Wearable Technologies Could Make Manufacturing Immersive Hyper-Experience

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Popular media portrays wearable technology as a consumer trend with applications in entertainment and health and fitness. Possibly the best-known wearable technology is Google Glass, the head-worn device that can “augment reality” by displaying location-based and contextual information and taking hands-free photos and videos. Google’s promotion of the smartglasses targets a consumer audience, highlighting the device’s ability for enhancing lifestyles.

However, innovators are adapting wearable technology to business environments, including manufacturing organizations. Wearable technology holds application promise in such areas as production, warehousing, logistics, maintenance, safety, and security.

The smartglasses form factor offers usability benefits, says Dan Cui, vice president for business development at Rochester, N.Y.-based Vuzix Corp., which manufactures a device called the M100 SmartGlasses that is marketed to enterprises. “One thing about tablets and cell phones, versus something that you wear, is that handhelds are an acquired technology trait for humans,” he told ThomasNet News in an interview. “Wearing a headset is more suited to human physiology, as opposed to something you have to pick up and hold in your hands.”

Vuzix’s device is being used for warehouse applications, and the company is getting ready to release an application for field service.

Wearable technology will increase in importance and improve in capability as the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to roll out in industrial environments, according to Dave Edstrom, chief technology officer at Burlington, Ont.-based Memex Automation. As machines become more intelligent and increasingly networked, more information about their operations and status will become available on the shop floor. The information cloud is creating an environment in which wearable technology can be of great utility.

That doesn’t mean it will be easy to pull off, Edstrom cautions, in speaking with ThomasNet News. “The ‘last-meter’ problem will become exponentially more important with wearables,” Edstrom said, referring to the challenge of capturing machine-generated data wirelessly and integrating it into the company network. “It will be expected that as someone walks around the plant, they can automatically gather data from any device that has a ‘digital heartbeat’ — provided they are authorized to,” he said. “It sounds easy, but the necessary steps to make that a reality are anything but easy.”

Implementing such a regime first requires the organization to structurally “know what is happening anytime, anywhere, on any device,” Edstrom said. “This means that the first step before wearables will be to make sure you are real-time-monitoring your plant. Only then does embracing wearables make sense.”

Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Companies (ITAMCO), a precision gear shop based in Plymouth, Ind., has developed a cloud-based app for Google Glass that allows a user to receive data from the manufacturing production environment over a network built on the MTConnect standard for machine communications.

Joel Neidig, technology manager at ITAMCO, told ThomasNet News that the company is using its Google Glass application in-house, refining the technology, and seeking partner companies that could benefit from the smartglasses in their own enterprises.

“We’re using it for monitoring machines that are in-cycle and for part-tracking,” Neidig said. The smart-glasses form factor “makes great sense especially in manufacturing,” he noted, since the plant floor is “where we all have to wear eye protection. Also, it’s nice to have something hands-free, because we’re always working with our hands.”

Neidig says the company is working on extending the app to materials handling, where he believes it could offer tremendous utility.

A video by ITAMCO demonstrates the capabilities and user experience of the company’s app. The video captures a walk-through of ITAMCO’s facility by Neidig while wearing Google Glass. The device displays environmental information for him, such as actual and target temperatures for the shop. Looking at a sprocket in the shop triggers a display of the corresponding part and operation numbers. Examining other parts, he is able to call up 3D models, manipulate the models using hand gestures, and view animated and exploded drawings.

When Neidig focuses on a machine, Google Glass delivers information about the machine’s status, utilization, and spindle speed via MTConnect. During the walk-through of the facility, Neidig is able to share photos and videos from the shop floor and communicate by video conference with a colleague.

While smartglasses constitute the best-known form of wearable computing, other form factors, such as clothing, textiles, and arm bands, also promise benefits. Emerging technologies include skin patches and even smart tattoos, or e-skin.

Speaking with ThomasNet News, Hubert Selvanathan, principal at Waterstone Management Group, an advisory firm focused on serving the technology sector, highlighted the potential of these other form factors. “Wearables could be helpful in monitoring ambient conditions to ensure safety on the shop floor or other locations,” he said. “A safety jacket could be outfitted with sensor technology to protect workers under hazardous conditions.”

Wearables could also take the form of authentication devices that restrict access within a facility, he suggests.

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M2M Communications Can Improve Shop’s Output up to 50% and Increase Income up to 6 times

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Mathematician and 19th century inventor William Thomson’s timeless advice made sense in the 19th century, but applies just as well today to the North American manufacturing industry: “If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it.” Yet according to Dave Edstrom, past Chairman of the MTConnect Institute, approximately 95% of manufacturing machines are not monitored. By monitoring all types of machine tools and associated processes, shops can improve communications to increase production and profit.

So why is it that 95 percent of manufacturing machines are not being monitored? The most common answer is the complexity and the cost of connecting a wide range of machine tools and manufacturing equipment that span decades and many different brand names.

Workstation screen for MERLIN communication platform installed at each machine enables an operator to remain at the machine at all times.

Manufacturers purchase machine tools over time to match contracts, thus many shops contain machines with up to 30 generations of eight different controls, all running closed proprietary protocols. This is a manufacturing pre-condition, one that severely limits the ability of these machines to communicate with each other or with management about how to increase productivity.

Yet effective machine communication across the shop floor speeds up the production process and can increase machine utilization by 10 to 50 percent. With the advent of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications, plants can improve output more than 10 percent and related Income From Operations two to six times, all while using the same equipment, labor and shifts.

Manufacturers are starting to bridge the machine tool communication divide with MTConnect. Introduced in 2008, MTConnect fosters greater interoperability between manufacturing devices and applications. It standardizes the basic “languages” between machines (XML and HTTP) so that they are able to communicate with each other and provide real-time data sharing capability across the shop floor.

MERLIN main dashboard display screen showing some of the 150 performance indicators that can be monitored.

As a non-customized solution, MTConnect opens the machine architecture of the plant in a way that overcomes its pre-conditions. The resulting data can be shared across the network for processing by various software applications, therefore boosting manufacturing operations.

“Think of MTConnect as a Bluetooth for manufacturing that comes with a dictionary of terms,” said Dave Edstrom, who is now Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Memex Automation Inc. “Its data dictionary standardizes all the different manufacturing terms used by different machine protocols so that they mean the same thing from any control.”

Combining MTConnect’s open, royalty-free communications interoperability with Memex Automation’s MERLIN Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and M2M communications platform, companies can experience the results of increased productivity and profitability as it happens in real-time. Memex Automation has taken its 20 plus years of experience in shop floor technology integration and distilled it into a machine-to-management packaged solution that runs on any machine or device on the shop floor.

Memex MERLIN system can operate independent of any DNC solution.

MERLIN is a hardware and software solution that solves that “last meter” of connection that manufacturing companies need. It monitors machines across the facility and analyzes where the bottlenecks are happening and where the company can make improvements. MERLIN also provides real-time dashboards of plant operations performance indicators for all to see.

Manufacturing giant Mazak established a plant in Florence, KY, in 1974 that has since undergone numerous expansions and is now 900,000 square feet.

Mazak has fully embraced M2M communications and was an early adopter of the MTConnect standard. It installed MTConnect not only on its machine tool products but also on its own manufacturing equipment.

“This total embrace of MTConnect was intended to make a statement,” said Brian Papke, President of Mazak. “We wanted to be a leader in both promoting and implementing MTConnect. We wanted our example to show the importance of moving toward data-driven manufacturing. MTConnect is an essential part of what makes data-driven manufacturing possible.”

Memex Automation’s MERLIN system monitors a Mazak Slant Turn Nexus 600 big-bore turning center machine. Display screen at left shows real-time data OEE, availability, performance and quality.

Mazak realized that in order to maintain its world class manufacturing status that it needed to further its production capabilities. After significant research, it was decided that the MERLIN solution was the best one for the Florence plant.

Data showed that reports could be configured for various users within the company, and a big advantage was the collected data and archived reports could be stored locally on a dedicated network server. “Machine tools generate a lot of data. This data has to be organized properly in order to be understood and acted upon,” said Neil Desrosiers, Mazak’s developer of digital solutions. MERLIN automatically sends out over 75 reports per day, about operational issues.

Mazak installed MERLIN on 15 machines at the Florence plant and so far have yielded a 42 percent improvement in utilization for the monitored machines. In addition, Mazak reduced operator overtime by 100 hours per month and 400 hours per month of previously outsourced work was returned to Mazak.

Mazak factory in Florence, Kentucky with 900,000 sq. feet of space.

Most manufacturing companies believe they run a fairly efficient facility, but in actuality, Memex finds most shops are running below 40 percent Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). OEE is a statistical measurement that is used to determine how efficiently a machine is running based on the product of three ratios. OEE = Availability x Quality x Performance. Those same manufacturing companies that were running below 40 percent OEE found that with MERLIN installed, they were operating at 80 percent OEE or more, a huge improvement.

Boosting productivity from the available machines and shifts is the right approach to revolutionizing the manufacturing industry. Thanks to M2M communication platforms manufacturing companies across North America can increase their ability to compete globally and the renaissance in manufacturing “onshoring” can continue.

To see the full article, please click here.

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Memex/Merlin

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Memex Automation becomes member of the premiere U.S. manufacturing group AMT

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Astrix Networks Inc. (TSX VENTURE: OEE) operating under the trade name Memex Automation Inc., the global leader of manufacturing Machine-to-Machine (M2M) productivity solutions, is pleased to announce they have joined AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology.

Memex Automation, headquartered in Burlington, Ontario, specializes in networking machine tools to management information systems. “AMT is a recognized leader in the world of manufacturing in a number of significant areas. AMT drove the creation of MTConnect, the open and royalty-free interoperability standard for shop floor connectivity and over the past four years Memex Automation has played a key leadership role in developing the MTConnect community. We are very proud to be a member of AMT,”said David McPhail, President and CEO of Memex Automation. AMT also owns and manages IMTS —The International Manufacturing Technology Show, where Memex has been an exhibitor since 1992.

“Memex supported AMT programs and events even before joining. As members, I look forward to the opportunity to work with a high energy, innovative group of individuals to grow AMT and improve the
programs they already use, like MTConnect, IMTS and the [MC]2 Conference,” said Patrick McGibbon,Vice President Industry Intelligence, The Association For Manufacturing Technology.

Dave Edstrom, CTO of Memex Automation knows AMT well. In 2006 he was part of a presentation at AMT’s annual meeting that lead to the creation of MTConnect. Edstrom became AMT’s Director for the Office of Strategic Innovation and served as President and Chairman of the MTConnect Institute. “I joined Memex because of its clear leadership position in MTConnect and driving productivity for manufacturing. It is with great pride that I can say Memex is a member of AMT,” said Edstrom.

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MEMEX - CEO Clips Interview

CEO Clips Interview with David McPhail

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David McPhail, President and CEO of Memex Automation, was interviewed by Business Television (BTV) for a CEO Clip documenting what Memex Automation is all about.

Starting Aug. 11 it will be shown 15 times on the Documentary Channel, BNN.ca, Insider Network, MSN Money and Canadian Business Journal.

It is a great 1 minute and 30 second video that describes what Memex Automation’s mission is.

Mazak Uses MERLIN MES and MTConnect at Kentucky Plant

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July 28, 2014 – The American manufacturing renaissance is in motion at Mazak’s plant in Florence, Kentucky with the help of MERLIN (Manufacturing Execution Real-time Lean Information Network) from Memex Automation. MERLIN is a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications platform that quickly and cost-effectively isolates productivity issues so everyone from the shop floor to the top floor is able to understand what must be done to maximize efficiency.

Mazak plant in Florence, Kentucky, USA

Mazak produces the world’s most advanced Multi-Tasking, 5-axis turning and milling machines at a rate of 200 units per month in its 800,000 square foot North American Headquarters and Technology Center in Florence, Kentucky. Mazak’s quest for productivity recently extended to a search to improve manufacturing efficiency, particularly in regards to machine availability and associated downtime.

A Mazak Slant Turn Nexus 600 big-bore turning centre machine and MERLIN display screen at left

Mazak’s IT department started the efficiency drive by implementing the MTConnect protocol to accurately determine machine availability by using Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) as a standard measurement. “This total embrace of MTConnect is intended to make a statement,” said Brian Papke, President of Mazak, who personally drove the project. “We want to be a leader in both promoting and implementing MTConnect.  We want our example to show the importance of moving toward data-driven manufacturing.  MTConnect is an essential part of what makes data-driven manufacturing possible.”

MTConnect is an open, royalty-free standard intended to foster greater interoperability between manufacturing devices and software applications. Introduced at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in 2008, Mazak executives recognized its potential to facilitate plant-wide integration and enhance automation. Memex Automation’s Dave Edstrom, who was instrumental in creating the MTConnect vision in 2006 as well as was being the President and Chairman of the MTConnect Institute for three-and-a-half years, joined Memex in January of 2014 as its first Chief Technology Officer and has worked with Mazak for years on MTConnect.

Ben Schawe, Vice President of Manufacturing, began the hunt for a commercially available software package that could produce meaningful reports that both production and management teams could act upon. The company formed a task force to evaluate commercially available software solutions.   After an exhaustive search, Mazak selected MERLIN. The evaluation committee included senior executives from President Brian Papke on down, and ultimately they all voted for MERLIN, with 10 out of 10 votes in favor of the Memex Automation product.

“We ended up choosing MERLIN for its ability to collect data using MTConnect adapters and through their Universal Machine Interface circuit board for legacy machines. This advanced technology board can capture direct signals from the machine and translates it into MTConnect standard code. This combination meant that every machine on the shop floor could be MTConnect compatible for a common technology analysis platform. In particular we liked MERLIN’s ability to display and report on information related to downtime and answer questions such as ‘Why is the machine not running and what can we do to get it running?’” said Schawe.

With MERLIN collecting and reporting Mazak’s production data in real-time, Mazak’s cross-functional task-force team had what they needed. Following the axiom “you are what you measure”, MERLIN made an almost instant impact at Mazak. A series of 60-inch display monitors presented real-time utilization data in a test section of the Florence plant. The test section contained a cross-section of equipment and helped establish a performance benchmark and related training protocols that could easily expand across the massive machine-tool manufacturing plant.

Display screen data streamed  in real time to monitors on plant floor

Mazak’s large displays cycle through a series of reports that are viewable for short periods of time using MERLIN. The majority of the reports focus on a specific machine as well as performance-based gauges and readouts, which resemble a car’s speedometer. Other reports present graphs that compare all of the machines connected to MERLIN according to a variety of critical metrics such as uptime, and stoppages by category.

For the first time, top management and everyone across Mazak’s shop floor have access to the same actionable MERLIN reports. “Almost as soon as we had the reports out on the plant floor we saw a 6% increase in utilization,” said Schawe. “This was true low-hanging fruit. Not doing anything else – just having our operators aware of how their time management affected machine utilization – we got dramatic payback.”

MERLIN’s easily interpreted, visual report format provides shop floor operators at-a-glance information on how machine tool conditions are influencing efficiency. Bar graphs that summarize activity across a number of machines simultaneously inform supervisors and managers of trends useful for decision-making and long-term planning, such as when to schedule refresher training.

MERLIN can show program stops, feed holds, spindle overrides, tool changes and other reasons why a machine is not running. Analyzing this data provides opportunities to reduce or eliminate many of these stoppages, which improves overall utilization.

At team production meetings Mazak personnel are able to identify and easily fix several downtime-related inefficiencies.  One specific example indicated that some tools were frequently wearing out, and the simple solution was having duplicates ready at tool magazines.  This quick fix saved time because operators were no longer wandering the plant enabling the machines to keep operating at peak capacity.

Some of Mazak’s analysis of MERLIN data was surprising, according to Schawe. In one instance, a number of part programs included optional stops, originally added so that operators could check tool wear periodically or measure a critical part feature during the prove-out phase. When the part went into production, however, these optional stops were never removed from the part program, or operators simply got in the habit of restarting the machine at these points in the program. The high occurrence of stoppages linked to these programmed stops showed up in MERLIN reports and were easily identified. Systematically editing the part programs to remove these unnecessary optional stops was an easy way to recover lost production time.

A similar pattern was detected in stoppages for tool changes. Some operators were stopping the machine every time the access to the tool magazine was opened to replace or check a cutting tool. Instead of using the feed-hold button, which stops the machine, they should have been using the magazine manual interrupt switch, which enables the machine to continue running safely while they perform tool maintenance. Training that addressed this issue took care of the problem.

Analyzing stoppages also revealed more subtle situations. For example, an unusual number of machine stops were reported with a certain run of part castings. Checking with the operators revealed that castings of the same part sourced from two different foundries were not identical. Dissimilarities in the foundry patterns created excess stock conditions that required the operator to interrupt the part program to manually add a second tool pass on the affected castings.

“Rather than offering an expensive, custom-built MES to go after specific issues, we’ve produced an affordable M2M toolkit that easily adapts to machines from all manufacturers and also produces a myriad of data reports our global customers find useful,” said David McPhail, president and CEO of Memex Automation. “The technological breakthrough here is that MERLIN’s hardware and software module requires zero programming or PLC set-up. MERLIN leverages every customer’s existing investment in plant, equipment and enterprise software, and lets them get on with the job of maximizing OEE.”

At Mazak, Schawe stated that MERLIN-related efforts to reduce downtime have so far yielded a 42% improvement in utilization for the monitored machines. In addition, his company reduced operator overtime by 100 hours per month and 400 hours per month of previously outsourced work was returned to Mazak. He also praised the advantage of MERLIN’s ability to take the guesswork out of tracking machine utilization. “We can tell at a glance how we are doing, and the basis is in real-time and historical data,” he explained. “There is so much information, accurate and detailed, all easily accessed whereas before we were it was difficult to find information if it was even available,” he added.

Rocky Rowland, Production Manager, uses the system as a valuable tool to understand exact status of production.  “I am a stickler for accurate information and we use it to make ongoing pro-active decisions in a real time basis.  As a bridge between management in the office administration and the actual shop floor, this tool helps me get things done and delivered on time,” he said.

Schawe’s management team also likes automatically receiving some 50 standard MERLIN reports that are sent out automatically to a variety of departments, cells and management on a daily, weekly and monthly basis through an email alert engine – including daily production, quality, constraints, throughput, operator and utilization metrics. “The data just flows,” he said. “We have full visibility of production both electronically and posted on production boards. The office staff can see statuses and we can relay direct information to customers. Utilizing the web services capability of MERLIN even enhances information dissemination as various devices can access data within their browsers and dashboards.”

“Creating a comprehensive machine monitoring system is a big step forward, but universal connectivity and reporting for shop floor and plant-wide communication is truly powerful,” continued Schawe, who points out that MERLIN is also showcased in its technology centers across North America so Mazak customers can see it in action. “We think we’ve only scratched the surface with MERLIN’s transformative possibilities. We’re working closely with Memex Automation to bring more and more equipment online with MERLIN. There’s more productivity for us to discover, and that’s what we intend to do.”

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