IEN: What is e-manufacturing?

Bolger: You will receive many definitions of e-manufacturing as it encompasses a very broad spectrum of applications. Many efforts have focused on the application of ERP and pushing scheduling down to the shop floor. Information is viewed at the shop level and some manual input is received regarding scrap. Bar coding systems are generally used to track inventory and feed information into MRP systems as well.

Many applications that have been put to use over the past 5 years primarily focused on data collection from PLCs. Most of these applications have been custom written for the application. Recently, applications such as Visual Plant from EMT (London, Ontario) have come to market with off-the-shelf applications targeted at shop floor data collection over standard Ethernet networks using standard data collection methods from the OPC foundation.

IEN: Who is e-Manufacturing Networks Inc?

Bolger: The area that e-Manufacturing Networks focuses on is the collection of real data from the shop floor assets and the use of this data to monitor production, update maintenance schedules, find hidden capacity, interface to QC Systems and many other applications.

More specifically, e-Manufacturing Networks focuses on collection of data from CNC machines. We manufacture our own embedded HW/SW solution, which turns any CNC into a node on the corporate network. On the one side we interface to the extremely closed CNC environment and on the other side we provide open, standard interfaces to the IT world using Ethernet, standard protocols and standard data tools such as OPC and XML.

IEN: How quickly is industry adopting e-manufacturing?

Bolger: Large corporations have invested heavily in their IT infrastructure and ERP applications over the past 5 to 8 years. In a manufacturing environment, planning only takes you so far. ERP applications generally use infinite resource scheduling to plan activities at the plant floor level. The IT network generally does not extend out to the plant so little or no real data exists.

Manufacturers are not getting the big returns on investment they originally hoped for. In fact the case is just the opposite in many situations. Most ERP systems are not agile enough to support collaborative e-manufacturing models that many manufacturers are implementing today.

We have noticed a large push towards monitoring OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness). Companies are trying to find hidden capacity in their assets, improve quality and overall throughput all at a lower cost. To do so, you must start with data. You can't improve something that you can't measure. For example, it is common, in the CNC world, to monitor uptime. My machine was available for 7.2 hours in an 8-hour shift. This is a critical parameter towards calculating OEE. However, in the CNC world, uptime is not enough data. While the machine was available, were you cutting, was the machine idle, was their an operator, was the machine running with Feed Hold pressed, was Feed Rate Override used to dial back the feed rate. By having this additional detailed uptime information, the manager can now find lost minutes of machining time.

The speed of adoption is entirely throttled back by education. Most people are not aware that their CNC machines can be monitored. Once they become aware that it is possible they quickly move to adopt e-manufacturing techniques.

To be competitive in today's manufacturing marketplace, companies have to be agile, flexible and customer-oriented. A new breed of manufacturing leader is adopting new technologies and harnessing critical business information to reduce costs, integrate the supply chain and quickly deliver products to market.

IEN: What are the major challenges in the move toward e-manufacturing? How are they being addressed?

Bolger: Human response - Operators don't like to be measured. They don't trust it. This is always the first hurdle to overcome. This is the Big Brother attitude and to some extent it is true. However, to squeeze more production through a plant, to find bottlenecks, and improve profitability, the asset must be measured. Part of measuring the use of the asset is measuring the productivity of the operator.

Initially we find ourselves selling the system as a maintenance monitoring application. That is, measure the actual use of the machine to schedule preventative maintenance on a reality-based system as opposed to a time based system. This avoids unneeded PM and may schedule some PM sooner than expected to avoid breakdown. On the maintenance area we also provide Predictive algorithms to monitor signals and notify maintenance of unusual trends and potential failures. By selling the system this way it seems friendlier to the operators. We monitor the machine not the person.

The big question relating to e-manufacturing is how to create an IT infrastructure that has the highest level of security, yet still enables highly effective, Web-type communication ... presumably using all the nifty hardware and software tools developed for the Internet.

IEN: How are manufacturers coordinating traditional operations with those that are intranet/internet managed?

Bolger: Manufacturers who are moving towards intranet/internet managed operations are finding a degree of flexibility and ubiquity which can be difficult to parallel through traditional management of manufacturing operations. Ultimately, it is incumbent upon us as the system technology providers to offer the tools and solutions that will allow users to effectively manage and integrate their e-manufacturing operations with traditional operations. To that end, we have developed and continue to develop relationships with major technology providers and system integrators to insure that we have solutions that work with various levels of technology, whether it be different systems, data bases or older types of manufacturing equipment.

IEN: Which industries are the most involved in e-manufacturing? The least involved? Why?

Bolger: To date, the process manufacturing industries have been implementing data collection systems and applying the data for improving throughput. As stated earlier, the systems have typically been custom for each customer. Discrete industries such as the semiconductor industry has also adopted e-manufacturing.

In the CNC world, little data collection has taken place. Some manual data is being collected but most companies, even the largest, cannot tell you if a machine (even a bottleneck machine) is running right now or not without physically going out to the floor and looking at it. Within the discrete metalworking industry, the aerospace companies have the most to gain from e-manufacturing. Aerospace typically has a higher cost per part and stricter quality regulations. The ability to monitor each part and even perform on-machine (go/ no go) inspection allows for faster production, closer monitoring of cycle times and higher quality.

Automotive manufacturers are close behind. One of the key issues driving these industries toward adoption is an integrated supply chain. To date, most supply chain integration has involved accounting systems in order to minimize paperwork. To meet promised delivery dates in the future, companies will insist upon a new level of visibility into their supply chain. Instant access to information allowing companies to know the status of every part on every car in production will be the norm.

IEN: What innovations are in store for users?

Bolger: We expect the industry to see further developments in web browser-based manufacturing systems and internet communications between the customer, manufacturer and supply chain, including the use of wireless and video/voice over IP technologies. The driver of information to plant and enterprise manufacturing systems will be real-time shop floor data utilizing the XML standard. Developers of MES and other systems will benefit from the timeliness, high integrity and extensibility of information automatically collected from CNCs and communicated in XML. Standardization initiatives, such as the OMAC HMI / API, will facilitate open architecture concepts for CNCs, and will permit software developers to further integrate machine controller information into the overall manufacturing process. We are at the forefront of that initiative and very active in the OMAC user group.

Ethernet technology for the shop floor is becoming commonplace but most machines can't communicate. Embedded devices will open up machines and turn them into smart machines capable of communicating. Communication itself takes many forms. Machine to Human communication will permit smart machines to notify operators or managers of alarm or status conditions via email or more likely using wireless communication such as pagers or cell phones. Machine to Machine communication will become commonplace. One machine will tell another to speed up or slow down. Smart Quality Control machines might tell other machines to alter their process slightly to accommodate for tolerance trends. Human to machine communication will also become common. Remote operation of machines to accommodate for monitored conditions, stopping the machine or changing a production run.

STEP-NC will change manufacturing. No longer will it be necessary to create a proprietary toolpath for a specific machine. Instead, the part geometry and toolpath strategies will be defined and sent to the shop. Each machine will be capable of interpreting this information and creating toolpaths, optimally, for itself. A linked shop floor, employing emanufacturing will allow manufacturing information to flow smoothly to any machine and from one machine to another to accommodate for breakdown.

IEN: How are software and computer hardware being improved?

Bolger: One of the key advancements is the development of embedded devices and the use of the LINUX operating system. The growth of Linux in embedded systems over the last two years has been astounding. It offers an open operating system platform that our customers and third party developers can fully access at no-cost, obtain source code, develop extensions, enhancements, and customize for future integration needs. By offering Linux-based products to our customers we are protecting their long-term investment, and eliminating a form of product obsolescence that often occurs when products cannot grow with the customer needs.

Some newer CNC controls have come to market with the ability to provide data, as they are PC-based controls. Most controls, even newer ones, are still sold with only an RS232 port for downloading data to the machine and no Ethernet connection. In fact, most machine vendors offer an Ethernet port option at over $4000.

IEN: How are concerns regarding firewalls/security being answered?

Bolger: Of course security of the shop floor is a critical issue. E-Manufacturing has taken the approach of providing our customers with a LINUX-Based firewall which can be as secure as required. Access can be secured at the CNC level and the Gateway level, leveraging digital credentials. Security is achieved through secure protocols like HTTPs, SSH and IPsec. Data controls are used to establish integrity and authenticity of the data. Security mechanisms such as proxying and access controls are enforced through the use of appropriate authentication and authorization mechanisms.

IEN: Is the drive toward lean manufacturing spurring interest in e-manufacturing?

Bolger: Lean production is aimed at the elimination of waste in every area of production including customer relations, product design, supplier networks and factory management. Its goal is to incorporate less human effort, less inventory, less time to develop products, and less space to become highly responsive to customer demand while producing top quality products in the most efficient and economical manner possible. E-Manufacturing is the logical step towards making all this possible.

Visibility is the key benefit of a linked shop floor in relation to lean principles. Starting at the machine level, an operator can get immediate feedback regarding achievement of goals reported directly back to a marquis board at their station. A manager has instant access to the information needed to ensure the smooth transfer of goods through the plant. Finally, as mentioned earlier, visibility into the supply chain will allow the current status of all orders to be viewed in real time over a secure internet connection to each supplier.

e-Manufacturing Networks is working directly with a state-of-the-art Lean Manufacturing Institute in upstate New York to add value to their lean manufacturing initiatives. Our solution provides visibility to the shop floor assets and real data that can be used to stimulate workers. Goal attainment initiatives are improved when operators are given real time feedback regarding productivity and efficiency through marquis boards or to a computer terminal. Industries in the area and other educational facilities are able to go online to see the assets and monitor progress over the Internet.