Research paper on IoT in manufacturing environment

[Rstewart]

Ok guys, nerding out here...

I'm writing a research paper on integrating Internet of Things (IoT) in the manufacturing field.  Basically connectivity between machines to help with predictive maintenance, scheduling, and analytics.
Just wanted to see if any of ya'll have something like this within your shops.  Maybe someone has some input on this tech?  I thought it was an interesting topic since this is for my management of technology class.

SO basically, can the machines take over lol

[crazy^millman]

Look at the Caron Engineering systems. They offer a brad range of tech to collect this kind of data from the machines. Data collection is probably one of the most under utilized aspect of manufacturing today. With the right data collected someone could know a lot more about machine capabilities and thru put of any center. Too many shops still stuck in the man standing in front of the machine hitting the green button watching the part run.

[kccadcam]

FactoryWiz:
https://www.factorywiz.com/monitoring/machine-monitoring-overview/


MTConnect is the protocol machines are using to communicate data out.
https://www.mtconnect.org/

[CADCAM396]

funny this should come up.
they are hooking up factory wiz to my machines. I am a one man tool shop WTF is this going to gain me?
any ideas on productive uses for it. all my work is one off. I design, process plan, program setup and run. two cnc's and hand full of manual machines.
tech has its place but I dont see a huge gain here. enlighten me

[mkd]

Predictive maintenance and monitoring has a place with big brain manager types. Having planned maintenance makes you look proactive to the CEO. Having unplanned maintenance just makes you look reactive to the CEO. Unplanned maintenance or running on a shoestring is probably cheaper in the end. So it's not about money. It's about perception.
 More data can actually be a detriment. One big shop I work with as factory wiz and is plugged into the machines fairly well. They had a machine sit for a week or two then fired it up two full RPM immediately followed by one bearing getting over temperature. Everyone and their mother freaked out and had to spindle replaced. Had they gave it a nice 500 RPM warm up and let the oil get where it needs to go. Everything would have been fine

[CNCAppsJames]

ACCURATE data collection serves three worthwhile purposes to my small brain; ACTUAL spindle utilization which is important to know for Capital Expenditure necessity, better maintenance scheduling and better tooling wear prediction. 

JM2CFWIW 

 

[Rstewart]

I do see most of ya'lls perception as too much tech is well, just too much.  I just thought this could be an interesting topic.  In my prototype environment, probably not worth it.  I can see where a high production place could implement.

[CNCAppsJames]

I do see most of ya'lls perception as too much tech is well, just too much.

It's not that... at least not exactly. Tech for the sake of tech is bullshit. I think THAT is what we fight with/against. Gone are the days of simple elegance. It's all about buzzwords and this dot that.



We need a "salty" emoji.

[CNCAppsJames]

Oh... and Matsuura has had the ability for the machine to send out e-mails to certain people for certain events since at least 2018. I've tried to get customers to use it and I run into these roadblocks;
1) The Boss; "No way am I connecting my CNC to the internet, they'll be watchin YouTube all day long"
2) IT; "No way am I giving each machine it's own e-mail and IP address."
3) The Boss; "What if I set it up to e-mail your company when something goes wrong?"
4) See #1 and #2

[kccadcam]

FactoryWiz:

Spindle Utilization - You have a tablet at the machine, you can pick a job and have it clock you into the operation and load the correct CNC program. Then there are wait codes, (Which are fully customizable) why is the spindle not running? Things like tooling issues or program issues, meetings, maintenance, and the best one: running another machine.
It's a real eye opener when you really start tracking spindle times.

Setup times vs. production times.

Ties into your ERP system, this is a huge help with scheduling. Knowing exactly the % complete and when will it finish.

You can tie in things like tool presetters and SPC data.

Having the large TV's on the wall with live dashboards let's everybody see at a glance what each machine is doing.

[YoDoug]

We have the MTConnect agent running in our 12 cnc machines. We use Scytec for data collection. We get email/text notifications for machine alarms and out of parts. We can pull reports to check all kinds of things, part counts, timelines, usage summaries. We use that data to justify when it is time to add another machine. We also have our saws and polishing machines tied into Scytec as well but the data is just a simple running or not. On my weekend rotation I use the Scytec and webcams to keep track of production so I know when to go load more parts or fix an alarm.

We also have the TMAC from Caron engineering in two of our mills. we plan to add it to all our mills. TMAC is realtime spindle monitoring and adaptive feedrate. When implemented properly it saves cycle time and you use tools to the same wear point rather than subjective decisions by operators. We also have Caron eng vibration sensors that can detect missing inserts or out of balance tools and chatter.

All of these are tools we use to run 12-20 hours unattended everyday.

[CNCAppsJames]

I just thought this could be an interesting topic.

IoT ... after some further thought maybe instead of the usual perspectives that volumes of papers have been written by people that have spent little to no meaningful time in an actual machine shop, maybe you look at the potential impacts (positive and/or negative) on the shop floor personnel. Impact on machinists, operators, setup people and programmers.