Quality Digest
Published: Tuesday, September 21, 2021 - 12:00 (ShopFloorConnect: Acton, MA) – ShopFloorConnect will unveil new capabilities in preventive maintenance at PackExpo in Las Vegas, Sept. 27–29, 2021, that further improve machine productivity with maintenance alerts based on actual machine run times or cycles. The production monitoring software’s new feature improves on traditional preventive maintenance software that typically send alerts for specified maintenance activities based on days. With ShopFloorConnect the software detects when machines are running and not running and when they complete cycles, enabling preventive maintenance alerts to be scheduled based on actual use of the machine and its component parts rather than on a number of days. “Most preventive maintenance programs are based strictly on days, so every 30 days you check the drive belts, every 90 days you check the lubricant filters and so forth,” says Jim Finnerty, product manager. “But, if the machine sees heavy use, it probably needs maintenance more frequently, and if the machine is unused, you’re wasting time looking at these things. ShopFloorConnect enables manufacturers to minimize maintenance downtime by setting maintenance intervals based on the workload of the equipment.” The new preventive maintenance feature, currently in beta testing, enables operators to insert an unlimited number of maintenance items per machine and set a maintenance interval based on units, cycles, or days. Once a maintenance item is added to the maintenance list in ShopFloorConnect, every machine on the floor can quickly be set up with the same alerts. The preventive maintenance system also enables plugging in preset values at the time the system is installed to account for maintenance items that are partway to their checkpoint at the time of installation. The preventive maintenance software offers a simple, visual alert system based on colors: ShopFloorConnect’s preventive maintenance feature also accounts for various personnel being assigned to handle specific tasks. “Each maintenance item can be assigned to different individuals, and our alert system also is based on the shift that you’re working, where it can be assigned to a different person on first shift than on second shift,” Finnerty says. ShopFloorConnect can operate as a standalone product to monitor machine productivity and maintenance or augment other enterprise resource planning or manufacturing execution system through an API that monitors the progress of the machinery for each maintenance item. Contact ShopFloorConnect to improve productivity with more accurate preventive maintenance schedules. ShopFloorConnect is a production monitoring software developed by Wintriss Controls Group. The system, applicable in a wide variety of manufacturing industries, including packaging, plastics, fabrication and metal stamping, automatically collects real-time shop floor production data that is timely, accurate, and unbiased. For more information contact ShopFloorConnect at www.shopfloorconnect.com or call (800) 586-8324. Wintriss Controls Group, of Acton, Massachusetts, is a leading manufacturer of automation and safety products for the metal stamping and forming industry. The company’s product range includes automation and clutch/brake controllers, custom consoles, safety light curtains, die protection systems, load analyzers, in-die quality control systems, and ShopFloorConnect production reporting and overall equipment effectiveness tracking software. For 40 years Quality Digest has been the go-to source for all things quality. Our newsletter, Quality Digest, shares expert commentary and relevant industry resources to assist our readers in their quest for continuous improvement. Our website includes every column and article from the newsletter since May 2009 as well as back issues of Quality Digest magazine to August 1995. We are committed to promoting a view wherein quality is not a niche, but an integral part of every phase of manufacturing and services.
Metrology Machine Monitoring With Maintenance Alerts Based on Units, Cycles, Days
Alerts scheduled by actual use of the machine rather than number of days. See at PackExpo, Sept. 27–29, 2021.
• Red—overdue for maintenance
• Yellow—within 10 percent of the maintenance interval
• Green—does not require maintenanceAbout ShopFloorConnect
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