Memex CEO Co-authors MTConnect Institute Connectivity Guide

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Burlington, Ontario — (SBWIRE) — 10/28/2011 — Developed as a guide for shop owners and plant managers exploring the MTConnect implementation process, the MTConnect Institute announced the release of the “Getting Started with MTConnect – Connectivity Guide.”

David McPhail, President & CEO of Memex Automation Inc. and co-chair of the MTConnect Shop Floor Connectivity Committee said, “It was a pleasure working with such a talented and energetic team of experts who are all focused on addressing manufacturing productivity issues. By applying the techniques defined in the Connectivity Guide, essentially every piece of manufacturing equipment can now be integrated into a manufacturing data system — empowering productivity improvement on the shop floor for all machines.”

This guide is the result of a year-long effort by the MTConnect Shop Floor Connectivity Committee. Thought leaders from sixteen companies representing a diverse cross-section of the discrete parts manufacturing industry collaborated in the development of the guide. The committee addressed the most fundamental question shop owners and plant managers when deciding to implement MTConnect.

The guide addresses connectivity issues associated with both new and legacy manufacturing equipment; it provides a structured framework to guide companies through the assessment of equipment and the early planning stages of a project.

McPhail emphasized, “The guide is a valuable tool for anyone in manufacturing who believes that improving productivity starts with understanding what is happening on the shop floor.”

The foundation for improving manufacturing productivity starts with easy access to data. MTConnect provides manufacturers with a simple and extensible mechanism to connect manufacturing equipment to software applications used to run the businesses.

The “Getting Started with MTConnect – Connectivity Guide” is downloadable at www.mtconnect.org.

Dave Edstrom, President and Chairman of the Board for the MTConnect Institute said, “This Connectivity Guide will be an extremely valuable tool for shop owners and managers who need to address productivity issues in their manufacturing operations. I am asked the same question almost daily — How do I get started? This guide answers that question. The Connectivity Guide is the first piece to be released in our ‘Getting Started with MTConnect’ series. Additional documents will be released soon to further support manufacturing companies that are adopting productivity solutions using MTConnect.”

 

Factory of the Future Webinar – May 30, 2013

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Do you want the best manufacturing plant around? 

Find out how by attending this 30 minute webinar about the “Factory of the Future”, May 30, 2013, at 11:00 am Eastern Time (UTC – 5 hours).


In association with Microsoft, MTConnect Institute, Ellipse Solutions and Memex Automation, you will see with a live demonstration how utilizing a Manufacturing Execution System directly with an ERP business system has immense advantages with plant operations. The Factory of the Future is vertically and horizontally integrated – vertically from Shop Floor to Top Floor, and horizontally throughout the plant-wide operations.  The benefits are many and often lead to 50% – 100% increases in profitability.

You will hear leading industry experts view of the future for manufacturing, with:

Gil Garcia, Director Manufacturing Industries for Microsoft, 

Dave Edstrom, President and Chairman of the Board  MTConnect Institute,

David Rourke, Manufacturing Consultant, Ellipse Solutions LLC, an MES systems integrator

John Rattray, VP with David McPhail, President & CEO, Memex Automation Inc. 

It is all focused towards machine information being readily available which will be more important in the 21st century than the CNC was in the 20th century.

This webinar is designed to be concise and easy to access.  It is web based, no downloaded applets required, and audio is either by phone or computer speaker.

To register for the Factory of the Future webinar, please fill out the form below and you will be sent a webinar connection link.  Alternatively, you may also contact Carolene at 866-573-3895 ext. 204, or email carolene@memex.ca.

[contact-form-7 id=”2777″ title=”Factory of the Future Registration”]

Memex Automation: Flexibility Improves Efficiency

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Originally published online by SBW!RE.  Link to full article here.

According to John Rattray, of Financial OEE leader, Memex Automation, “Flexibility improves efficiency…Being efficient while responsive to shifting customer demand requires an enterprise-wide manufacturing transformation: moving from Manufacturing-to-Forecast (MTF) to Build-to-Order (BTO) which can create a dramatic payoff. Greater flexibility means allocation for most efficient production across plants, shifts or suppliers, resulting in a faster response to changing conditions and improved overall plant utilization. Greater efficiency reduces Work in Process (WIP), labor, scrap and rework, saving both time and money.

Improving manufacturing efficiency is a pre-requisite to better profitability and corporate success. Enhancing manufacturing performance yields huge advantages – from cost reductions to a stronger competitive position – which can be passed on to shareholders or customers. The trick is to be highly efficient while improving quality, expanding product portfolio, and becoming more demand driven.”

“Success is increasingly tied to improving manufacturing performance, and improving it quickly. Manufacturers are increasing their focus on the bottom line. This scrutiny is leading to renewed attention on manufacturing, where the most significant assets (plant and equipment) and costs are. Manufacturers need to cut costs, increase cash flow and become more responsive to changing market conditions.”

Rattray insists there are rules that will drive profitability to the bottom line.

Culture of Continuous Improvement

Having an enterprise platform for manufacturing operations real-time Key Performance Metrics such as OEE provides global visibility, across your operations. These capabilities let you easily identify and replicate best practices across your global operations while instilling a culture of continuous improvement across production, warehouse, quality, maintenance and labor activities. Standardized best-practices reduce cycle and takt times across your operations, helping to ensure On Time Delivery (OTD). Global, real-time visibility that is actionable on a 24/7 basis enables immediate resolution to operational disruptions.

North American Manufacturing can Compete with Overseas Outsourcing

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Important Manufacturing Industry Information

There is a movement to prove that North America can be more competitive than China or offshore.  Consider that the “Reshoring Initiatives” that reduce the total cost gap from 30% to close to zero. Right there North America can be competitive with a level playing field. Add to this that Memex lean tools to increase efficiency 10-50%, there is a very compelling case for North America manufacturing to be more competitive than China or other offshore locations.  Now, with recent moves indicating that North America governments are serious, with unprecedented moves, about bringing manufacturing back to North America

So all combined:

  • Reshoring Initiatives with TCO calculations to reduce 30% cost gap to zero
  • OEE efficiency improvements of 10-50% on shop floor
  • Unprecedented federal financial assistance, 100% capital equipment write-off – should fund these projects.

North America can truly be more competitive than China in manufacturing!

According to Manufacturing & Technology News:

A new nationwide initiative is underway to convince companies that it is worth bringing manufacturing back to the United States. Illinois is the first state in the country to start a “Reshoring Initiative” aimed at large OEMs to re-open factories in America. Backers hope to create similar chapters in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and California.

Leading the charge is Harry Moser, a charismatic, straight-talking former CEO of a major U.S. manufacturing technology supplier who has received financial backing from major trade associations and companies.

Moser and his partners are trying to get manufacturers and their suppliers to use the total cost of ownership software estimator the Reshoring Initiative has developed to compare the China price to the U.S. price, including an estimation of risks. If Moser can get companies to run the data, what they usually find is that Chinese costs are 30 percent below those of a U.S.-made product, but once the total cost of ownership is included, that gap can almost be eliminated.

Business Outlook 2011 – Innovation Advantage

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A recent publication, “Business Outlook 2011 – Innovation Advantage” that was put together by Canadian Plant magazine and Rogers Communications shed some interesting light on the manufacturing industry. It is based on a survey of manufacturing companies as well as a roundtable discussion with senior executives of leading manufacturing companies. Memex Automation was invited to participate as a supplier to the manufacturing industry, specifically David McPhail, President.

Some interesting notes about this outlook:

  • 77% of manufacturers identified improving productivity as a major issue.
  • 86% identified innovation is an important aspect of their competitive strategies.
  • Most panelists agree lean manufacturing is key to productivity improvement and innovation but adoption among survey respondents is just under half at 49%, suggesting there is much room for improvement here.
  • 91% of manufacturers have investment plans for 2011.
  • Process improvement tops the list of priorities for 2011.
  • Only about 40% of companies took advantage of the federal tax credit.

Much discussion was had about applying tax credits towards improving manufacturing productivity, all as a competitive advantage.

If you would like a hardcopy glossy reprint of the article, feel free to email to salesgroup@memex.ca and we will mail it out, or go online.