In the current state of machining and manufacturing technology, constant technological innovation puts pressure on operations to be relentlessly reactive, to adopt new technology to remain competitive. In short, to implement Industry 4.0 concepts in their organizations. This is a daunting task, especially for smaller machining operations. In 2022, how can machine shops start to create smarter organizations? What do they have to gain by doing so? Contributing to their already busy conditions, machine shops often have plenty of work and problems to solve, so the prospect of adding more technologies and possibly overwhelming data to the ever-changing industry can seem intimidating. As a start, it’s important to define what it actually means for a machine shop to be smart. “Utilizing technology on the basic level to make decisions based on facts,” says Josh Davids, president and CEO of the software development and consulting company Scytec Consulting Inc. (IMTS booth: 133240) Davids emphasizes the notion of working smarter, not harder. Formed in 2001, Scytec promotes the use of Industry 4.0 technologies to create productive systems and improve the everyday use of manufacturing equipment. According to its website, “Our mission is to provide a quality OEE manufacturing data collection and process control system that is simple, powerful, affordable, and scalable.” The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) refers to interconnected devices and instruments that can collect, store, and share data and information; it is able to enhance system visibility and enable in-depth analysis. No matter how small, any kind of IIoT integration into machine shops will drive efficiency. Regarding the specific data needed by machining operations, “basic running and not running for the machines is a great starting point to get people used to utilizing data,” he says. “The operator is going to report, ‘Well, I ran for six hours today.’ They’re not going to tell you about the small stops through the gauging that took 15, 20 minutes longer than they thought, right? Because they were busy. They were doing their job. So, from their standpoint, everything was being utilized.” Davids places importance on the simple things, such as using live data to define planned and unplanned downtime for tasks like setting up a machine or blowing off chips. “A lot of things that are not necessarily so obvious in these little gaps of time, that could be improved by some very basic procedural changes, or identifying some processes that can be updated…having visibility to what these machines are actually doing when they’re running versus when you’re really stopped, and those time frames in between, and understanding why that is happening allows you to make improvements.” For a machine shop of any size, identifying opportunities to be competitive and to grow doesn’t have to mean jumping in all at once; it can start with a simple daily approach. Davids comments, “Smart manufacturing isn’t necessarily full-blown analytics and a lot of money…it’s the culture of how you run your shop floor. And that starts with the very basics of utilizing even the simplest of data.” So, if getting started is really as straightforward as that, what is holding back operations from implementing these IIoT strategies? Davids says it is the anticipation of barriers that do not actually exist, and that it is a misconception that things such as personnel or capital equipment are holding companies back. “The most common misconception is that they need a lot of hardware, they need a lot of resources, and a lot of time to be able to do this, and that is not accurate. Not to get started,” he says. In reality, the barriers to entry for all machining operations are low, and the only thing holding back these companies is the perceived expectation of complexity, the need for education, and not having reliable information about what it would really take to get started, Davids says. Read part two of this two-part article. Anna Smith is a staff writer for American Machinist, IndustryWeek, and New Equipment Digest. Contact her at asmith@endeavorb2b.com
Constant technological innovation puts pressure on machine shops to adopt what’s new... now! How can those shops start to create smarter organizations?