With the new Forcam Force shop-floor management software, users access key real-time factory-floor manufacturing metrics.

Transcription

1 Image courtesy Forcam Inc. manufacturing Software With the new Forcam Force shop-floor management software, users access key real-time factory-floor manufacturing metrics. Why Manufacturing Needs Real-Time Data Collection Real-time factory-floor data collection captures a goldmine of information that can improve operational performance Patrick Waurzyniak Senior Editor Real-time machine tool data collection isn t just about helping manufacturers improve productivity and profitability, although that s certainly a promised outcome. It s also an essential first step toward a data-driven, high-tech manufacturing sector that is globally competitive. Today s data-collection and monitoring solutions already help manufacturing operations management to see, analyze and quickly act upon time-sensitive data coming off the shop floor. While these new solutions are more readily available and also less expensive than in the past, they are still installed only at a relatively small portion of factories and shops, with some industry insiders estimating that fewer than 5% of machines are currently being digitally monitored. October 2015 AdvancedManufacturing.org 53

2 Image courtesy Memex Inc. Machine tools connected through MTConnect, an openarchitecture, royalty-free protocol for machine communica- computing, social media, the cloud and Big Data, he said. the Third Platform of computing a convergence of mobile tions, or through a variety of proprietary protocols available As this third platform takes hold, plant managers of from CNC controls suppliers, can turn a growing stream of manufacturing companies are beginning to understand data coming off the plant floor into useful information. Key they cannot manage what they cannot measure, McPhail operational metrics such as overall equipment effectiveness said. IoT or the Industrial Internet of Things [IIoT] has some (OEE), machine uptime and capacity utilization allow shop boardrooms buzzing about the possibilities for data-driven managers to quickly view the performance of a particular machine or factory, and adjust as needed. concept that could take several years to land on earth. manufacturing, so it s helpful to us, but it s still a high-flying Helping this concept land is partly depending on that IoT, Big Data Concerns first step capturing and analyzing data that offers the most The coming onslaught of connected Internet of Things value, which isn t as simple as it seems considering the vast (IoT) devices and the Big Data deluge may prompt more amount of data available in a manufacturing environment. manufacturers to seek rock-solid solutions for dealing with Our developers are constantly improving the processing of the immense quantity of events that can be streaming extremely large amounts of operational data. into a database from a shop floor, said Jody Romanowski, CEO of Cimco Americas LLC (Streamwood, IL), a developer of data-collection software solutions. When a new system is implemented, it is important to determine if the information will be valuable to you and plan the collection of relevant data carefully. It s easy enough to collect Big Data, but make sure you are collecting events from which you can assemble useful information, she added. I think some of the Big Data arrays may be filled with information that is not relevant or can t be processed into useful information. The MERLIN (Manufacturing Execution Real-Time Lean Information Network) MES software from Memex Inc. features dashboards with critical shop-floor metrics including OEE, availability, part quality and machine performance. More technology providers, such as Cisco, are moving into the manufacturing space with solutions for handling large amounts of unmanaged data, said David McPhail, CEO of Memex Inc. (Burlington, ON, Canada), developer of manufacturing execution systems (MES). Within our industry there are 20 million CNC machine tools installed globally, two million in North American alone, he added, and three more support assets are typically associated with each CNC, which creates an 80-million-machine universe. Yet over 90% of the world s CNC assets are not connected because of a plethora of different data protocols. As an increasing amount of this data is captured, those within manufacturing see a higher-tech, data-driven manufacturing industry taking shape. Big Data is just one part of Embracing Advanced Technologies Shops today are looking for ways to streamline operations, improve productivity, and reduce cost, noted Mohamed Abuali, CEO of Forcam Inc. (Cincinnati and Friedrichshafen, Germany). More manufacturers are embracing advanced technologies, Abuali said. At large enterprises, there is a necessity for global manufacturing intelligence and benchmarking, where managers can access KPIs and analytics at their fingertips, anytime, anywhere, in any language. At smaller manufacturers and job shops, there is a growing desire to monitor the shop floor, understand part flows, planned versus actual performance, run programs, and access paperless information. All manufacturers are trying to enhance the skills of an aging workforce and use technology to drive productivity, he added. At Forcam, we offer an scalable solution that can address the needs of large and smaller manufacturing enterprises, via a cloud-based or on-premise solution and 54 AdvancedManufacturing.org October 2015

3 the needed shop floor management training to assist them to and to support executing timely decisions, Abuali said. use smart data to make smart decisions. Forcam s platform enables connectivity not only to machines, The future lies in development of solutions that allow manufacturers to be more proactive, intelligent, and informed, and tool data, he added. but to any IT system, such as quality, maintenance, PLM, MTConnect standardizes links between systems, applications, and entire factories to provide an integrated overall manufacturing system. In addition (805) (800) to MTConnect, Forcam s technology supports a variety of real-time plug-ins Make Anything With ESPRIT to machine CNCs and PLCs, including That s right. Anything. From simple to complex, use the CAM software manufacturer-specific drivers. Work Smarter. that can handle it all. Get ESPRIT. Forcam is a pioneer of Industry Five-Axis Milling? Multi-tasking? Swiss machining? ESPRIT is created to 4.0 the 4th industrial revolution, also handle the industry s most advanced CNC machines. called the Industrial Ethernet. A major AND our customer service is icing on the cake. Our applications theme of Industry 4.0 is to build a cyberphysical system to map production Big engineers are always ready to help you overcome whatever challenge you re facing. Data in real-time, in a virtual space, like Think you need to edit your code after you post process? Think again. a cyber mirror, he said. Imagine your Our post processors are factory certified so you know your code will be right, the first time, and every time. factory modeled in the cloud; this today WE RE READY WHEN YOU ARE is a reality. Big data requires advanced technological features such as in-memory technology for real-time data acquisition and processing. With this objective GET A BOOST data, wastes are demonstrated crystal clear and you win the largest transparency about the state of your manufacturing. You can analyze the production virtually and optimize it in real-time. See us at SOUTH-TEC Booth #1019 Getting Connected Many of the disconnected machines on plant floors are older legacy equipment representing a huge investment, and these machines can require more technology than a standard MTConnect adapter to fully implement modern data collection, monitoring and analysis systems. Reliable costs and quality are achieved by data-driven awareness on the shop floor, said Memex s McPhail. Second and third-tier manufacturing suppliers must be able to demonstrate that they can capture, analyze and share their production data with their upstream 56 AdvancedManufacturing.org October 2015

4 partners. The Overall Equipment Effectiveness [OEE] metric is now table stakes in the manufacturing business, he said. OEE equals availability multiplied by quality multiplied by performance. The ability to demonstrate OEE as well as a process to constantly improve plant efficiency is the basis of coveted trusted-supplier relationships. OEE is an ideal, industry-accepted metric, McPhail added. An OEE of 80% or more is achievable by most manufacturing industry shop floors and the money people understand this, yet the majority of shop floors can t produce this measurement on any kind of consistent basis. I wish I could say that clipboard data gathering and spread-sheet analysis was not as prevalent as it was, but that s the number one app out there right now, McPhail said. A shocking number of manufacturing CEOs tell me their major challenge is being told one thing about plant operations and seeing something completely different on their Cimco Americas MDC-Max manufacturing data collection system delivers custom reports, real-time alerts and live screens of production data to a user s mobile device. income statements. The typical clipboard and spreadsheet approach to capturing OEE, when it is captured at all, delays the time CEOs can get insight as to what is actually happening on the plant floor. Taking the MTConnect route to shop-floor monitoring has many advantages. As McPhail noted, MTConnect enables manufacturing equipment to provide data in a single structured XML format rather than an obstructive array of proprietary formats. With uniform data available from both Image courtesy Cimco Americas LLC The world s first truly portable DCC CMM At only 30 pounds, the zcat conveniently goes with you wherever you need it. No longer are you required to take the part to the CMM, the zcat can be deployed directly in the manufacturing process. See it online at See it live at SOUTH-TEC Booth /2 Page zcat Ad - October (South-Tec)2.indd 1 9/9/15 2:28 PM October 2015 AdvancedManufacturing.org 57

5 legacy and modern production equipment, sensor packages, and other hardware, software applications can enable more efficient operations, improved production optimization, and increased productivity. As transformative as it is, MTConnect still suffers from a basic awareness problem, McPhail said. Although machine tool companies like Mazak are pushing MTConnect from its CEO on down, plant managers who may have heard of the standard don t know exactly what it is or how it can help them. Memex s MERLIN (Manufacturing Execution Real-Time Lean Information Network) MES system is an industrialstrength shop-floor-to-top-floor communications platform that provides efficiency metrics in real time. According to McPhail, MERLIN delivers a 10-50% average productivity increase, and earns 20%-plus profit improvement based on just a 10% increase in OEE. Payback is achievable in less than four months with Internal Rate of Return [IRR] greater than 300%, he said. We connect to any machine, old or new, utilizing native MTConnect, OPC, FOCAS or FANUC I/O link using MERLIN hardware adapters. More manufacturers are implementing manufacturing data systems because their customers are demanding that they provide accurate real-time and historical information on part production, said Cimco s Romanowski. In addition, shops want information that helps them forecast more accurately, pinpoint production issues, send realtime alerts when production problems occur, better understand their plant performance and provide traceability to the machine level, she said. With the correct information and reporting, manufacturing companies can improve interactions with their customers, improve quality, improve efficiency, reduce maintenance and reduce inventory. The technology is constantly evolving to meet these requirements more efficiently. Cimco s manufacturing data collection system, MDC-Max, provides customized reports, graphs, real-time alerts and live screens showing real-time production data. MDC-Max is fully 䔀 渀 最 椀 渀 攀 攀 爀 椀 渀 最 匀 甀 瀀 瀀 漀 爀 琀 ⴀ 伀 渀 ⴀ 匀 椀 琀 攀 吀 爀 愀 椀 渀 椀 渀 最 ⴀ 䐀 攀 洀 漀 渀 猀 琀 爀 愀 琀 椀 漀 渀 䘀 愀 挀 椀 氀 椀 琀 礀 ⴀ 刀 攀 渀 琀 愀 氀 伀 瀀 琀 椀 漀 渀 猀 ⴀ 䰀 椀 昀 攀 琀 椀 洀 攀 圀 愀 爀 爀 愀 渀 琀 礀 匀 瀀 攀 挀 椀 愀 氀 椀 稀 椀 渀 最 椀 渀 琀 栀 攀 䐀 攀 猀 椀 最 渀 漀 昀 䴀 漀 搀 甀 氀 愀 爀 䘀 椀 砀 琀 甀 爀 攀 猀 匀 椀 渀 挀 攀 㤀 㤀 䈀 䰀 唀 䌀 伀 䌀 伀 刀 倀 伀 刀 䄀 吀 䤀 伀 一 ⴀ アハ ート 㔀 吀 栀 愀 礀 攀 爀 䌀 漀 甀 爀 琀 ⴀ 䄀 甀 爀 漀 爀 愀 Ⰰ 䤀 䰀 㘀 㔀 㐀 ⴀ 眀 眀 眀 䈀 䰀 唀 䌀 伀 挀 漀 洀 ⴀ 㠀 ⴀ 㔀 アハ ート 㔀 ⴀ アハ ート 㔀 58 AdvancedManufacturing.org October 2015 See us at FABTECH Booth #N11025

6 integrated with Cimco s manufacturing data management database product, Cimco MDM, and its NC file management system, NC-Base. Since our products are fully integrated, information from our databases can be used in MDC reports, Romanowski said. For example, if a part cycle time estimate is stored in the database it can be used for comparison to actual cycle times in MDC-Max reports. A major issue is deciding how much data to collect, and TechSolve positioned MiniViz as a tool to get people started monitoring. We caution how much to collect. If you try to present everything under sun, you re going to get knocked over it s a fire hose, Pieper said. There are an immense amount of variables. You don t need very much to get a big, big improvement, and you can get into it less expensively. Image courtesy Forcam Inc. Cost-Effective Monitoring Real-Time Shop-Floor Updates Among shop-floor monitoring solutions, manufacturing Although Big Data casts a big shadow over manufacturing, many see it as more of a future problem. It still looms in consultant TechSolve Inc. (Cincinnati) offers its Viz Products monitoring solutions as an attractive option for smaller shops, the future. There s a lot of talk about it but in practice, we re noted Ron Pieper, TechSolve product manager. The company offers multiple layers of adapters in its Viz line. product manager, ShopFloorConnect, Wintriss Controls very much driven by what we need today, said Jim Finnerty, There are a lot of people saying Let s get MTConnect (Acton, MA). It s important to know what s coming. done, Pieper said. A large aircraft maker used the MiniViz Shop-floor customers today are looking for integration to start up a monitoring system where none was previously of software like Wintriss ShopFloorConnect data collection installed. They have a chunk of machines that haven t been and monitoring with existing ERP and MES software, he said. We tie into their existing software and we have visibility of what s going on on the shop floor at any one time. We can make the scheduling software come to life. With ShopFloorConnect, users get an integrated solution that s highly customizable. Real-time customizable notifications are the latest tweak to Wintriss ShopFloorConnect, Finnerty said, greatly speeding up data delivery. We re all about increasing efficiency and reducing downtime, he said. Looking for New Smart Manufacturing Solutions Forcam s Force shop-floor management software shows production machine tool assets performance in real-time from locations anywhere in the world. One of the biggest issues for shop floor managers is knowing what to measure and what to ignore. monitored. They like our concept of MiniViz because it s a Recent research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST; Gaithersburg, MD) focused on helping manufac- lightweight, tiny application running on an attached PC. TechSolve s ShopViz is a more extensive solution, but turing operations decide what to collect from the shop floor. both are fully MTConnect-compliant, Pieper added. The NIST s project is its Smart Manufacturing Operations Planning and Control Program, noted Moneer Helu, mechanical standard is driving in a direction where there s efforts moving into inspection and quality, he said. The more that we engineer, NIST Systems Integration Division, Engineering can learn about the machine and the metadata, the more it Laboratory, who was a Manufacturing Engineering 30 Under will help us to understand what s going on with the genealogy of parts and what s collected. I m seeing a greater ing a product lifecycle test bed built on a cyber-physical 30 award recipient in The NIST program is develop- acceptance of the concept of monitoring, from users and infrastructure to enable smart manufacturing research and from machine tool builders and control suppliers. We ve development, with the goal to help spur US manufacturers got a perfect storm [with Big Data and IoT], what s going to competitiveness with better factory data-collection methods. happen next? There s going to be a big merge in collecting What can you do with that data? How do you enable innovations, and get some value from that activity? They and interpreting the data. want 60 AdvancedManufacturing.org October 2015

7 to know what types of technologies are needed, Helu said. prognostics for predicting manufacturing maintenance issues, Helu said. Where are those pain points? What are the Measurement science is very much the bread and butter of NIST. We want to understand not just whether we have the problems? We re applying that fundamental research side right data, but if we re using the right way to collect it. and focusing on transferring that to industry, he said. NIST is also collaborating with TechSolve to develop case studies in relevant areas of manufacturing, Helu said. The Smart Manufacturing test bed involves networking NIST s machines both in the Gaithersburg headquarters and NIST s Boulder, CO, offices. We re functioning basically as a Cylindrical Drive Technology small to medium-sized job shop and Revolutionary non-contact design building a cyber component with computer-added technologies, Helu said. These would include advanced manufacturing capabilities such as additive manufacturing, model-based enterprise, machine-to-machine communications, and cloud computing and services, with Auto-Threader Allows up to 14 inches of through-part the aim of collaborating and creating wire threading for tall parts highly customizable products that are faster, cheaper, better, and greener. LEADING THE Some of the questions that need answering for shop-floor data collection and smart manufacturing include CHARGE. dynamic scheduling and routing and? Compact Head Design Easy indexing during operation DISCOVER THE #1-SELLING EDM IN NORTH AMERICA When we introduced our MV Series wire EDM machines, we had a feeling they d make waves. The never-before-seen design improvements have reinforced our leadership in ONE SOURCE. Cimco Americas Inc. the market and sparked our customers success. 888-DNC-7858 / ENDLESS EXPERTISE. No other machine on the market has our non-contact Forcam Inc. cylindrical drive technology, improved power supply / and deeper submerged cutting capabilities all backed Memex Inc. by the reliable, expert support our customers expect / National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) NIST (6478) / TechSolve Inc / Wintriss Controls / See what all the buzz is about at or call For current open positions, please visit our website: or jobs@mcmachinery.com EOE M/F/D/V October 2015 AdvancedManufacturing.org 61