We're already almost through seven months of 2017, and Q1 of 2018 is just around the corner. Scary, isn’t it? The items you have been pushing to the side for the New Year will need a decision sooner than you think.
One of the items you may have been mulling over has been to pick up machine monitoring software for your shop floor. If you are a decision maker, you have likely heard over and over about how monitoring machine utilizations will help improve productivity. Truth is, there are three other benefits to machine monitoring you aren’t hearing about.
Reason 1 — Machine monitoring is flexible — it’s not just for CNC machines and it’s not limited to the shop floor. We can work with manual machines, autoclaves, paint lines, PLC-driven machines and more. Unconventional machine monitoring is something we are well known for and many are surprised to find that machine monitoring is indeed the solution for them. Also, the mobility of machine monitoring is crucial to mention. Monitor machines away from the shop floor with notifications being sent to you via email or text. You can also monitor from a mobile device, such as a smart phone or a tablet.
Reason 2 — This software can integrate with a CMMS system to provide you with a more accurate PM schedule. If you are currently using a calendar-based system to schedule your PM’s, you might be performing maintenance too soon, or too late. We can monitor actual run times on your machines and feed that info over to you CMMS to create a PM schedule for you.
Reason 3 — Machinists have a voice, via machine monitoring. The men and women running the machines have valuable feedback that is not easily communicated to upper management. They are the ones in the trenches and they usually know why a machine is not running. Data entry screens and tablets on the shop floor will give machinists the ability to add notes and let those in the back office know the reasons why machines are down. This will allow for trends to be seen and corrections to be made.
Greg Mercurio is president of Shop Floor Automations, Inc.
In the end, machine monitoring means a lot more than its title suggests.