Production Machining

FEB 2013

Production Machining - Your access to the precision machining industrial buyer.

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TECH BRIEFS Remote Alerts Keep Productivity in Motion By Randy Pearson n the past, a common setup scenario for unattended operations included the following sequence: Load the bar feeder, set the program, go home and pray nothing goes wrong. About 15 years ago, some machine tool and fabricating equipment companies began to institute call centers to fag shop owners of an alarm, but those systems were often hit-or-miss, depending on the quality of the personnel and the chances of reaching the owner at the designated phone number. A single tool break, bar jam, low lube or coolant level, air compressor stall, spindle speed slowdown or even a power spike could mean an entire weekend of lost production. Today, alerts for tripped alarms on unattended machines can be sent by phone via call or SMS text message, email or fax. Te alert is sent automatically by software programmed directly on the CNC. No human intervention is needed, except by the shop owner or production supervisor to designate the method of communication and to receive the alert. I 26 PRODUCTION MACHINING :: FEBRUARY 2013 So the scenario changes to a more efective process: Load the bar feeder, set up the machine for a predetermined alarm tag or sequence of alarms (the machine can now send periodic alerts for various parameter checks), set the program, go home and enjoy the weekend. Any shutdown will be fagged. Since the alarm is set of of the fault code on the machine, no human intervention is needed, and the messages are completely automated. Te system is relatively simple to set up, and it keeps a shop's productivity in motion, all weekend or any time it can reasonably run unattended. Tis was formerly the realm of only the biggest shops and captive production departments in automotive, aerospace and other dedicated production operations. Now even the smallest shops can have an efective alert system in place. It is especially useful for those with more machines than operators. On a high-level CNC, this feature is available as part of the production software embedded in the controller. Te

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