First machine tool OEM to adopt MT Connect at its US manufacturing facility
Mazak Corp., Florence, KY, has become the first machine tool OEM to adopt a open communications protocol MT Connect at its manufacturing facility.
A strong proponent of the technology and offering all of its machines with MT Connect compatibility, Mazak has now made the commitment to use it in its facility, allowing the company to monitor manufacturing equipment and gather data to help improve operations.
“We continue to take a leadership position in propagating the MTConnect open protocol,” says Brian Papke, president of Mazak Corp. “MTConnect’s value to our customers is in the ability for them to establish extensive and open channels of communication for plug-and-play interconnectivity between devices. MTConnect allows software to be universally applied between different types of machine models so that information is readily available for improving machine tool utilization.”
Mazak will initially monitor overall equipment efficiency, and will also use MTConnect for several custom applications unique to its manufacturing operations. These applications include monitoring machine tool spindle sensors for maintenance data, as well as tracking part cycle times to benefit the company’s scheduling department. But most significant, MTConnect working with third-party software will make it possible for Mazak to incorporate the use of mobile apps as methods for monitoring its manufacturing in real time.
With these apps, Mazak managers and other key personnel will have access to live real-time data from equipment monitoring dashboards via mobile devices. Additionally, text and/or email alerts and notifications can be received instantaneously when certain manufacturing or equipment issues or conditions arise.
According to Neil Desrosiers, Mazak’s developer of digital solutions, the full improvement potential resulting from MTConnect at the Kentucky plant will be achieved when the measurement data is collected and full potential machine tool utilization is realized in the factory. This data will then be made available for review to those attending Mazak’s DISCOVER 2013 event beginning October 8. By that time, most machines in the Kentucky factory will be able to be monitored via iPhones.
“We want to demonstrate to our customers that they, too, can improve their productivity through MTConnect machine monitoring capability. Because when it comes to machine tool performance, you have to measure it before you can improve it,” says Desrosiers.
Mazak Canada is based in Cambridge, ON.
