Memex CEO Co-authors MTConnect Institute Connectivity Guide

Burlington, Ontario — (SBWIRE) — 10/28/2011 — Developed as a guide for shop owners and plant managers exploring the MTConnect implementation process, the MTConnect Institute announced the release of the “Getting Started with MTConnect – Connectivity Guide.”

David McPhail, President & CEO of Memex Automation Inc. and co-chair of the MTConnect Shop Floor Connectivity Committee said, “It was a pleasure working with such a talented and energetic team of experts who are all focused on addressing manufacturing productivity issues. By applying the techniques defined in the Connectivity Guide, essentially every piece of manufacturing equipment can now be integrated into a manufacturing data system — empowering productivity improvement on the shop floor for all machines.”

This guide is the result of a year-long effort by the MTConnect Shop Floor Connectivity Committee. Thought leaders from sixteen companies representing a diverse cross-section of the discrete parts manufacturing industry collaborated in the development of the guide. The committee addressed the most fundamental question shop owners and plant managers when deciding to implement MTConnect.

The guide addresses connectivity issues associated with both new and legacy manufacturing equipment; it provides a structured framework to guide companies through the assessment of equipment and the early planning stages of a project.

McPhail emphasized, “The guide is a valuable tool for anyone in manufacturing who believes that improving productivity starts with understanding what is happening on the shop floor.”

The foundation for improving manufacturing productivity starts with easy access to data. MTConnect provides manufacturers with a simple and extensible mechanism to connect manufacturing equipment to software applications used to run the businesses.

The “Getting Started with MTConnect – Connectivity Guide” is downloadable at www.mtconnect.org.

Dave Edstrom, President and Chairman of the Board for the MTConnect Institute said, “This Connectivity Guide will be an extremely valuable tool for shop owners and managers who need to address productivity issues in their manufacturing operations. I am asked the same question almost daily — How do I get started? This guide answers that question. The Connectivity Guide is the first piece to be released in our ‘Getting Started with MTConnect’ series. Additional documents will be released soon to further support manufacturing companies that are adopting productivity solutions using MTConnect.”