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MEMEX’s MERLIN Takes Bigger Role in Milwaukee Tool

By: Steve Anderson, Real-Time Communications – October 30, 2015

Milwaukee Tool recently took on a small-scale pilot project involving MEMEX Inc’s Manufacturing Execution Real-time Lean Information Network (MERLIN) system. With just five licenses in hand, Milwaukee Tool got a look at just what MERLIN could do, and the results proved impressive enough for Milwaukee Tool to step up the project in a  big way.

Now, Milwaukee Tool’s involvement with MERLIN is up 53 licenses, as the company brought out a follow-on order to the original slate of five. Even that’s just for starters, as there are reports of a multi-phase project that will bring MERLIN to 130 additional industrial machines at the Greenwood, Mississippi plant.

So what got Milwaukee Tool’s attention so markedly with the MERLIN system? MERLIN offers a “shop-floor-to-top-floor” tool that can both track and report on efficiency in the operation, on a real-time basis. It uses a variety of different tools to get the most information out of the various processes, and in turn, produces actionable insight on how to improve.

Reports suggest that MERLIN use can mean anywhere from a 10 to 50 percent increase in average productivity, which in turn means at least 20 percent profit improvement as based on a 10 percent improvement in overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). The MERLIN system has a routine payback period of under four months, and can connect to most any breed of machine that’s using either MTConnect or can accept several different adapters.

This worked out well for Milwaukee Tool, who—according to the Greenwood plant manager Jack Bilotta—was trying to bring OEE in as a key performance indicator for some time. MEMEX’s vice president of sales John Rattray gave a note of assent here, comparing Milwaukee Tool to other companies who have successfully put MERLIN to use like iMech and Magellan.

Manufacturers are eager to find advantages, and with good reason. With prices of most everything going up and consumers extremely sensitive to the bottom line, saving money anywhere it can reasonably be done is worth looking into. Getting the most out of expensive machines, meanwhile, is a great place to look and something that’s been done effectively since back in 1984 with the book The Goal. While our means to identify places to save on production have only improved—the MERLIN system is proof positive of that—the basic idea remains unchanged.

Getting the most out of an operation is vital to its ongoing success, and tools like MERLIN are a great way to get that improvement thanks to real-time communications. It may not work for every operation, but a sobering look at processes overall will identify some waste, promoting overall efficiency.

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Mazak’s March to the Smart Factory

By: Doug Picklyk, Canadian Metalworking – November 2, 2015

With over 30 machine tool models operating on the floor of its Kentucky-based National Technology Center, Mazak’s Discover 2015 event (Oct. 27-29, Nov. 3-5) revealed the company’s wide range of products and its commitment to the future of manufacturing.

Anticipating 2,500 visitors over the six-day event, there was an emphasis on multi-tasking “done in one” machine tools, with many North American debut products including the INTEGREX i-400AM HYBRID Multi-Tasking machine featuring additive manufacturing along with full 5-axis milling and turning capabilities.

A highlight of the event was the introduction of Mazak’s launch into the connected cyber world with the introduction of the SmartBox, a platform that serves as a conduit between machine tools, shop floor management, and the Industrial Internet of Things.

The SmartBox incorporates connectors, a processor, software and an industrial switch to read standardized MTConnect common language coming from the machine tools and send the data out in viewable reports for management and shop floor workers as well as provide a constant stream of real-time data out to sophisticated algorithms where analysis can be performed to ensure optimized performance and trigger preventive maintenance and other value-adding functions.

A collaboration among Mazak, Canadian software company Memex and IT giant Cisco, the SmartBox is a connection to move manufacturing to next-level efficiency. As a demonstration of its commitment to connectivity, Mazak was offering tours of its 536,000 sq. ft. North American manufacturing plant, where the company demonstrated its iSMART Factory concept.

Using MTConnect open communications protocol data from its machine tools and feeding that information through Memex’s Merlin monitoring software, the factory displays real-time equipment efficiency information on easy-to-read dashboards on 60-inch monitors throughout the building. According to Ben Schawe, VPof manufacturing, Mazak, after a six month trial period, the factory achieved 17 per cent overall improvement in efficiency across all equipment being monitored.

The digital integration of the Mazak factory was part of a recent $30 million investment in its campus.

To see the full article, please click here.

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What’s So Smart about the SmartBox?

By: Mark Albert, Modern Machine Shop – October 30, 2015

mazak smartbox

Mazak Corporation showcased the Mazak SmartBox at its Discover 2015 Technology and Education Event October 27-29 at its North American Manufacturing Headquarters in Florence, Kentucky. (The event will continue November 3-5.) Developed in collaboration with Cisco, a supplier of IT connectivity solutions, and Memex Inc., a provider of machine-to-machine communication solutions, the SmartBox is designed to ease the connection of machine tools to a Web-enabled, plant-wide network. Establishing such connections is the first and biggest step toward implementing this so-called Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) on the factory floor.

So what’s so smart about the SmartBox concept? I see five major advantages. Each of these addresses what have been obstacles to joining the IIoT movement.

1. It’s a box. The SmartBox is a mini electrical cabinet about the size of a typical household medicine chest. It can be mounted on the side of a machine enclosure. This enables the box to be connected to a machine tool in several ways. It can be directly interfaced to the electrical cabinet of newer CNC machines without rearranging the components already installed in the existing cabinet.

More significantly, the SmartBox can be connected to legacy equipment that may not have much in the way of electronic controls already in place. Adding off-the-shelf sensors to legacy machines that can then be wired to the I/O rack in the SmartBox gets these machines readily connectable to the shop network for data collecting and monitoring on a basic level. One box can serve several machines, depending on how the user wants to configure the network and how machines are arranged in the shop or plant.

2. The SmartBox provides a high level of data security. One of the main components inside the box is a Cisco industrial Ethernet 4000 series switch. IT departments will love this because the 4000 switch prevents unauthorized access to and from the machines and equipment on a network. Authorized access, however, becomes flexible, simple and secure. The IT people can control and manage network security without getting in the way of what the factory people need to do with critical manufacturing data. Other devices that can be installed in the SmartBox include PLCs and various sensor ports for additional applications.

3. The SmartBox uses MTConnect for interoperability. MTConnect is the open, royalty-free manufacturing communications protocol based on XML and HTTP Internet technology for real-time data sharing. Essentially, MTConnect provides a common vocabulary with standardized definitions for the meaning of data generated by a machine tool (alarms, signals, operator alerts, setting values, messages and so on).

Getting factory equipment to talk the same language, so to speak, is the key to using machine-generated data effectively from diverse machine types and control systems. Depending on the machine’s internal software (which may not use MTConnect natively), the appropriate MTConnect hardware adapter can be installed in the Ethernet switch mentioned above.

4. The SmartBox has built-in smarts. Mazak, Cisco and Memex worked together to enable the switch to do data collection, analysis and reporting with software running on the processor in the switch. With this capability, the switch can communicate directly with operators and shopfloor supervisors without going through the network servers. For example, Memex’s MERLIN manufacturing communications platform can provide local monitoring of machine conditions, do OEE calculations and other machine metrics for display as dashboards on a nearby flat screen or PC station.

Of course, the MERLIN platform can serve as the plant-wide machine monitoring and reporting system, using the SmartBox as a node on the network. But even before a shop or plant gets to that higher level of connectivity, the SmartBox can be delivering interpreted, actionable data on the shop floor.

5. The SmartBox was developed in the context of complete digital integration of the factory. Mazak calls its concept for this integration the iSmart Factory. This concept is being implemented in Mazak’s manufacturing operations worldwide, with its factories in Oguchi, Japan, and Florence, Kentucky, taking the lead. The iSmart Factory is what the IIoT will look like in these facilities and it is intended as a model for implementing the IIoT in all metalworking manufacturing companies.

In addition to the SmartBox, the iSmart Factory concept incorporates other Mazak developments such as Smooth Technology, which covers process and performance enhancements to machine controls and servo systems.

The SmartBox will be available to customers sometime in early 2016.

To see the full article, please click here.

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Mazak pushes digital manufacturing envelope

By: Shop Metalworking Technology – October 29, 2015

Mazak has a vision for the future of manufacturing that embraces the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and that vision was clearly evident at DISCOVER 2015, an annual multi-day event held at the company’s sprawling 800,000 sq ft headquarters and North American manufacturing operations in Florence, KY.

The event, being held October 27-29 and November 3-5 was expected to draw more than 2,500 manufacturers from across North America.

Mazak Discover 2015

Mazak Discover 2015

While the event included the debut of new machining technologies, machine tools and the next generation of the Mazatrol Smooth CNC control, one concept captured attendee’s interest: Mazak’s iSMART Factory, a data-driven advanced digital manufacturing concept. The system, in use in the company’s Florence plant, encompasses advanced manufacturing cells digitally integrated to allow manufacturers to monitor and share data from different machines, cells, devices and processes on the production floor.

Explaining Mazak's iSMART Factory concept to visitors

The newest addition to the iSMART Factory is Mazak’s SmartBox, which made its debut at Discover Mazak. SmartBox is the result of partnership between Mazak, Cisco Systems Inc. and Memex Inc. and it’s the next step in the evolution of the digital factory: ensuring data security.

Mazaks SmartBox can be mounted on the side of a machine

Mazak's SmartBox

“Our common vision is the belief that manufacturing is going to dramatically change as companies [begin] to want increased digital technology in their operations,” noted Brian Papke, president of Mazak Corp. during a press conference. Companies will want to move to a “higher level of integration with more data analytics, monitoring of their devices and more sensors to do things like predictive maintenance and establish more meaningful service relationships with customers.”

A smarter way

SmartBox uses Memex’s Merlin manufacturing software, which provides operational and machining metrics on any machine, old or new, and uses the MTConnect manufacturing communications protocol for machine-to-machine communication. A key element of SmartBox is the Cisco-managed switch that provides cyber security. According to Mazak, the switch prevents unauthorized access from both directions, to or from the machines within a network.

The device mounts to the side of a machine and can work with any Mazak model or age of machine and it doesn’t need to connect to a machine’s electrical cabinet, according to Mazak. One box can serve multiple machine tools.

The device is available in different configurations for different production environments.

Attendees to Mazak’s Discover event had the opportunity to see the SmartBox in action as part of the company’s iSMART Factory at the Kentucky plant.

“One of the principles [of the company] is that our plants use the product innovations we offer our customers,” explains Papke.

For example, the introduction of the iSMART Factory has resulted in a more than double digit percentage improvement in machine utilization. Mazak also reduced operator overtime by 100 hours per month and brought 400 hours per month of previously outsourced work back in-house.

Machining innovations

As the data-driven digital manufacturing world continues to evolve, so too do the machine tools that work within this environment. The best example is Mazak’s hybrid multi-tasking machine tool, the Integrex i-400AM, which made its North American debut during the Discover 2015 event.

The machine combines turning, milling, drilling, metal deposition via two laser cladding heads and laser marking in a single setup.

“We’re the first multi-tasking machine tool builder to tool change a cladding head in and out of the milling spindle,” says Joe Wilker, product group manager for the Cybertec Division of Mazak.

In operation, the machine uses fiber laser heat to melt metal powder used to grow near-net shape 3D parts. The dual cladding heads apply the melted metal layer by layer to create the near-net shape of a part. Once that’s complete, the cladding heads return to the tool magazine and then the substractive machining processes kick in: full five axis milling, turning and contouring to finish a part.

“The new version of this machine supplies a coolant to keep the cladding head cool and at a constant temperatures,” explains Wilker. “What’s interesting about this technology is that we can grow parts in different alloys. I can grow a part that might have five different types of material in one part and that’s never been done before.”

To see the full article, please click here.

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Mazak’s SmartBox to implement MEMEX software and Cisco hardware

CIOReview, Fremont, CA – October 29, 2015

The advent of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), that allows smart machines to accurately and consistently capture and communicate data, has given birth to SmartBox – a launch platform for easy and secure entry to Industrial Internet of Things.  Mazak Corporation will incorporate MEMEX’s MERLIN software and Cisco’s hardware to its SmartBox to achieve enhanced efficiency and productivity of machines.

SmartBox is based on Cisco’s connected machine solution that enables rapid and repeatable machine connectivity with machine optimization, overall equipment effectiveness and predictive maintenance, which is equipped with MTConnect software agent.  Along with Cisco’s solution, SmartBox also adopts MERLIN – a product that allows companies to measure overall equipment effectiveness in real time and helps in monitoring production to improve profitability.  While MERLIN software allows monitoring of machines and testing of other equipment within the plant, Cisco hardware prevents any unauthorized access to or from the machines within a network.

MTConnect also runs on Cisco’s Industrial Ethernet 4000 switch with MERLIN software’s real time visibility and insights to data.  It enhances SmartBox’s connectivity of machines and devices for monitoring and analytical capabilities.

SmartBox can work with any machine and will be offered in various configurations or kits based on how the units will be used.  It legs users to easily connect any standard off the shelf sensors to the system for machine data gathering and condition monitoring.

To see the full article, please click here.