These days, it’s assumed that your personal computer will communicate effortlessly with your printer, keyboard, external hard drive, MP3 player and an assortment of other electronics. From digital cameras to household appliances, USB-enabled devices are everywhere, allowing for the quick and painless transfer of data from a device to its respective computer program or online portal. It’s the epitome of “plug and play”—and technology consumers outright demand it.

 

So why do manufacturing technologies still lag behind? It’s a hot question among machine and peripheral equipment manufacturers and industry groups—and a topic that’s taking center stage at several major industry events.

 

MTConnect, for example—a standard protocol that allows interconnectivity between manufacturing equipment, peripherals and software—was the star of the IMTS 2010 Emerging Technologies Center. A collaboration between the Association for Manufacturing Technology and leading manufacturing equipment and software companies, MTConnect was also seen on display at several exhibitor booths, in myriad setups and applications. The much-anticipated imX event also places heavy emphasis on the possibilities of interconnectivity.

 

Major manufacturing equipment and software suppliers have been heavily invested in this area for years—and as the productivity and profitability advantages of these technologies become increasingly obvious, manufacturers are beginning to take notice.

 

Ideas become reality

The idea behind interconnectivity technology is essentially two fold: First, manufacturers should be able to more easily link machine tools and peripheral equipment; second, machines and peripheral equipment should be able to communicate pertinent information that software and monitoring systems can effectively decipher.

 

The team of engineers at the Mori Seiki Digital Technology Laboratory (DTL) is no stranger to the machine/software-networking game. Its members have been hard at work developing technologies and concepts that will make complete shop-floor connectivity a given, rather than an obscure ideology.

 

To augment its own internal efforts, DTL is also a member of the Technical Advisory Group for MTConnect—and plays an important part in moving the protocol forward among customers and DMG / Mori Seiki USA Qualified Products (DMGMSQP) partners.

 

The DTL team classifies its developments in the area of connectivity as Advanced Communication Technologies (ACT).

 

“Today, in most cases, when a manufacturer wants to hook up a machine to peripheral equipment—a barfeeder or coolant pump, for example—he must hardwire the connection,” explains Adam Hansel, President of DTL. “It takes a significant amount of time, money and expertise—and there’s a chance that human error during the installation process could negatively affect operations.”

 

“With ACT and our Ethernet/IP interface, on the other hand, an Ethernet cable connects the machine to a switchboard, which in turn connects to all necessary peripheral equipment,” Hansel says. “Installation is literally approaching the simplicity of hooking up a new PC.”

 

ACT now, link up

ACT works by using a standard, open interface—much like the one MTConnect works to develop and perfect—to make manufacturing data transparent, traceable and communicable among different types of equipment. In addition to Ethernet/IP, this data format works with several other popular industrial protocols, including DeviceNet, PROFIBUS, PROFINET and more, through the use of an adaptor.

 

The DTL team gave manufacturers a taste of what a turnkey ACT setup powered by an Ethernet/IP interface can look like at IMTS 2010. A portion of the DMG / Mori Seiki USA booth at the show featured a manufacturing cell with DMG and Mori Seiki machines working in tandem with a DMG parts loader and Fanuc robotics from Ellison Automation.

 

DTL isn’t alone in its quest to push systems like ACT into mainstream manufacturing; it works closely with MTConnect and its members.

 

In November 2010, DMG / Mori Seiki USA hosted a meeting at its Hoffman Estates headquarters for MTConnect’s Technical Advisory Group. The meeting focused on the formation of two new committee groups— one of which helps educate people on the technology possibilities of MTConnect—and on enhancing the current standard. Another topic of discussion was how to address the issue of non-MTConnect-enabled equipment.

 

“The members of MTConnect are working hard to address the hurdles to mainstream acceptance of a standard manufacturing technology protocol, and shop-floor connectivity in general,” says Hansel. “As with most relatively new technologies—in any field—there are obstacles to overcome before we can achieve widespread adoption.”

 

Connected partnerships

The DTL team is doing its part to increase real-world implementation of these technologies by working with its QPs to encourage the development of products that support fast, easy connectivity with DMG and Mori Seiki machines.

 

“We help all of our preferred tooling, automation and software suppliers apply an ACT-friendly interface to their products, where applicable,” says Hansel. “The goal is to make any aftermarket installation and integration of our QPs’ peripheral equipment as seamless and efficient as possible.”

 

In addition to being easy to link up on the shop floor, customers can be sure that their peripheral equipment is of superior quality and is ideally suited to their DMG and Mori Seiki machines—thanks to the company’s rigorous QP-selection process.

 

Several of the QPs are also members of MTConnect, including LNS, Mayfran International, Caron Engineering, Edge Technologies, BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling, Kennametal, ATS Systems and Fanuc— involvement which further encourages the cause.

 

Everything in sync

While it still remains to be seen exactly how networking technologies and protocols will play out on a large scale, industry experts and equipment suppliers agree—interconnectivity is changing the face of manufacturing as we know it.

 

“Soon, these types of technologies won’t be optional—they’ll be a necessity in many situations and industries,” Hansel says. “Manufacturers are discovering that to be efficient and profitable enough to stay competitive, they have to get on board with this.”