper Workplace” details a few steps to achieve this goal.

First, analyze how to give your workforce digital access to files as appropriate.
Invest in a scanner – for existing paperwork and whatever paperwork comes in the hereafter, scan immediately. Train employees to get into the habit of scanning.

Then, install tablets, network computers or digital station work devices. The next step is to train the workers fully on how to use the system. Show them the ways the system works for their benefit to save time.

Set up simple instructions such as photographing a setup. If you use ERP Software (which integrates with quite a few of our solutions), it can often have tools to enable photos attached with set up instructions or photos via an ERP smartphone app.

SFA has many solutions to help you cut your dependency on paper. We have USB hardware that can store programs in flash drives, and we highly recommend investing in PDM.

Ready to start the conversation? Call (877) 611-5825 or fill out our contact form

A laptop running machine monitoring software connected to various CNC machines. In the background is a large blue gear and a clip art factory building.

Machinists looking to connect CNC machines to computers have different needs. Perhaps they want to monitor OEE, or they want to send programs remotely.

Here are the top three solutions for connecting equipment to your shop floor computer or laptop:

DNC Software – Making sure programs are sent to the machine, as well as revision control and complete CNC networking can be accomplished with one system. DNC (or drip-feeding) is done via parallel, RS232, RS422 Ethernet, or wireless Ethernet for thousands of your machines. Control programs from the shop floor PC.

Machine monitoring – Manufacturers want their machine data, and they have a need to see it beyond standing at the machine. Seeing OEE on computers in back offices, or on real-time viewers, or even on the go via laptops or smart phones, are all possibilities.

Hardware – You want to make sure your software interacts with the shop floor environment. Wireless and wired hardware will help with PC to CNC transfers. Modified PLCs will help to grab data off of old machines. Older laptops can be connected to CNCs with the USB to Serial plus an RS232 cable. There are so many possibilities!

Want to convert your RS232 port into USB? Need to replace floppy disks? Want to go paperless? We can help with that, too!

Fill out our online contact form or call (877) 611-5825. We can’t wait to start the conversation!

A long standing publication with a classic newspaper vibe – we are proud to have been featured in Manufacturing News many times. The issues focus on different regions and their varying Made in America goals.

Here are some recent pieces that Manufacturing News have featured us in:

Our case study with R & D Manco in Arizona appears in the December 2018 issue. This manufacturer previously had experience with our CNC Editor software and our hardware. However, they implemented an on-premise machine monitoring system after a pilot program. Because of this, they boosted their productivity in a short period of time.

Proving return on investment for automation solutions can be complicated. Because of this, we created an article for decision makers on how to lay these details out. Some pieces of valuable information in this process are equipment compatibility, evaluating processes and having alternative options available. This article appears in the November 2018 issue.

The medical manufacturing industry is a very high-volume business. We constantly work with these shops to find the best automation solutions for them. Specifically, we always recommend OEE (overall equipment efficiency) monitoring. The top four benefits to this software appear in the April 2018 issue.

Check out our other articles on similar manufacturing solutions. Ready to start the conversation about shop floor automation? Call (877) 611-5825 or fill out an online contact form

Shop Floor Automations (SFA) is a big fan of Modern Machine Shop Magazine. We always appreciate when our pieces make the cut for this prestigious publication.

Here are our top four favorite recent issues:

March 2019 – Rise Up Industries, an organization in San Diego County near our corporate office, made the pages of this publication. SFA worked closely on this collaboration. You can see the original length article on the MMS blog.

June 2018 – We made the 90th-anniversary issue. Fun fact – this was the same year as our 20th anniversary! Our full-page spread on our LAN-USB Hardware device discussed adding Ethernet and USB to CNCs. Because the issue featured a retrospective look at shop floor technology, we were humbled to be included.

January 2018 – A crucial productivity tool for our customers at R&D Manco is machine monitoring. “Gathering basic data on machine status, and studying the data to diagnose and remedy the causes of non-cutting time, has been the shop’s most powerful resource for realizing machining capacity improvements.”

October 2017 – SFA Customers at Stollen Machine were dropping programs because of old cabling. So in order to increase productivity, they invested in wireless RS232 units. This gave them back 15% more time daily, according to this case study.

Check out our other published pieces for more product insight. Ready to get started? Call (877) 611-5825 or fill out a contact form

A large clip art magnifying glass with "75%" in the middle of the glass. In the background is a tool desk in a shop.

There has been a lot of buzz about CNC machine monitoring the past few years. There are also issues manufacturers bring up for reasons why they won’t start such a project.

Here are three barriers shop floors state as to why they won’t take on machine monitoring. We provide some counters to these points:

#1 – We have been told we would need to invest a lot of money, including needing to buy proprietary hardware – Cloud-based machine monitoring can be done monthly, per machine and with no long term contracts. Prices start at $50 per machine.

#2 – My equipment is older, so it will not be able to be monitored – Many manufacturers are surprised at the age, makes and models of machines that can be monitored. Hardware adapters help to capture data from older equipment. Also, more than CNC machines can have data collected. We encourage you to get in touch with your equipment list!

#3 – I just do basic monitoring via MTConnect and that is good enough for me – While it is important to monitor when machines are down, more data is needed for productivity increases. With full-on machine monitoring – you can evaluate how long processes like material needed keep machines down. Evaluate how long the lockout tagout process is taking. Or if machines are down a lot, how much time and profit is it eating to constantly tend to machines.

Have more concerns? We are happy to address them! Call (877) 611-5825 or fill out a contact form to schedule a demo, trial or consultation.

Wondering what the best industrial automation solutions are for your shop floor? The biggest factors to focus on are your budget, needs, and the equipment you want to improve performance for.

Check out our guide for popular brands of manufacturing equipment and what you can do with them! We also recommend contacting us with your make/model information, as well as checking out our YouTube channel.

What equipment is compatible with MTConnect? We have a detailed compatibility guide.

HAAS MACHINES:

  • Software for CNC networking, OEE monitoring and more
  • Replace Haas floppy drives with plug and play ability
  • Transform RS232 ports to USB

FANUC MACHINES:

  • Compatible with MTConnect for machine monitoring
  • Drip-feeding software and hardware
  • USB hardware & special cables

DOOSAN MACHINES:

  • Software to track OEE or control/send programs
  • Replace floppy drives or upgrade to USB
  • Go from Serial to Ethernet for data transfer

MAZAK MACHINES:

  • DNC software and machine monitoring
  • USB & LAN hardware for Mazatrol (CMT)
  • Replace floppy drives

OKUMA MACHINES:

  • Monitor uptime/downtime
  • Drip-feed hardware and software options
  • Floppy core replacement with rebates available

FADAL MACHINES:

  • USB hardware – portable and pendant
  • Add Ethernet functionality
  • Ask about software for this equipment

FAGOR CNC MACHINES:

Have equipment not listed here that you want solutions for? Get in touch with us! Call (877) 611-5825 or fill out a contact form

An engineer on the shop floor assessing a machine, which was visibly just in use as shown by the excess of metal shavings.

The need to monitor manufacturing OEE is a big concern for 2019. Because the cost and commitment can be daunting, it may have previously been avoided.

The productivity improvement industry is transforming to meet these concerns. Measuring KPIs on the shop floor and making decisions based on data is easier than ever.

Cloud-based machine monitoring customers are often surprised by the benefits they experience. They love the quick productivity increases, better communication, smaller investments, and no on-premise implementation needed.

Here are the Top 3 Reasons that OEE monitoring via the Cloud is the best investment in 2019:

  • ODI (Operator Data Input) makes data entry for machine activity simpler than ever. The device running ODI does not need internet access for data entry actions. Enter downtime reasons, work orders, active part numbers, scrap part counts, and more.
    • A Windows, Android or iOS tablet can also be installed at the machine to use the ODI right at the control. This save operators time.
  • Mobile ODI monitoring allows for more freedom. Don’t miss out on life events or emergencies. View the ODI via the Apple app store, Google Play, and the Windows app store.
    • You can also opt for text and email OEE notifications.
  • The existing Custom Commands are still included, but the display for tracking data is now easier to read. Other than lists, graphs or the shop floor layout, users can enjoy stacked color boxes that display the limited info needed.
    • Try defined colors to symbolize equipment status. This will make displays via tablets, phones or even real-time viewer dashboards on the shop floor easier to understand.

Shop Floor Automations offers DataXchange monthly Cloud-based machine monitoring. Starting $50 per month, you can evaluate the productivity of your equipment.  Call (877) 611-5825 or fill out a contact form for more information!