WTG Looks at Scytec Cloud Machine Utilization Profiled by TR Cutler

 

Greenwood Village, CO -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/02/2012 -- According to manufacturing journalist TR Cutler, in the current issue of the WTG Business Performance and Manufacturing & Supply Chain News, “Large upfront fees have stopped many manufacturers from implementing an enterprise-wide OEE or utilization machine tracking solution. With no large upfront fees, and a pay as you go low monthly payments more manufacturing firms would TRY this technology.”

A cloud-based SaaS model would allow for a low entry cost for manufacturers to immediately capture data collection enterprise-wide for less than a pilot program. This is a game changer! Collecting data is one thing; making data useful is another. There is clearly value to having historical data, but having the data in a meaningful format as the activities are happening greatly increases the value of any data collection system. Josh Davids, President of Scytec was recently interviewed about the role of DataXchange, providing user configurable real-time viewer for feedback as the data is collected.

According to Davids, “Visual information helps articulate more clearly, and few solutions deliver visual data to stakeholders throughout the organization with user interfaces uniquely configured to suit the needs of specific users or function areas. Visually manufacturing data must be accessible to more people to make faster decisions and accelerate workflows, leading to faster, better understanding, and communication of information.”

OEE/Tracking Utilization Pilot Programs No Longer Needed
When considering an OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) or Machine Tracking Utilization system, most companies have the financial scope to conduct a trial or pilot program. This usually means putting the tracking utilization solution on a few machines to build a case for the solution enterprise-wide.

Ethernet based protocols such as Fanuc Focas and MTConnect greatly reduce or eliminate hardware at each piece of equipment. In addition to supporting these latest technologies, DataXchange also supports RS-232 serial devices such as CNC machines, CMM’s, scanners and RFID hardware.

The expense of many OEE solutions is the need to house and maintain the servers. The SaaS cloud design greatly reduces the implementation and maintenance costs. With one PC on site to aggregate the data from the equipment and ensure the data is successfully and securely transferred to the server, immediate reporting of data is available.