Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Great Review of 2014 Corvette Stingray by the IndyStar
I really liked this review and the video of the new 2014 Corvette Stingray by Casey Williams of the IndyStar.
Mr. Williams nails it when he says, "No decision was made lightly. No decision on a Corvette is ever. The result: Amazing. Beautiful. Breathless."
Great review Mr. Williams!
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Dinner With John and Janet in San Francisco Celebrating Their Recent Engagement
After I spoke at DMG MORI MDays in Davis, I went to SF to have a very nice dinner with John and Janet.
John had recently asked Janet to marry him while they were vacationing together in Maui and we were celebrating their engagement at Cafe Claude in the city. Janet picked out the restaurant and it was a fantastic choice. Below we are enjoying a bottle of wine and some appetizers before dinner.
Mori-Seiki MDays in Davis, CA
The DMG MORI MDays was a big success thanks to the great folks who I had the privilege of being on the panel with:
- Mark Albert editor-in-chief of Modern Machine Shop Magazine
- Joel Neidig, Technology Manager at ITAMCO
- Shannon Sweatman of Southern Manufacturing Technologies (SMT).
Above is Mark Albert. Mark was the chair of the MTConnect Panel at MDays. Mark has been and is a tremendous friend and supporter of MTConnect. Mark gave the opening talk and did a fantastic job as usual. Mark also wrote about MDays here at his great Modern Machine Shop Blog.
Shannon wowed the crowd by showing specific examples of what can be gathered, monitored and analyzed once you have MTConnect enabled your shop. You could see the standing room only crowd have looks on their face like "I would LOVE to be able to monitor my shop at that level!"
Joel blew the crowds mind by showing what happens when you combine MTConnect and Google Glass together. You can read more about what ITAMCO is doing with Google Glass here at their homepage under innovation. You can think of this as augmented reality because as Joel is walking through the plant, his Google Glass is talking via Wi-Fi to get specific information on what he is seeing as well as Joel is using Google Glass as the vehicle to get real time information.
I gave a talk on MTConnect and the pragmatic way to approach introducing MTConnect to a shop or plant.
We had lots of great questions and tremendous amount of interest in MTConnect.
I have had the privilege of working with Mark, Joel and Shannon for a number of years now and this was my last speaking event as President and Chairman of the Board for the MTConnect Institute. I cannot think of a better group to end my tenure with then these three great folks. We all went out for dinner the night after our panel in Davis and had a wonderful time.
Thanks Mark, Joel, Shannon and the great folks at DMG MORI!
One of the super cool things that was shown was the new DMG MORI Additive/Subractive Hybrid machine tool. This certainly appears to be a game-changer for manufacturing.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Ocean City, MD in the Fall
Hotels.com sent us a $100 gift certificate because our room in Blacksburg, VA did not have a tub. Like anyone would ever sit in a hotel tub at the low end place we stayed when we visited our middle son Michael who graduates next month with two degrees - Professional Writing and Creative Writing.
We used the gift certificate to stay at a nice hotel at Ocean City, MD for the weekend. We left in the Grand Sport on a Saturday morning and came back Sunday. I had always wanted to take one of my Corvettes to OC, but we always had too much junk to haul. This was a great and fun fall weekend at OC, MD.
Julie loves to walk and I love to ride a bike. With no bike, we walked from one end of the boardwalk to the other and back on Saturday and Sunday. 2 1/2 miles one way meant we did 10 miles of walking just on the boardwalk. Julie had new walking shoes and I had 12 year basketball high tops. Take a guess whose feet were blistered :)
Below is near the inlet on the southern most tip of the boardwalk.
You don't see photos like this very often from OC. Middle of the morning, not a cloud in the sky and the boardwalk is completely empty. Two of our favorite places to eat at OC, Dayton Brothers Chicken and Dumser's Dairyland.
Below is the northern most tip of the boardwalk.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Congratulations to Tadge Juechter - Automobile Magazine's Man of the Year
Below is me on the right and on the left is Tadge Juechter, Chief Engineer of Corvette and Automobile Magazine of the Year What an incredible engineer and just a great guy! I spoke to Tadge for 15 minutes at Corvettes at Carlisle which I was a thrill of a lifetime for me.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
50th Anniversary of John F. Kennedy's Fateful Day In Dallas
Went out with my parents, my wife, Michael and Tim last night for dinner. I asked my parents what they were doing 50 years ago when Kennedy was shot. My mother said she was shopping at the Base Exchange (BX) and hear the news. She put down all the stuff she was getting ready to purchase and went home to be with my father who was watching on our black and white TV in Rapid City, South Dakota. They did what the rest of the nation did that day, they all watched TV in disbelief. My memories at age 4 1/2 were less of the horrible nature and more of the "this is the most I have ever seen my parents watch TV".
This two minute video of Clint Hill, the Secret Service Agent who jumped on the back of the Presidential limo in Dallas is an unbelievable first hand account on what happened.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
The Myth of Lean Manufacturing
NOTE: I wrote this for the Nov 13, 2013 IMTS Insider
For the vast majority of manufacturers who say they are doing “lean”, or lean manufacturing, it is an absolute myth. They are either kidding themselves or are clueless on what lean manufacturing actually means. Let’s take a look at why the title of this IMTS Insider story is absolutely true.
When I speak to audiences on MTConnect, I like to ask a number of questions. I do this to learn more about the audience, as well as to engage the participants to think about their own plants or shops. Where there might be multiple choices, I need to properly define exactly the definition of the words I am using before I ask an audience question.
An example of this is shop floor monitoring. What I explain is that shop floor monitoring is not someone walking around with a clipboard, writing down the status of the stack lights and then returning to his desk to put that information into a spreadsheet and finally email it to management.
Shop floor monitoring is the ability to know exactly what is happening on your shop floor, anytime, anyplace and on any device. If you cannot pickup your smart phone and immediately see what is happening that femtosecond on your plant floor, then you are not monitoring your shop.
One of the audience participation questions that I ask is, “raise your left hand if you are doing lean manufacturing.” Invariably, 70 to 80 percent of the hands go up. The next question I ask is “put your left hands back up if you are doing lean and keep them up while I ask the second question. If you are monitoring your shop floor please also raise your right hand.” Invariably, only 1 to 2 percent of the right hands go up. I then say, “unless you have both hands up right now, you might think you are doing lean, but you are not. You are kidding yourselves because you simply cannot be doing lean manufacturing because you do not know what is really happening on your shop floor.” I have never been challenged on this because it is simply a fact.
Lean manufacturing is a very broad term, but at its core it involves a set of practices that emphasizes reducing waste and doing more with less in all aspects of the business. You can only know if you are wasting resources if you know what is happening on your shop or plant floor. Without data you can’t be doing lean. Many also believe lean manufacturing is much more and that it includes customers, employees, managers, it is a business strategy, reducing development costs, increasing productivity, using the minimal number of resources, creating value streams, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), creating future state implementations, Kaizen, Hoshin, mura, muda, muri, 5S, six sigma, etc.
One of my favorite quotes is from Lord Kelvin: "in physical science the first essential step in the direction of learning any subject is to find principles of numerical reckoning and practicable methods for measuring some quality connected with it. I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the state of Science, whatever the matter may be." Stated more succinctly, "if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” Stated in just five words, "to measure is to know."
In internationally known manufacturing and OEE expert Bob Hansen’s seminal book, “Overall Equipment Effectiveness – A Powerful Production/Maintenance Tool for Increased Profits”, he discusses world-class manufacturing. Specifically, Hansen says, “World-class manufacturing areas share two characteristics. They are data driven and they are led by synergistic multi-function leadership teams. Accurately measuring and driving key success parameters contributes to higher productivity for both the area and the plant.” You cannot do OEE with quantifying metrics.
If you want to do lean manufacturing, then the first thing you need to do, as a manufacturer is to measure and monitor what is happening on the shop floor. MTConnect is how you enable manufacturing equipment to make data available in an easy to read format using standard Internet protocols. After you MTConnect your shop floor, the next logical step is acquire a shop floor monitoring program so you can know what is happening and making changes accordingly to reduce costs and improve production. There are white papers at MTConnect.org that can help you get started. Specifically, there are three white papers you should read if you truly want to do lean manufacturing by quantifying what is on your shop floor.
In summary, don’t kid yourself into believing that you are doing lean manufacturing if you are not monitoring your shop floor. Get started with MTConnect today if you are serious about lean manufacturing.
The Myth of Lean Manufacturing
By: Dave Edstrom
For the vast majority of manufacturers who say they are doing “lean”, or lean manufacturing, it is an absolute myth. They are either kidding themselves or are clueless on what lean manufacturing actually means. Let’s take a look at why the title of this IMTS Insider story is absolutely true.
When I speak to audiences on MTConnect, I like to ask a number of questions. I do this to learn more about the audience, as well as to engage the participants to think about their own plants or shops. Where there might be multiple choices, I need to properly define exactly the definition of the words I am using before I ask an audience question.
An example of this is shop floor monitoring. What I explain is that shop floor monitoring is not someone walking around with a clipboard, writing down the status of the stack lights and then returning to his desk to put that information into a spreadsheet and finally email it to management.
Shop floor monitoring is the ability to know exactly what is happening on your shop floor, anytime, anyplace and on any device. If you cannot pickup your smart phone and immediately see what is happening that femtosecond on your plant floor, then you are not monitoring your shop.
One of the audience participation questions that I ask is, “raise your left hand if you are doing lean manufacturing.” Invariably, 70 to 80 percent of the hands go up. The next question I ask is “put your left hands back up if you are doing lean and keep them up while I ask the second question. If you are monitoring your shop floor please also raise your right hand.” Invariably, only 1 to 2 percent of the right hands go up. I then say, “unless you have both hands up right now, you might think you are doing lean, but you are not. You are kidding yourselves because you simply cannot be doing lean manufacturing because you do not know what is really happening on your shop floor.” I have never been challenged on this because it is simply a fact.
Lean manufacturing is a very broad term, but at its core it involves a set of practices that emphasizes reducing waste and doing more with less in all aspects of the business. You can only know if you are wasting resources if you know what is happening on your shop or plant floor. Without data you can’t be doing lean. Many also believe lean manufacturing is much more and that it includes customers, employees, managers, it is a business strategy, reducing development costs, increasing productivity, using the minimal number of resources, creating value streams, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), creating future state implementations, Kaizen, Hoshin, mura, muda, muri, 5S, six sigma, etc.
One of my favorite quotes is from Lord Kelvin: "in physical science the first essential step in the direction of learning any subject is to find principles of numerical reckoning and practicable methods for measuring some quality connected with it. I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the state of Science, whatever the matter may be." Stated more succinctly, "if you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” Stated in just five words, "to measure is to know."
In internationally known manufacturing and OEE expert Bob Hansen’s seminal book, “Overall Equipment Effectiveness – A Powerful Production/Maintenance Tool for Increased Profits”, he discusses world-class manufacturing. Specifically, Hansen says, “World-class manufacturing areas share two characteristics. They are data driven and they are led by synergistic multi-function leadership teams. Accurately measuring and driving key success parameters contributes to higher productivity for both the area and the plant.” You cannot do OEE with quantifying metrics.
If you want to do lean manufacturing, then the first thing you need to do, as a manufacturer is to measure and monitor what is happening on the shop floor. MTConnect is how you enable manufacturing equipment to make data available in an easy to read format using standard Internet protocols. After you MTConnect your shop floor, the next logical step is acquire a shop floor monitoring program so you can know what is happening and making changes accordingly to reduce costs and improve production. There are white papers at MTConnect.org that can help you get started. Specifically, there are three white papers you should read if you truly want to do lean manufacturing by quantifying what is on your shop floor.
- Getting Started With MTConnect Guide: Connectivity Guide
- Getting Started With MTConnect: Shop Floor Monitoring, What’s In It For Me?
- Getting Started With MTConnect: Writing Client Applications
In summary, don’t kid yourself into believing that you are doing lean manufacturing if you are not monitoring your shop floor. Get started with MTConnect today if you are serious about lean manufacturing.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
MTInsight Development Team West
AMT's ISP went down, so we made the decision to move the MTInsight Development Team west to my house. Within one hour of making the decision, we left AMT, went to my house and everyone was back up with ethernet connections continuing MTInsight development! We have 60Mbs down 25Mbs up.
From right to left, me, Steve, Kevin and Kalesh above.
Larry and Alka above.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Southern Manufacturing Technologies (SMT) Manufacturing Day for Students
Roy and Shannon Sweatman of Southern Manufacturing Technologies (SMT) have been tremendous supporters of MTConnect and this is a great video where they bring in the local high school to show them how cool it can be to work in manufacturing!
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Joel Neidig of ITAMCO's Amazing MTConnect Google Glass
This shows what a true thought leader Joel Neidig of ITAMCO really is in manufacturing. I showed this video below at Mazak Discover 2013 and the audience was blown away!
It's important to understand what you are seeing, so let me give you some background on Joel. Joel Neidig is the most creative person I have met in manufacturing (here is an IMTS Insider article on Joel). Joel is the first person to create an app for MTConnect and he open sourced. Since then, Joel has released an incredible 50 ITAMCO apps for manufacturing. You read that right, 50 apps - one a week. That is amazing.
What you see below is Joel walking through his plant wearing Google Glass. You can read more about what ITAMCO is doing with Google Glass here at their homepage under innovation. You can think of this as augmented reality because as Joel is walking through the plant, his Google Glass is talking via Wi-Fi to get specific information on what he is seeing as well as Joel is using Google Glass as the vehicle to get real time information.
Speaking with Diyana Hrzic of AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology - she made some very interesting and compelling points (she always does) regarding this technology and where to take it next. After you watch the video below, imagine other situations in manufacturing where in addition to the information that is possible with MTConnect, also imagine having real time information to the intelligence of your business, industry trends, marketing data, customer information and a myriad of other types of needed data could help turn data into actionable intelligence.
What you see in the upper right hand corner is what Google Glass is showing Joel. This is not fantasy, this is what is happening today at ITAMCO.
Check out the video. Joel's right, this is awesome!
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Dave Edstrom's Update on the MTConnect Institute Announces New Leadership Team
This press release just hit the wire the past couple of days. Courtney Hill is going to be a fantastic President and Chairman of the Board for the MTConnect Institute. I honestly can not think of a better choice than Courtney Hill. I will do whatever Courtney asks to help him with the transition.
My concern, that I stated to the MTConnect Board of Directors and in my last blog post:
"It is very important for
the MTConnect Institute that the President and Chairman of the Board
have the time to take MTConnect to even greater heights. My hope is
that the next President and Chairman of the Board will have the support
needed to work full time as this is what is absolutely needed to take
MTConnect to the next level."
In the announcement below from the MTConnect Institute, it is stated, "Mr. Hill replaces David A. Edstrom, CEO/CTO Virtual Photons Electrons,
LLC. who has completed his term and is leaving the management team to
pursue development of MTConnect-related products and services in the
private sector, as well as supporting AMT’s MTInsight business intelligence platform and other projects."
Questions started to come in about this announcement and in anticipation of more questions by friends, MTCTAG members, manufacturers and family members that basically went, "well, which is it Dave - are you leaving because you believe that the next President and Chairman should be full time or you want to get into the MTConnect market?"
Let me be very clear. The number one reason I tendered my resignation is that the next President and Chairman of the Board for the MTConnect Institute absolutely needs to be a full time position. Today, it is a part time job. Having been in the computer industry for over 35 years, 23 years at the most innovative and standard creating company ever in mankind's history for the computer industry - Sun Microsystems - and having been President and Chairman of the Board for the MTConnect Institute since May 2010, and finally as the person who worked with Dr. David Patterson of University of California of Berkeley to lay out the foundation of MTConnect, I have a very good idea on what it takes to truly grow a successful standard.
Let me be very clear. The number one reason I tendered my resignation is that the next President and Chairman of the Board for the MTConnect Institute absolutely needs to be a full time position. Today, it is a part time job. Having been in the computer industry for over 35 years, 23 years at the most innovative and standard creating company ever in mankind's history for the computer industry - Sun Microsystems - and having been President and Chairman of the Board for the MTConnect Institute since May 2010, and finally as the person who worked with Dr. David Patterson of University of California of Berkeley to lay out the foundation of MTConnect, I have a very good idea on what it takes to truly grow a successful standard.
The secondary reason is that I do honestly believe the MTConnect market is prime for takeoff. There are a few companies that are really taking off and it is quite exciting! My company, Virtual Photons Electrons, I believe, can be a part of the commercial aspect of MTConnect and therefore contribute to the MTConnect standard.
In summary, the primary reason I resigned was I do not believe that anyone can do justice to the position of President and Chairman of the Board for the MTConnect Institute if it is part time and I personally felt ineffective doing the job part-time. I loved being President and Chairman of the Board for the MTConnect Institute, so this was a very difficult decision. The secondary reason is that I believe the business opportunity has never been better for those companies that can execute in the MTConnect marketplace. I believe Virtual Photons Electrons can be one of those companies.
For Immediate Release: October 31, 2013
Contact:
Paul Warndorf
Secretary
MTConnect Institute
MTConnect Institute Announces New Leadership Team
McLean, Va. … The MTConnect Institute, the developer and administrator of MTConnect, the open-source standard for communication and interconnectivity between manufacturing equipment and devices, has today announced its new leadership team, which will take effect at the Annual Meeting of the MTConnect Institute Board of Directors on December 11, 2013.
Courtney Hill, President, CJ Hill Consulting Services and retired General Manager, Manufacturing & Quality at GE Aviation, will become President and Chairman of the Board. Mr. Hill, who has been involved in the standard from its origins and most recently was the Chair of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), brings continuity and industry experience to the leadership of the Institute.
“I am gratified and honored for the opportunity to chair the MTConnect Board,” Mr. Hill commented. “With a long-held passion for advanced manufacturing technology, I've had the privilege of participating in the MTConnect journey since its launch and continue to be impressed by the results achieved by the entire MTConnect community. MTConnect is truly transformational and a key enabler to next generation digital manufacturing and sustained U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. The future of manufacturing and MTConnect is bright.”
Mr. Hill replaces David A. Edstrom, CEO/CTO Virtual Photons Electrons, LLC. who has completed his term and is leaving the management team to pursue development of MTConnect-related products and services in the private sector, as well as supporting AMT’s MTInsight business intelligence platform and other projects. Mr. Edstrom, author of the book “MTConnect: To Measure Is To Know,” which documents the development of the MTConnect standard, stated “It has been a highlight of my career to be involved in the development of MTConnect. This standard has truly contributed to the transformation of the manufacturing industry and individual manufacturing plants from an information-starved situation to an information rich position, which will allow future manufacturing decisions to be based on knowledge and data, not assumptions. I have enjoyed my tenure as President and Chairman of the Board and look forward to working with companies to take advantage of the MTConnect standard in their operations.”
Mr. Hill commented “On behalf of the entire MTConnect community, we would like to thank Dave for his tireless support of MTConnect and manufacturing and wish him well in his future plans; we know he will be in our community and continue to advance the standard in the future.”
Mr. Hill will be replaced as Chair of the TAG by Scott Hibbard, Vice President of Technology, Bosch Rexroth Corporation, who was previously Vice Chair.
Joining the MTConnect Board of Directors will be Thomas Kurfess – HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control and Professor Mechanical Engineering Georgia Tech. During 2012-2013 he was on leave serving as the Assistant Director for Advanced Manufacturing at the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President of the United States of America. In this position he had responsibility for engaging the Federal sector and the greater scientific community to identify possible areas for policy actions related to manufacturing. Mr. Kurfess was elected to a 3-year term on the Board.
The Institute also announced that Paul Warndorf , Vice President – Manufacturing Technology, AMT- The Association For Manufacturing Technology, will continue his role as Secretary MTConnect Institute for an additional 3-year term and Ralph Resnick, President & Executive Director, NCDMM – National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, will extend his position as Director MTConnect Institute for an additional 3-year term.
They join Douglas K. Woods, President, AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, Treasurer MTConnect Institute; Brian J. Papke, President, Mazak Corporation and Dean Bartles, Vice President - Large Caliber Ammunition General Dynamics – Ordnance and Technical Systems, as members of the MTConnect Institute Board.
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MTConnect Institute
The MTConnect Institute is a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) organization established to further the development of the MTConnect standard and publish related materials. The organization includes a Board of Directors, a Technical Advisory Group that’s also called MTCTAG, a Technical Steering Committee, as well as various working groups to further the standard in specific technology areas.
How can I become a member?
Any company or organization can be a member and aid in furthering the development of the MTConnect standard by becoming a member of the MTCTAG. Membership is free, and it requires agreement to the MTConnect Intellectual Property Policy, which can be found on the MTConnect website’s “Institute” section.
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