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As the editor of a metalworking publication in a previous life, I do admit to a lingering affinity for machine tools. Literally at the sharp end of the production process, they not so quietly mill, drill, grind and shape metal in machine shops around the world but remain largely unheralded for the critical part they play in the manufacturing of everything from smartphones to cars to airplanes and implants. The technology advancements that enable faster, more precise cutting of ever more complex shapes are generally little known outside of the industry, and most people would likely be hard pressed to name even a couple of the major suppliers.
So I was interested to hear about an IIoT themed collaboration involving Japanese machine tool manufacturer Mazak and Cisco to develop SmartBox, launched at the recent Mazak Discover Conference in Kentucky. SmartBox is designed to integrate easily with any machine tool (not just Mazak’s) and provide real-time data and analytics on machine performance. Cisco’s Industrial Ethernet 4000 switch enables secure connectivity to the machine while MERLIN software from Memex monitors machine activity and delivers operational metrics.
As noted by my ARC Advisory Group colleagues Scott Evans and Sal Spada in an article published after the ARC Orlando Forum last year, the proportion of machine tool time actually taken up by cutting metal is generally less than 40 percent and can even be as low as 25 percent. But with most machine shops performing manual, post-production data collection, it can be difficult to accurately pinpoint the causes of all that non-productive machining time. And because of proprietary protocols, unlocking real-time production data in a multi-vendor machine environment is an onerous endeavor.
Enter MTConnect. Originally developed through work at UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech, this open, royalty-free protocol, which delivers plug-and-play connectivity for machine tools by enabling equipment to provide data in structured XML rather than proprietary formats, promises a new era of automated, real-time data collection and much greater visibility into machinery operations.
In Mazak’s SmartBox, an MTConnect software agent runs directly on the Cisco Industrial Ethernet 4000 switch. The real-time information that SmartBox makes available, particularly that related to machine idle time factors such as tool changes, feed holds and program stops, is highly valuable to manufacturers looking to resolve downtime issues and improve overall productivity.
Mazak has deployed SmartBoxes at its own machine-tool manufacturing plant in Kentucky, where large-screen monitors now display real-time machine utilization data along with a variety of KPI reports such as uptime and stoppages by category. The company reports a double-digit percentage improvement in utilization for the monitored machines, which has in turn brought 400 hours of outsourced work back in house and reduced operator overtime by 100 hours per month.
With SmartBox deployable on new, legacy, and also competitor machines, Mazak is looking to deliver similar improvements at its customers’ sites. Remote machine monitoring is also easily achievable given the Cisco platform. And overall, the initiative is further indication of the relevance and usefulness of Industrial IoT technology to the OEM machinery sector.
So I was interested to hear about an IIoT themed collaboration involving Japanese machine tool manufacturer Mazak and Cisco to develop SmartBox, launched at the recent Mazak Discover Conference in Kentucky. SmartBox is designed to integrate easily with any machine tool (not just Mazak’s) and provide real-time data and analytics on machine performance. Cisco’s Industrial Ethernet 4000 switch enables secure connectivity to the machine while MERLIN software from Memex monitors machine activity and delivers operational metrics.
As noted by my ARC Advisory Group colleagues Scott Evans and Sal Spada in an article published after the ARC Orlando Forum last year, the proportion of machine tool time actually taken up by cutting metal is generally less than 40 percent and can even be as low as 25 percent. But with most machine shops performing manual, post-production data collection, it can be difficult to accurately pinpoint the causes of all that non-productive machining time. And because of proprietary protocols, unlocking real-time production data in a multi-vendor machine environment is an onerous endeavor.
Enter MTConnect. Originally developed through work at UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech, this open, royalty-free protocol, which delivers plug-and-play connectivity for machine tools by enabling equipment to provide data in structured XML rather than proprietary formats, promises a new era of automated, real-time data collection and much greater visibility into machinery operations.
In Mazak’s SmartBox, an MTConnect software agent runs directly on the Cisco Industrial Ethernet 4000 switch. The real-time information that SmartBox makes available, particularly that related to machine idle time factors such as tool changes, feed holds and program stops, is highly valuable to manufacturers looking to resolve downtime issues and improve overall productivity.
Mazak has deployed SmartBoxes at its own machine-tool manufacturing plant in Kentucky, where large-screen monitors now display real-time machine utilization data along with a variety of KPI reports such as uptime and stoppages by category. The company reports a double-digit percentage improvement in utilization for the monitored machines, which has in turn brought 400 hours of outsourced work back in house and reduced operator overtime by 100 hours per month.
With SmartBox deployable on new, legacy, and also competitor machines, Mazak is looking to deliver similar improvements at its customers’ sites. Remote machine monitoring is also easily achievable given the Cisco platform. And overall, the initiative is further indication of the relevance and usefulness of Industrial IoT technology to the OEM machinery sector.