Turn your PC into a machine monitor.

A new software package places a process and production monitoring operator interface on any general-purpose PC. This brings PC power to basic monitoring functions, allows one PC to track information on up to 16 machines, eases data entry and other operator actions, and can lower the overall cost of a production monitoring system up to 25% by eliminating the use of standard machine-interface units.

The new Machine Cell Controller software from Mattec Corp., Loveland, Ohio, works with Mattec's ProHelp EPM real-time plant monitoring system. Multiple PC cell controllers can be networked through a standard Ethernet connection. The software works in a touchscreen plant environment or on a desktop with keyboard and mouse. It can run full-screen with windows that open and close as the operator touches large on-screen buttons or it can run in a more conventional "window" mode.

With this software, users can access set-up sheets, part drawings, pictures, and instructional videos directly from a company information network. Users can also enter new data, such as reasons for downtime or scrap, or view real-time job data by shift, entire run, and production yet to be completed. Users can open a list of all machines being monitored and then "zoom in" on an individual machine. Operators can drill down into the process data to determine the source of a problem. Tel: [phone] * PTDirect: 221TX

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