Product category:
Industrial computers, PCs, PLCs, notebooks, etc.
News Release from: DLoG (UK) | Subject: DLoG industrial PCs and the Quadro RM (QRM) PDM
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 03 December 2001
Powerful PCs and PDM update CNC
manufacturing
Mira recently completed a project which, as well as bringing its IT infrastructure up to date, paved the way for the implementation of production processes requiring as little paper as possible.
Mira Showers of Cheltenham, England, part of the world-wide Kohler group, is a leading manufacturer of domestic and commercial shower and water control systems The company supplies customers in more than 30 countries and maintains its leadership position by continually striving to improve its products and processes
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 17 Mar 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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As part of its on-going programme, Mira recently completed a project which, as well as bringing its IT infrastructure up to date, paved the way for the implementation of production processes requiring as little paper as possible.
To achieve this, 14 industrial terminals have been replaced by up-to-date hardware and software.
The result? For the last 18 months Mira has been using state-of-the-art industrial PCs and the Quadro RM (QRM) PDM system from DLoG.
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The powerful computers and the modern production-data management software ensure fast and reliable transmission of manufacturing data, thus speeding the production process.
When Walker Crosweller started supplying valves for industry in London in 1921, few would have realised that he was laying the foundations for a major international supplier of shower systems.
Today, a 700-strong workforce in Cheltenham achieves an annual turnover of more than EUR 120 million, making Mira the UK market leader.
Besides the employees' commitment and extensive experience, the company's success owes much to the elegance and performance of its product range.
Mira customers, wholesalers and specialist dealers of sanitary equipment throughout Europe, North America and Japan also benefit from lifelong support for the products.
To assure its future success in the market, Mira invests considerable sums; not only in product development and market research, but also in modern information technology.
Before the Quadro RM system was implemented at Mira, production documents, such as tool lists and drawings or production sheets, were created and circulated on paper.
To ensure employees always worked with up-to-date information, this production paperwork was used just once, then destroyed.
The result was a vicious circle of time-consuming creation and disposal of documents.
"To make our production more efficient - and for ecological reasons - we had been giving quite a bit of thought to ways of reducing paperwork in our production departments," says production engineer Derek Bradley.
"Of course, our manufacturing cells tried to handle the search for, procurement and disposal of paper as efficiently as possible.
But improvements were restricted to individual cells and were not implemented across divisions," he explains.
The decision was subsequently made to replace the company's first-generation DNeT I industrial terminals, along with the existing DNC software.
This in turn, led to the establishment of a major project to modernise its production - managed by Derek Bradley and assisted by two colleagues, Richard Higgs and Clive Hughes.
The team began by developing a specification for the new hardware and software.
High on the list of requirements was the need for a touch screen interface on the new industrial PCs.
The entire DNC solution was to be designed in a client/server architecture under Windows NT.
Access rights to control use of the software on different levels, such as work preparation/programming and machine operation, were essential.
To reduce the volume of documents, Mira wanted a PDM system that would not only administer NC programs, but also manage tool data, set-up and fixture plans, graphics and text documents.
The administration of SDRC-CAD files was another important element for the project team.
Equally, it had to be possible for the NC programs to be sent back from the CNC to the DNC system, as well as to be locked and released.
Further key requirements were faster data transmission, system reliability and user-friendliness.
The team started to research the market for a suitable supplier by studying technical publications, attending trade exhibitions and relying on its experience.
In due course, a final evaluation was made between DLoG and another competitor.
"DLoG had been on our 'A' list of suppliers for years;" explains Clive Hughes, "not just because of the company's excellent service, but our ongoing satisfaction with their DNeT stations." When the competing solutions were presented in Cheltenham, the vote went to DLoG.
"The prices of the rival systems were almost identical," says Derek Bradley, "but the functionality and performance weren't." While the competitor promised specific functionality, yet was unable to show it, DLoG's complete solution demonstrated immediately that it fulfilled all the requirements.
"The Quadro RM PDM system convinced us at once," remembers Derek Bradley.
The system allows Mira to administer all production data centrally.
It also offers fully integrated data management from work preparation right through to the machines - an essential requirement for up-to-date production data at all levels.
In addition, the powerful integrated modules for editing or comparing NC programs and the display program for graphics and text provide the platform for an almost paper-free production environment.
The new DNC system can transmit even large NC programs.
And through use of DLoG's 32-bit Tip-DIALOG client system, all the files for an operation can be retrieved instantly at an operator's terminal.
Simple icons make DNC transmissions child's play, while path administration prevents mistakes.
The user-friendly, Windows-based and easily configurable user interface is equally impressive, not just because it makes the work of the machine operators simpler, but also because it minimises training time and costs.
What's more, thanks to the IPC's touch screen, proprietary and third-party applications are now available at the touch of a finger.
Furthermore, the system displays files created with Windows programs such as WinWord or Excel just as readily as graphically based drawings or photos - essential for the paper-free transmission of production data.
"The robust but compact, touch-screen industrial PCs also save us massive amounts of space," Bradley continues.
"There's no comparison with the competitor's computer cabinets.
So, after the presentation, the choice of DLoG was actually little more than a formality." The project team decided to replace the existing DNeT stations with six new industrial PCs.
Initially, two IPCs were installed on four machines for an eight-week pilot phase, during which they were rigorously tested.
Throughout this period, Bradley and his colleagues entered a wide variety of information into the database for administration and archiving by QRM.
As well as data from off-line programming systems, QRM had to import tool lists and graphics from the company's production design system Anvil, parts drawings from its SDRC-CAD system and fixture plans, set-up plans and text documents.
Machine operators requested all sorts of files to test the flow of data between the PDM system and the machines.
They also amended NC programs and sent the modified files back to QRM.
"DLoG was there for us with help and advice throughout the entire period; enabling problems to be resolved quickly and changes to be implemented according to our requirements," says project manager Bradley.
It turned out, for example, that the operators preferred text information to be displayed instead of icons on the touch panel.
"It was no problem for DLoG to implement this request immediately," he notes.
The system's flexibility has also paid off in terms of data exchange.
DLoG' s Quadro Exchange software has been used to prepare existing data records in such a way that they could be exported from the old system and imported into the Quadro RM database without any problems.
At the end of the test phase, the original DNeT terminals were disconnected and replaced by six new industrial PCs.
Thanks to the project team's excellent groundwork, the conversion of machines took just a week.
Following training and implementation by DLoG engineers, Bradley, Hughes and Higgs were able to instruct their colleagues in the solution themselves.
In particular, the logical and user-friendly interface of Quadro RM - with its electronic folders comprising two hierarchical levels - met with a positive response from users.
Mira maintains all the data required for manufacturing a part on the 'parts' level, while the 'operations' level holds all the information needed for the individual operation.
In this way, Mira also administers all NC programs, together with tool lists and tool pre-setting data, parts drawings and production sheets, quality control information and photos of complex fixtures.
"The IPCs' touch panels allow our machine operators to retrieve a job folder instantly," explains Clive Hughes, "And, unlike before, the complete job is always available.
Searching for individual, scattered documents is now a thing of the past." Bradley and his colleagues are very satisfied with their choice of Quadro RM, Tip DNC and the industrial PCs from DLoG.
"Together, we have carried out the project smoothly from A to Z," he notes.
"The costs for hardware, software and service were calculated accurately on both sides; so the investment stayed well within our budget." "And it's already paying off," adds Richard Higgs.
"Quadro RM is fast and reliable.
All production documents can now be retrieved quickly and conveniently - speeding up production and saving us money." Not surprisingly, plans to extend the use of the system at Mira are already in hand.
Based at Oldbury in the West Midlands, DLoG (UK) specialises in providing shopfloor solutions for users throughout manufacturing and service sectors.
With a UK customer base exceeding 300 installed sites, the company has extensive expertise in specifying, supplying and implementing paperless manufacturing solutions and data collection systems.
A Microsoft Certified Solutions Provider, DLoG (UK) also specialises in the provision of DNC and tool management systems, Work in Progress, Finite Capacity Scheduling and Barcode applications.
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