Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1500520
36 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2023 in the factory. It's not necessarily about replac- ing people to lower costs in building a prod- uct. e means to do that is by automating, whether it be through a machine, soware, or the applications to help support that process. Matties: As you point out, it's not an all-or- nothing proposition; you can step into auto- mation. at's typically what people do. ey invest in the tools to get started and, over time, they gradually automate their factory with more tools that would minimize changeovers and maximize efficiency of the line. e second motivation right now is that companies are extremely sensitive to the oper- ational efficiency of a line or a factory. For instance, if you have a factory with five lines and the overall efficiency utilization of those machines is 25%, that leaves 75% idle. In those cases, it forces the company to use the soware tools that are available to bring the machines to a more efficient rate of utilization. In some cases, you may not need all five lines; maybe you just use three. I see companies going toward the soware automation side of things and learning that there are a lot more tools available to best utilize their current equipment sets vs. just buying another line or machine. Matties: You're describing adding capacity without further investment into lines. Yes, utilizing what you already have without buying another line. Obviously, as a rep for manufacturers and distribution, I love to sell more equipment, but what's best for the cus- tomer? In this case, if they can alleviate ineffi- ciencies of the line or the factory with soware, that's a much more cost-effective way to go. Matties: Do you think having multiple soft- ware packages creates a problem? That's a big infrastructure commitment. You make the choice, bring in the software, and then there's some hesitancy in the evaluation process. Yes, I agree with you. ere are many soware options, so maybe it's overwhelming. Some companies are very astute about the soware. I think the next generation in the workforce will help these companies automate their facto- ries through soware tools. e machines will become smarter and more adaptable through these soware tools. To increase that effi- ciency you want to decrease the cost of build- ing a product. Matties: Often, when we're faced with too many choices, we stick with what we know rather than risk making the wrong choice. Yes, but it's even more than that with the so- ware tools at the equipment and line levels— and to some extent the factory level—where there are many gaps between the equipment, line, and factory all the way to a company's MES or ERP system. In some cases, that discon- nect limits their ability. From an automation standpoint, companies are just starting to rec- ognize it's important to have a very adaptable MES that supports the equipment and the fac- tory using, say, the CFX-type communications or open API—communicating both upward, I call it. You're sending data information up to the corporate MES, and then the MES is feed- ing data downward to the machines, including programs and other information on the line on how to build a product. Nolan Johnson: How much integration effort is involved? It's twofold. You have equipment manufactur- ers, as well as the MES soware from the com- pany's perspective. Most equipment manu- facturers have an open interface that gives the MES the ability to either extract the data or bring it down to the equipment, the line, or the factory to communicate. It can get extremely complicated. Many companies want more con- trol, with their MES system controlling the product builds vs. the line level on the equip- ment where they have their own soware pack-