2018cnc4-5.2

CNC WEST April/May 2018 www.CNC-West.com 91 Aerospace is a nonstop industry, and as such, big cor- porations in the field have become more particular about who they keep to manufacture their parts. For example, Airbus states on their website that they require utilization data from their captive shops. “Transparency and trust are essential ingredients to work for the Airbus team,” they declare on their website. Partners and suppliers will need a proven track record of operational reliability and delivering on shared commit- ments.” Whether it is to gain, or keep customers, or to just in- crease productivity, many shops are looking to improve OEE (overall equipment efficiency). Shop Floor Automa- tions has discovered that most shops sadly run between 30 to 50 percent utilization, and we recommend using machine monitoring to help tackle this issue. Being able to see when a machine is experiencing downtime provides valuable insight to production manag- ers. Having a realistic look at utilization and ways to im- prove overall OEE is a great asset on the shop floor. Here are three more reasons to instate machine moni- toring via Scytec’s DataXchange for your aerospace pro- duction: Reason 1 – Knowing details about your utilization does not benefit only your customer. When people think of ma- Utilization Monitoring for Aerospace Industry is Crucial Provided by Shop Floor Automations chine monitoring, they think it is only to see when machines are down or running, and only for their benefits. On the contrary. Be- ing able to monitor different sets of data, such as setup time, qual- ity, feed rates, spindle speeds, and feed hold or optional stop will help evaluate your entire manu- facturing process. Where can pro- cesses be improved? Having the data available to share with others gives you a competitive edge dur- ing end-of-shift meetings. Reason 2 – Legacy equip- ment and non-CNC machines are eligible for utilization monitor- ing. Some automatically assume that because they have legacy equipment or do not have CNC machines means they can’t take advantage of Industry 4.0 and the benefits of it. This is not the case. Older machines can be updated with hardware solutions, such as an SRC Adapter, to help capture this valuable data. Many different types of machines can be connected, such as grinders, assembly equipment, lasers, deburring stations, and much more. While this data may be limited when connect- ing to older equipment, any machine can be interfaced to the system. Protocols such an MTConnect, Fanuc FOCAS and OPC UA have leveled the playing field and made capturing data a less proprietary process. Reason 3 – Utilization monitoring helps to enable 24/7 manufacturing, which increases your competitive edge. Without machine monitoring, it will be difficult to get started with lights-out manufacturing. In order to delve into the ben- efits of IIoT for your shop, you need to ensure that machines can run without humans at the helm. The first step in getting lights-out manufacturing started is to work with machinists to evaluate glitches that need to be eliminated in the machin- ing process. Having the added insight that machine data col- lection provides is invaluable so that machines can eventu- ally be set up to run 24/7. Keeping this remote monitoring system in place also helps to know where things go wrong in the process when machines are left alone. Notification of issues via text messages and emails will help improve 24/7 machine processes.