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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.

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pdm

Predator PDM Version 10 Release

La Mesa, CA – April 4, 2012 –Shop Floor Automations (SFA) has announced the release of the newest version of its shop floor PDM solution, Predator PDM version 10.
Version 10 of Predator PDM offers the most extensive expansion of features of any version yet, according to the company. Features include: direct integration with Predator DNC systems, including systems utilizing Remote Request; improved integration with Predator MDC (Manufacturing Data Collection) systems; expanded workflow, approval control and history options; new and improved bar code and RFID integration options and unlimited flexibility in definition and naming of PDM vault elements.
“All previous PDM systems have been designed and built with CAD & CAM files and design departments in mind and as such, have rarely been a good fit for controlling access to files on the shop floor,” said a company spokesperson. “Predator PDM is designed to be much more flexible than traditional PDM systems while still retaining the ability to provide absolute control over what files are being used on the floor and capturing a history of those files’ use as well.
“Our basic PDM systems can be utilized to simply control and track access to NC files, but they can easily be expanded to include almost any type of file used on the shop floor, including drawings, tool lists, setup sheets, videos, manuals, etc. While designed to be as simple as possible to implement and use, Predator PDM still has the power to be the single solution for file access control, file viewing, file use history, quality and manufacturing status history, initiation of DNC file transfers (when combined with our DNC software solution) and updating of machine status (both to our data collection solutions, as well as existing data collection systems).”

For more information: fill out a contact form here 

Tel: 619-461-4000, fax: 619-461-5918, toll free: 877-611-5825.

 

Predator DNC Software 4.0 released

Predator DNC 4.0 has been released for manufacturing shop floors. For more information on Predator DNC and other DNC options from Shop Floor Automations, read below:

Manage your CNC programs, machine parameters, & offsets. Enjoy a wide range of CNC communication options from your Predator PCs for drip-feeding, downloading, & bi-directional communication. Upload via parallel, RS232, RS422 Ethernet, & wireless Ethernet for thousands of CNC machines. With Microsoft Office  & Windows Explorer-compatible user interface (Windows 10 O/S supported), use familiar features for drag & drop, cut, copy, paste, shortcut menus, object-based menus, toolbars, tool tips, & available online help.

Improve CNC revision control while using existing ERP & MES bar-coded paperwork. Eliminate time wasted walking back & forth between your CNC & PC with a Remote Request function. Consider a 32-Bit, Multi-thread, Multi-tasking, Open-Architecture DNC Software solution that works wired & wirelessly.

Simplify operations with one network for all of your CNC machines, Robots, PLCs, & part makers, grouped by building or cell.

With Predator DNC, you can network all of your CNCs, Robots, and PLC- based machines. Predator DNC manages your CNC programs, offsets, and parameters. It supports a broad range of CNC communications for drip-feeding, downloading, and uploading via parallel, RS232, RS422 Ethernet, and wireless Ethernet.

When you need to manage your robots, CNC machines, part markers, and PLCs, you need Predator DNC. Not only will it manage your programs, but also your parameters and offsets. It supports everything you could possibly need when it comes to CNC communications, whether you’re uploading, downloading or drip-feeding via wireless, Ethernet, RS232, RS422, or parallel. Call SFA for more info at (877) 611-5825!