Memex’s Merlin praised by i-Mech in Manufacturing Automation article

Proactive Investors – Oct 20, 2014 – Memex Automation’s MERLIN system that works to improve manufacturing operations in real time has proven beneficial to more ways than one, according to client Innovative Mechanical Solutions (i-Mech), which is based in Edmonton, Alberta.

i-Mech’s president, Wayne Horley, was cited in an article in the October issue of Manufacturing Automation magazine (page 20) saying that the company has realized a number of benefits from implementing MERLIN.

While there’s no hard data in terms of improved productivity yet, Horley said that implementing any sort of accountability system improved productivity by a minimum of five percent.

The i-Mech president said that because the system tracks productivity, it is an employee motivator. “The operators know that we’re keeping track of things,” he was quoted in the article as saying. “And the people who are self-driven and want to contiuously improve? They love this system.”

The article also noted the MERLIN system’s ability to help with OEE [overall equipment effectiveness] and lean manufacturing because it not only collects data from machines, but helps teams analyze that data easily, offering both standard reports and the flexibility to write your own reports.

The system also reduces employee costs, cutting down on roles that require people to work on data collection and analysis, as with MERLIN, it is now automated.

i-Mech has plans to set up another manufacturing facility in the US, where it also wants to use MERLIN, with Horley also saying he is encouraging the company’s third-party partners to come on board.

Memex’s MERLIN is a hardware and software tool that tracks a large number of data inputs that measure OEE [overall equipment effectiveness] in real-time, machine by machine, as well as other operational machine information.

It enables customers to address production bottlenecks as they happen, converting idle time back into production and ultimately improving throughput and increasing income from plant operations.

MTConnect is the open, royalty-free standard that is used with Memex’s new CNC hardware adapters, bringing OEE network connectivity from the shop floor to management, no matter the make, model or vintage of machine.

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