Tony Martindale freely explains he is the most basic of FactoryWiz users. He barely scratches the surface of the capabilities, and it does exactly what he wanted it to do. Phase one was to implement the system solely to see if the machines are running or not. That’s it. On, or off.,
It’s been since April 0f 2018 since CNC West Magazine last met with Tony Martindale at Martindale Manufacturing. Our first trip to their San Marcos, Ca. facility showcased the added speed and precision gained by replacing older Fadal mills with new Fadals. Back then his floor space was limited, and it is even more so now. Martindale Manufacturing is a milling only manufacturing facility that specializes in aerospace components, specifically mechanical seals that go on anything that flies. Size range is 1”x1” to 4’x4’, but most parts are the size of an iPad. Thickness in material varies, but ranges from .025 to .125. Tony describes the process as machining sheet metal. Once finished the part is sent to a second process where rubber will be molded into the grooves that were just machined. Martindale’s parts are mostly 2d and don’t require 5th axis machining so improving efficiency is not as easy as just committing to a more advanced CNC Manufacturing system. Post pandemic Tony began looking for gains that didn’t require a physical footprint, specifically in machine monitoring software. After extensive research he decided FactoryWiz was the best fit for his 10 mills/25 person operation.
OperatorConnect is the part of FactorWiz’s collaborative atmosphere joining operators and management seamlessly. Each machine at Martinedale Manufacturing has a tablet showing the operator real time information and keeping them informed on company wide goals and tasks. Phase two implementation will have operators use the tablets to log and quantify downtime reasons. A couple of cool features in OperatorConnect are leaving virtual sticky notes and what they call Swarm. Shift one can leave a sticky note for the next shift giving them any information they might find useful and Swarm has the ability to crowd source information or advice from other operators.
FactoryWiz Monitoring software offers real-time machine monitoring, downtime tracking, production data analysis, remote monitoring, alerts, historical reporting, integration with other systems, scalability, and customization. Implementation can help improve productivity, reduce downtime, optimize resource utilization, and drive continuous improvement initiatives. “I’m by no means a power user when it comes to using FactoryWiz,” explains Tony Martindale. “In fact, I am the most basic of users. No really, I barely scratch the surface of the capabilities, and it does exactly what I wanted it to do. My phase one was to implement the system solely to see if the machines are running or not. That’s it. On, or off, from anywhere in the world, or in my office. I know it is the simplest of features, but we don’t make a million of a single part and chase milliseconds here. I wanted the ability to go about my daily tasks and still keep track of what was going on with each machine. I do think that even at the most basic level FactoryWiz helps my operators perform better, it is like having an invisible manager keeping an eye on things. Each of our ten milling centers has a tablet connected to the FactoryWiz system with the operator logged in to it. They can access as much or as little information as I want. We also have two shop-wide TVs showing the status of every machine on the floor. Seeing how the entire manufacturing plant is performing is a good motivator.”
FactoryWiz is all about collaboration and everyone marching to the same beat. FactoryWizTV shows a shop wide overview on monitors displayed in plain view of everyone showing real time data on each of Martindale’s CNC milling centers.
“FactoryWiz is helpful to me in the most macro way,” details Tony. “My biggest goal was to quickly see if a particular machine is actually running in real time. Simple right. Most of the time there are lots of setups, people are running multiple machines, and I’m not sweating getting every second out of every cycle time. But there are periods we need to maximize our efforts to get the job done. This one job is hot, and it might mean running through breaks, and I really need to keep an eye on things. That’s when I pay close attention to what is going on and begin to worry if the machine isn’t running. I have FactoryWiz set to alert me if a machine is idle for an hour. I don’t want notifications for every little thing. I have a great team of people who know how to do their jobs, but knowing I can see what’s on or off from afar has helped production. Each part has materials, setup, and quality built into the processes, so when I see idle time isn’t surprising. But if I see it for an hour, I start to have questions. For me the macro is good. I don’t want to hire a person to just interpret all the information, monitor machines, and be a slave to the data. It’s not how we do business, and just something I’m not interested in. I consider phase one of implementing FactoryWiz at Martindale Manufacturing a big success.”
FactoryWiz Timeline view gives a visual representation of how the entire shop is performing throughout the selected time period. Green is running, red is alarm, black is off, and blue is idle. Users can zoom or hover over any colored bar to see more detailed information such as operator, part number, etcetera.
Key selling points for Tony were visual controls, integration with his machines, remote monitoring, and scalability for a facility of his size. FactoryWiz monitoring provides real-time visibility into the status and performance of each of his ten Fadal mills. This helps Martindale Manufacturing’s operators and managers track production progress, identify bottlenecks, and make informed decisions to optimize production efficiency. “My primary goal when I began searching for monitoring options was to capture actual machine time and develop a system where there is some level of accountability,” explains Tony. “FactoryWiz is very visually oriented, red is bad, green is good. Domenic Lanzillotta, VP of sales and the FactoryWiz team have been great to work with. It was a seamless process getting everything tied in. There was a little issue in the beginning with the controls on the Fadals not playing well, but we ended up getting it sorted out by using the circuit board for on and off and tied in ladder logic for the doors to give me a part count. As far as I am concerned it was just plug and play.”
The Summery tab gives an overall snapshot of how well the shop is performing. You can filter by time periods like days, weeks, or shifts. This view shows availability of spindle time and the number of parts produced on each machine. Everything has a hyperlink for more details.
FactoryWiz automatically collects a ton of data that Tony rarely looks at. “I’m not utilizing even the tip of the functionality iceberg,” explains Tony. “For example, I get sent a daily efficiency report. It might say efficiency is at 41%. I will look, but it isn’t a number we live or die by. I know that this shop isn’t going to run at 95% efficiency. It isn’t the nature of what we do. I want operators to stop and check the parts, to take their time and not be rushed by reports. Our next phase is focusing on downtime tracking and analysis, and production data analysis by having the operators log in detail what they are doing.”
Card view is a quick way to visualize what mode each machine is in and basic production information like cycle time and parts count progress.
FactoryWiz monitoring collects and analyzes production data, such as cycle times, downtime reasons, and production counts. This data can be used to identify trends, monitor performance metrics, and drive continuous improvement initiatives. FactoryWiz also stores historical data on machine performance, downtime events, and production metrics. This data can be used to generate reports, charts, and dashboards for performance analysis, trend identification, and strategic decision-making. “Right now, “idle” can mean anything,” describes Tony. “Maybe it is setup, maybe it is switching out material, maybe it is a tool being replaced. I don’t actually know what the reason is and I’m fine with that, but soon we will begin by logging the most basic tasks like broken tool, setup, waiting on QC. Again, being overloaded with data is not my goal, but narrowing down the most common reasons for the machines not running will help me identify any abnormalities that I need to address in the processes.”
Martindale Manufacturing specializes in aerospace components, specifically mechanical seals. Size range is 1”x1” to 4’x4’. Thickness in material varies, but ranges from .025 to .125.
“We’ve seen changes over the last few years since we first met,” tells Tony. “I’ve maxed out my floor space, there’s been a pandemic, and huge manufacturers have had issues with their planes. We just adapt and continue to do what we do best; delivering the best parts, on time, and communicate with the customer throughout the entire process. We’ve been in business a long time and have had customers with us for decades. There are a lot of places that can make a good part, but not every place values their customers like we do. Service is still king here at Martindale Manufacturing.”