IMTS TV – September 10, 2014
An in-depth look at some of the exciting technology found in the exhibitors’ booths.
Dave Edstrom and David McPhail of Memex Automation explain how MTConnect and the new Ax760MTC board can improve productivity and profitability.
Rob Colman of MP&P interviews Memex Automation’s President and CEO, David McPhail, on the newest innovation launched at IMTS 2014, the Ax-760 MTC CNC hardware adapter that connects all machines no matter the make, model or vintage.
Proactive Investors – Sept 8, 2014 – Memex Automation (CVE:OEE) is showcasing its new MERLIN MTConnect hardware, which allows manufacturing companies to measure overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) in real-time, enterprise-wide, at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago this week.
MTConnect is the open, royalty-free standard that is intended to foster greater interoperability between manufacturing devices and software applications. It is used with the company’s new CNC hardware adapters, bringing OEE network connectivity from the shop floor to management, no matter the make, model or vintage of machine.
The tool will be demonstrated live at IMTS, America’s largest manufacturing tech show, Memex said, at booth E-3368.
The company said its new Ax760-MTC is a fully configurable hardware adapter that facilitates the communication with a company’s computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines via the MTConnect standard, and can be used with older FANUC-controlled machines that still populate about 50 percent of CNC machine shop floors.
The result is a tool that allows Memex’s MERLIN software to track a large number of data inputs that measure OEE in real-time, machine by machine as well as other operational machine information.
The MERLIN device monitors production and capacity utilization on the shop floor, improving profitability, reducing waste and ensuring compliance with regulations. It enables customers to address production bottlenecks as they happen, converting idle time back into production and ultimately improving throughput and increasing income from plant operations.
“Rather than buying a new controller, you can enhance your oldest legacy controllers so they can take advantage of today’s MTConnect communication standard and take advantage of MERLIN OEE benefits,” Memex said.
“In many instances, this can substitute for a machine monitoring retrofit.”
The company said audiences will see a technology preview of web-based features of MERLIN at IMTS, such as the ability to customize the display of data to meet users’ specific requirements. Memex will also be demonstrating MERLIN in a live manufacturing operations platform, while viewers will in addition get to see its MERLIN product running with machines owned by machine tool maker Mazak.
The company’s product was recently described in a case study by Mazak, which said that MERLIN-related efforts to reduce downtime yielded a 42 percent improvement in utilization for the monitored machines. In addition, Mazak also reduced operator downtime by 100 hours per month, while 400 hours per month of previously outsourced work was returned to the company.
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By Deborah Bacal, Proactive Investors, Sept 4, 2014.
Memex Automation’s (CVE:OEE) MERLIN system designed to improve manufacturing productivity has again proven its effectiveness, according to an article published earlier this week in Michigan’s Assembly Magazine.
The article, which profiles agricultural machine maker Vermeer Corp, discussed the company’s efforts to accurately measure worker productivity, machine utilization and throughput.
“Vermeer needed a measuring system that groups operations into more logical cells to reduce redundancy and improve work flow. The company also wanted a system that is built on a scalable database-driven platform,” the article read.
In late 2012, Vermeer decided its best option was Memex’s Merlin system, which allows manufacturing companies to measure overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) in real-time, enterprise-wide. It monitors production and capacity utilization on the shop floor, improving profitability, reducing waste and ensuring compliance with regulations.
The tool enables customers to address production bottlenecks as they happen, converting idle time back into production and ultimately improving throughput and increasing income from plant operations.
Over the past 18 months, Vermeer said the Memex system has increased machine utilization by 50 percent and reduced setup time by 60 minutes per shift. Equally important, the company has verifiable data that eliminate the guesswork from managers’ decisions regarding utilization and capital expenditure, Assembly Magazine wrote.
“Machine operators’ initial resistance to Merlin was soon replaced by the realization that the system is easy to operate and makes their job easier by collecting data automatically,” the article read.
“Each monitored machine also features an audible alert that prompts the operator to action. Operators especially like that they can send an automated email, via the HMI, to immediately contact the local administrator whenever any problem arises with Merlin.”
Before Merlin, Vermeer’s facilities relied solely on kanban boards to track parts machining and product assembly. No facility had a system in place to quantitatively track worker or equipment efficiency.
The Merlin system is made up of a software program and a machine interface that provides automated data collection and also includes a handheld HMI for downtime recording and a real time key performance indicator screen.
The company’s product was also recently described in a case study by Mazak, which said that Merlin-related efforts to reduce downtime so far yielded a 42 percent improvement in utilization for the monitored machines. In addition, Mazak also reduced operator downtime by 100 hours per month, while 400 hours per month of previously outsourced work was returned to the company.
In addition, Rose Integration, based in Carlton Place, Ontario, was able to generate an increase in OEE of 105 percent in one year using Merlin, while Kitchener, Ontario-based Magellan Aerospace went from a 36.9 percent OEE rating to an 85 percent rating, saving the company from costs of expanding to a fourth machine.
Last month, Memex closed the second and last tranche of its private placement announced in June, raising a total of $2 million from the oversubscribed offering.
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By Jim Camillo, September 2014 issue of Assembly magazine.
By the late 1940s, many U.S. manufacturers began creating and building products for the post-WWII economy. Vermeer Corp., for example, opened in 1948 in Pella, IA, and started manufacturing agricultural machines.
In 1971, the company developed the first large baler, which revolutionized how hay is harvested. Vermeer implemented lean manufacturing practices in the 1990s to better compete in the global market, and the strategy paid off. Today, the company manufactures equipment ranging from wood chippers to horizontal directional drills at plants in the United States, the Netherlands, Brazil, Germany, Singapore and China.
However, until recently, all the facilities relied solely on kanban boards to track parts machining and product assembly. No facility had a system in place to quantitatively track worker or equipment efficiency.
Knowing the importance of continuous improvement, company management saw the necessity to accurately measure worker productivity, machine utilization and throughput. Vermeer needed a measuring system that groups operations into more logical cells to reduce redundancy and improve work flow. The company also wanted a
system that is built on a scalable database-driven platform.
Vermeer determined that an overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) system was the best option. More specifically, the company liked the Merlin monitoring system from Memex Automation Inc. A few were purchased and connected to machines in Pella plants in late 2012.
Merlin’s two main components are AxOEE software and an Ax9150 machine interface that provides automated data collection. The system also includes a handheld HMI for downtime recording, an ERP interface and a real-time key performance indicator (KPI) screen.
After benchmarking initial data, Vermeer adjusted downtime parameters, analyzed respective downtime elements and determined expected time savings to improve machine utilization. Over the past 18 months, the system has increased machine utilization by 50 percent and reduced setup time by 60 minutes per shift. Equally important, the company has verifiable data that eliminates the guesswork from managers’ decisions regarding utilization and capital expenditure.
Machine operators’ initial resistance to Merlin was soon replaced by the realization that the system is easy to operate and makes their job easier by collecting data automatically. Each monitored machine also features an audible alert that prompts the operator to action.
Operators especially like that they can send an automated email, via the HMI, to immediately contact the local administrator whenever any problem arises with Merlin. Several large KPI screens on the plant floor keep managers and operators informed of machine effectiveness.
For more information on OEE software, call 866-573-3895 or visit www.memex.ca.
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