With the new Forcam Force shop-floor management software, users access key real-time factory-floor manufacturing metrics.

October 2015 | AdvancedManufacturing.org 53

manufacturing Software

Why Manufacturing Needs Real-Time Data Collection

Patrick WaurzyniakSenior Editor

Real-time factory-floor data collection

captures a goldmine of information that

can improve operational performance Real-time machine tool data collection isnt

just about helping manufacturers improve

productivity and profitability, although thats

certainly a promised outcome. Its also an

essential first step toward a data-driven, high-tech

manufacturing sector that is globally competitive.

Todays data-collection and monitoring solutions

already help manufacturing operations management

to see, analyze and quickly act upon time-sensitive

data coming off the shop floor. While these new solu-

tions are more readily available and also less expen-

sive than in the past, they are still installed only at a

relatively small portion of factories and shops, with

some industry insiders estimating that fewer than 5%

of machines are currently being digitally monitored.

Image courtesy Forcam Inc.

54 AdvancedManufacturing.org | October 2015

Machine tools connected through MTConnect, an open-

architecture, royalty-free protocol for machine communica-

tions, or through a variety of proprietary protocols available

from CNC controls suppliers, can turn a growing stream of

data coming off the plant floor into useful information. Key

operational metrics such as overall equipment effectiveness

(OEE), machine uptime and capacity utilization allow shop

managers to quickly view the performance of a particular ma-

chine or factory, and adjust as needed.

IoT, Big Data Concerns

The coming onslaught of connected Internet of Things

(IoT) devices and the Big Data deluge may prompt more

manufacturers to seek rock-solid solutions for dealing with

extremely large amounts of operational data.

More technology providers, such as Cisco, are moving

into the manufacturing space with solutions for handling

large amounts of unmanaged data, said David McPhail,

CEO of Memex Inc. (Burlington, ON, Canada), developer of

manufacturing execution systems (MES). Within our industry

there are 20 million CNC machine tools installed globally,

two million in North American alone, he added, and three

more support assets are typically associated with each CNC,

which creates an 80-million-machine universe. Yet over 90%

of the worlds CNC assets are not connected because of a

plethora of different data protocols.

As an increasing amount of this data is captured, those

within manufacturing see a higher-tech, data-driven manu-

facturing industry taking shape. Big Data is just one part of

the Third Platform of computinga convergence of mobile

computing, social media, the cloud and Big Data, he said.

As this third platform takes hold, plant managers of

manufacturing companies are beginning to understand

they cannot manage what they cannot measure, McPhail

said. IoT or the Industrial Internet of Things [IIoT] has some

boardrooms buzzing about the possibilities for data-driven

manufacturing, so its helpful to us, but its still a high-flying

concept that could take several years to land on earth.

Helping this concept land is partly depending on that

first stepcapturing and analyzing data that offers the most

value, which isnt as simple as it seems considering the vast

amount of data available in a manufacturing environment.

Our developers are constantly improving the process-

ing of the immense quantity of events that can be streaming

into a database from a shop floor, said Jody

Romanowski, CEO of Cimco Americas LLC

(Streamwood, IL), a developer of data-collection

software solutions. When a new system is

implemented, it is important to determine if the

information will be valuable to you and plan the

collection of relevant data carefully.

Its easy enough to collect Big Data, but

make sure you are collecting events from which

you can assemble useful information, she

added. I think some of the Big Data arrays may

be filled with information that is not relevant or

cant be processed into useful information.

Embracing Advanced Technologies

Shops today are looking for ways to streamline

operations, improve productivity, and reduce cost,

noted Mohamed Abuali, CEO of Forcam Inc. (Cincinnati and

Friedrichshafen, Germany). More manufacturers are embracing

advanced technologies, Abuali said. At large enterprises, there

is a necessity for global manufacturing intelligence and bench-

marking, where managers can access KPIs and analytics at

their fingertips, anytime, anywhere, in any language. At smaller

manufacturers and job shops, there is a growing desire to moni-

tor the shop floor, understand part flows, planned versus actual

performance, run programs, and access paperless information.

All manufacturers are trying to enhance the skills of an

aging workforce and use technology to drive productivity,

he added. At Forcam, we offer an scalable solution that

can address the needs of large and smaller manufacturing

enterprises, via a cloud-based or on-premise solution and

manufacturing Software

The MERLIN (Manufacturing Execution Real-Time Lean Information

Network) MES software from Memex Inc. features dashboards with

critical shop-floor metrics including OEE, availability, part quality and

machine performance.

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56 AdvancedManufacturing.org | October 2015

the needed shop floor management training to assist them to

use smart data to make smart decisions.

The future lies in development of solutions that allow man-

ufacturers to be more proactive, intelligent, and informed,

and to support executing timely decisions, Abuali said.

Forcams platform enables connectivity not only to machines,

but to any IT system, such as quality, maintenance, PLM,

and tool data, he added.

MTConnect standardizes links be-

tween systems, applications, and entire

factories to provide an integrated over-

all manufacturing system. In addition

to MTConnect, Forcams technology

supports a variety of real-time plug-ins

to machine CNCs and PLCs, including

manufacturer-specific drivers.

Forcam is a pioneer of Industry

4.0the 4th industrial revolution, also

called the Industrial Ethernet. A major

theme of Industry 4.0 is to build a cyber-

physical system to map production Big

Data in real-time, in a virtual space, like

a cyber mirror, he said. Imagine your

factory modeled in the cloud; this today

is a reality. Big data requires advanced

technological features such as in-memo-

ry technology for real-time data acquisi-

tion and processing. With this objective

data, wastes are demonstrated crystal

clear and you win the largest transpar-

ency about the state of your manufac-

turing. You can analyze the production

virtually and optimize it in real-time.

Getting Connected

Many of the disconnected ma-

chines on plant floors are older legacy

equipment representing a huge invest-

ment, and these machines can require

more technology than a standard

MTConnect adapter to fully implement

modern data collection, monitoring

and analysis systems.

Reliable costs and quality are

achieved by data-driven awareness on

the shop floor, said Memexs McPhail.

Second and third-tier manufacturing

suppliers must be able to demonstrate

that they can capture, analyze and share

their production data with their upstream

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October 2015 | AdvancedManufacturing.org 57

partners. The Overall Equipment Effectiveness

[OEE] metric is now table stakes in the manufac-

turing business, he said. OEE equals availability

multiplied by quality multiplied by performance. The

ability to demonstrate OEE as well as a process to

constantly improve plant efficiency is the basis of

coveted trusted-supplier relationships.

OEE is an ideal, industry-accepted metric,

McPhail added. An OEE of 80% or more is

achievable by most manufacturing industry shop

floors and the money people understand this, yet

the majority of shop floors