Communicating machines: retrofitting, proprietary vs. open architecture? (CNC Controls).The CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) See numerical control. CNC - Collaborative Networked Communication controls market encompasses three groups: end users, OEMs, and retrofitters. Each of the three groups may have the same goal--improving operations of machine tools--but there are as many different options in the market as there are controls and controls providers. Each control has its own benefits, whether it be an open-architecture system, Internet-enabled, or excelling in network communications. Retrofitting continues to be a major business for many controls manufacturers, "Retrofitting reduces downtime and improves reliability of machine tools, improves cycle times as much as 75% and higher in all industries and improves part quality," according to Jim According to Jim is an American situation comedy television series originally broadcast by ABC. The show premiered with little publicity in October 2001, following the surprise hit comedy My Wife and Kids. Fall, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of MDSI MDSI Multiple (Destination) Digital Speech Interpolation MDSI Mobile Data Solutions Inc. MDSI Mountain Data Systems, Inc (Boise, Idaho) , Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, city (1990 pop. 109,592), seat of Washtenaw co., S Mich., on the Huron River; inc. 1851. It is a research and educational center, with a large number of government and industrial research and development firms, many in high-technology fields such as , MI. MDSI's OpenCNC software controls can be used on non-proprietary computers and uses no proprietary hardware or motion control cards. The software is sold in a shrink-wrapped box. Eldon Richardson of Complete CNC Machine Repair, Meridian, MI, started his retrofit business in 1987 as a solo operator, retrofitting for several major control companies. Now his business represents only the MDSI control and he defends open-architecture controls versus proprietary approaches. "The biggest thing I've noticed with OpenCNC is that people's maintenance costs go down," he says. "They don't have to support the heavy costs of the traditional controls--power supplies, board repairs, and so on. One of my OpenCNC customers tells me he's saved up to $70,000 on his control costs, plus his machine uptime is higher." The MDSI control allows the actual hardware to be updated at one time; motors and drives can be replaced later. Producing just a software package, not an entire proprietary control, OpenCNC can release new versions of the software and update controls without changing any hardware. "It may take 2-4 years to bring out a new proprietary technology," says Fall. "It's almost like building an automobile. It takes three years to bring a new car from concept to the marketplace. For us, there's a much shorter cycle time. We bring new technology to the marketplace every six to nine months. "No longer will a control company be able to sell memory for $5,000 a megabyte," says Fall. "Or sell an Ethernet card See Ethernet adapter. for $3,000. Users are demanding an open architecture approach. If there wasn't a demand, we wouldn't have a business." Saving the machine Retrofitting can save what was an outdated machine with an unusable control, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. MachineMate Inc., Fond du Lac Fond du Lac (fŏn` də lăk', –jə–), city (1990 pop. 37,757), seat of Fond du Lac co., E central Wis., in a resort region at the south end of Lake Winnebago; inc. 1852. , WI, developer of MachineMate software. According to the company, cost savings versus buying a new machine were considerable for Pick Instruments, Galena galena (gəlē`nə) or lead glance, lustrous, blue-gray mineral crystallizing usually in cubes, sometimes in octahedrons. It is the most important ore and the principal source of lead. Park, TX, which was looking to retrofit a late 1970's American Hustler long bed lathe lathe (lāth), machine tool for holding and turning metal, wood, plastic, or other material against a cutting tool to form a cylindrical product or part. It also drills, bores, polishes, grinds, makes threads, and performs other operations. . The only modification made to the machine while adding a new control was the replacement of old encoders, at about $90 each, and mounting brackets. The whole mechanical cost of converting the lathe was under $500. Except for the encoders, the retrofit was a plug-and-go, as MachineMate's PC-based CNC can interface to existing analog servo drives on vintage machine tools like the American Hustler lathe. The Retrofit Group at Siemens Energy and Automation, Alpharetta, GA, is busy these days. "We have found many customers who simply are not in the position to purchase new machines," says John Meyer John Meyer may refer to:
Like other major CNC control suppliers, Siemens offers products for the basic machining market, digital CNCs for complex machining, and industrial, PC-based CNCs. The company also offers software for milling and turning and motors and drives. Using a friendly control is also an advantage for the retrofit market. "If updating to a PC-based CNC, the familiarity of the standard PC makes users comfortable, rather than having to learn a special proprietary CNC," says Nyles Priest, president, MachineMate Inc. Being user-friendly is an advantage of the latest control from FagorAutomation Corp., Elk Grove Village Elk Grove Village, village (1990 pop. 33,429), Cook and Du Page counties, NE Ill., a suburb of Chicago; inc. 1956. With a population of c.100 at the time of its establishment on open farmland, the village has grown dramatically and steadily, largely because of its , IL. The CNC Powerhitter control for bed mills, lathes, grinders, and routers offers conversational programming as well as Gcode, solid and tool path graphics, and a profile generator with graphic assist. The control incorporates an eleven inch color LCD display, a 32-bit CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. with math co-processor, one MB of RAM, and two MB of flash memory. The package includes a fully enclosed 8040 control with servo motors and drives. Each system carries a two year warranty and is delivered fully wired, tested and ready for installation. New versions Controls may be a mature technology, but advances still are being made. "Certainly newer technologies are allowing machine tool builders to build new kinds of machines with more axes and coordination," says Mark Brownhill, CNC product manager, GE Fanuc, Charlottesville, VA. "Our latest controls have troubleshooting on board. The high-speed machining features were the last big advances and they've been around for a while. But I think controls technologies are mature, for the most part." A newer control is an asset because it has more reliable communications capabilities than older models. "The oldest controls have very low level communications," says Brownhill. "New products can integrate everything into a new environment, and newer controls have better programming capabilities-more features that can compensate for mechanical problems on the machine. Enough power in the control avoids resonance in the machine, maximizes productivity of the machine. These technologies can even make a low cost machine run faster." New CNC controls come out of development with faster CPUs, more speed and axes, but the main additions are often not related to the control function of the unit. When customers come to GE Fanuc with requests for options on controls, they come with problems looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. solutions, not with ideas for new features, says Brownhill. "More and more, the solution isn't a feature on a CNC. It's integration that's their biggest issue," he says. "Everyone is going to some version of lean manufacturing Lean manufacturing is the production of goods using less of everything compared to mass production: less human effort, less manufacturing space, less investment in tools, and less engineering time to develop a new product. , and they're all being pressured to do more in less time. Communications have a new level of importance. Customers want to connect their controls to other systems. By making our products Ethernet-enabled, they can connect all the business systems and maintain a robust CNC approach," Brownhill points out. With data gathering and e-business being major parts of manufacturing, a more complex CNC system can integrate more computer systems. "CNCs can coordinate an entire business process, rather than just a manufacturing process," says Brownhill. The Data Collection Engine from DLoG Inc., Elgin, IL, helps to complete the communication between machine tool and executive's desk. The system provides automatic report generation of machine tool utilization, work order status, labor reporting, and time and attendance without the burden and overhead of a large and cumbersome database. The Data Collection Engine can collect facts and figures from in-process transactions being recorded moment-by-moment on the shopfloor DNC DNC Democratic National Committee DNC Democratic National Convention DNC Do Not Call DNC Delaware North Companies DNC Domain Name Commissioner DNC Direct Numerical Control DNC Do Not Change DNC Does Not Compute DNC Digital Nautical Chart system. "This machine tool monitoring software is essentially a means of transforming complex, unwieldy information into a smaller database, fully isolated from the main shopfloor data. It is unique in that it makes use of a binary logbook rather than a database, allowing for significantly faster processing," says DLoG president David Welsh David Welsh (c. December 11, 1793–April 24, 1845) was a Scots divine and academic. He was professor of Church History in the University of Edinburgh. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on the occasion of the Disruption of 1843, and . In the software L2 and eCNC, the latest products from MachineMate, have browser-based operator interfaces that use HTML frames See frames. and Java applets, allowing web designers to develop CNC displays. "The L2 has reduced cost by building in 48 inputs, 32 outputs and 4-axis analog drive interface all in a stainless steel stainless steel: see steel. stainless steel Any of a family of alloy steels usually containing 10–30% chromium. The presence of chromium, together with low carbon content, gives remarkable resistance to corrosion and heat. , CE listed and IP65 certified enclosure," says Priest. Packages for OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and or retrofit have two operator front panel configurations with three display options. The company debuts a Linux operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. CNC in January, along with a gear hobber and a grinder Grinder A slang term for a person who works in the investment industry and makes small amounts of money at a time on small investments, over and over again. Notes: software package. "There are two advantages to a Linux operating system," says Priest. "It's a more robust system and it's less expensive. It's a free operating system. Even when we buy the Windows operating system by volume, it's still several hundred dollars per seat." An expense that is passed on to the end user in the form of a more expensive control. New CNC accessories such as additional Machine Tool Builders panels and hand held manual pulse generators A manual pulse generator is a device normally associated with computer numerically controlled or "CNC" machinery or other devices involved in positioning. It usually consists of a rotating knob that generates electrical pulses that are sent to an equipment controller. are also being introduced in response to customer requests. The latest version of OpenCNC, version 6.2, increases machining performance, upwards of 25 percent MDSI claims. Industry standard hardware, such as Ethernet hardware, is supported, providing customers more choices. The new version also offers advanced knowledge in area of 5-axis machining and 5-axis inspection and probing. OpenCNC can be used on "the entire breadth of manufacturing technology," says Fall, including machining centers, lathes and turning centers, grinders, lasers, NC punches, and waterjets. The software can be scaled from one manufacturing technology to another. A major new version of OpenCNC is due mid-2003. "What are customers asking us for? Kaizen This article is about a continual improvement philosophy. For Kaizen ($K), a fantasy currency invented by Kaizen Games, see Priston Tale. “Red tag” redirects here. For designation of damaged structures, see Red-tagged structure. ," says Fall. "Continuous process improvement applied that to the world of control technology. Companies have to do more with less every year. So whatever we can do to help them is driving us forward." DLoG Inc., www.rsleads.com/301tp-216 or circle 216 Fagor Automation Corp., www.rsleads.com/301tp-215 or circle 215 GE Fanuc, www.rsleads.com/301tp-212 or circle 212 MachineMate Inc., www.rsleads.com/301tp-213 or circle 213 MDSI, www.rsleads.com/301tp-214 or circle 214 Siemens Energy and Automation, www.rsleads.com/301tp-217 or circle 217 |
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