Thursday, July 31, 2014

Memex Automation Becomes Member of AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology


Below is a press release at Market Wired:

SOURCE: Memex Automation Inc.
Memex Automation Inc.
July 31, 2014 10:00 ET

Memex Automation Becomes Member of the Premiere U.S. Manufacturing Group AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology


BURLINGTON, ON--(Marketwired - Jul 31, 2014) - Astrix Networks Inc. (TSX VENTURE: OEE) operating under the trade name Memex Automation Inc., the global leader of manufacturing Machine-to-Machine (M2M) productivity solutions, is pleased to announce they have joined AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology.

Memex Automation, headquartered in Burlington, Ontario, specializes in networking machine tools to management information systems. "AMT is a recognized leader in the world of manufacturing in a number of significant areas. AMT drove the creation of MTConnect, the open and royalty-free interoperability standard for shop floor connectivity and over the past four years Memex Automation has played a key leadership role in developing the MTConnect community. We are very proud to be a member of AMT," said David McPhail, President and CEO of Memex Automation. AMT also owns and manages IMTS - The International Manufacturing Technology Show, where Memex has been an exhibitor since 1992.

"Memex supported AMT programs and events even before joining. As members, I look forward to the opportunity to work with a high energy, innovative group of individuals to grow AMT and improve the programs they already use, like MTConnect, IMTS and the [MC]2 Conference," said Patrick McGibbon, Vice President Industry Intelligence, The Association For Manufacturing Technology.

Dave Edstrom, CTO of Memex Automation knows AMT well. In 2006 he was part of a presentation at AMT's annual meeting that lead to the creation of MTConnect. Edstrom became AMT's Director for the Office of Strategic Innovation and served as President and Chairman of the MTConnect Institute. "I joined Memex because of its clear leadership position in MTConnect and driving productivity for manufacturing. It is with great pride that I can say Memex is a member of AMT," said Edstrom.

About AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology
AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology represents and promotes U.S.-based manufacturing technology and its members -- those who design, build, sell, and service the continuously evolving technology that lies at the heart of manufacturing. Founded in 1902 and based in Virginia, the association specializes in providing targeted business assistance, extensive global support, and business intelligence systems and analysis. AMT is the voice that communicates the importance of policies and programs that encourage research and innovation, and the development of educational initiatives to create tomorrow's Smartforce. AMT owns and manages IMTS - The International Manufacturing Technology Show, which is the premier manufacturing technology event in North America.

About Memex Automation Inc.
Memex Automation (TSX VENTURE: OEE) is the leader of manufacturing Machine to Machine (M2M) productivity solutions and the measurement of Overall Equipment Effectiveness ("OEE") in real-time. OEE is the measurement of plant-wide capacity utilization. MERLIN (Manufacturing Enterprise Real-time Lean Information Network) generates OEE enterprise-wide, machine by machine. On April 15, 2014, PEM awarded the Company the 2013 Plant Engineering & Maintenance Award for Best Company Under 50 Employees. Frost & Sullivan awarded MERLIN its 2013 Technology Innovation Leadership Award for Machine Monitoring. Microsoft picked MERLIN to be its mid-market ERP machine connectivity solution. Mazak, North America's largest original equipment manufacturer of machine tools, purchased MERLIN to manage its plant and now offers it on its price list. Okuma America Corporation, a world leader in CNC machine tools, announced in April 2014 that Memex Automation became a Partner in THINC. For more information, please visit: www.memex.ca.
 

Contact Information


  • Memex Contact Information
    Memex Automation Inc.
    John Rattray
    VP Sales and Marketing
    Phone: 905-635-0592
    Email: Email Contact

    market2world communications inc.Paul Brent
    Senior Communications Strategist
    Office: 613-256-3939
    Email: Email Contact

Sunday, July 20, 2014

NASA's Video: THE EAGLE HAS LANDED: NASA's Apollo 11 Story



I remember watching this live with my mother and my sister as my father was on military travel at the time. It was 9:56pm today 45 years ago in Trenton, Illinois where we watched on our 25" TV.  Below is from NASA:


Below is a fun fact I did not know on the landing:

 • Despite millions of dollars of technology invested in the programme, a good old Biro ball-point pen came to the crew’s rescue. Upon return to the lunar module to return Aldrin broke the ignition switch. Without this they couldn’t activate the ascent engines and could have been stuck on the moon. But, industrious Buzz had the ingenious idea to jam a pen into the switch and miraculously it worked.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Dr. Harry Foxwell's Ride for Johns Hopkins Kimmel Center to Conquer Cancer



Long time friend, former Sun Microsystems colleague and just one hell of a good guy is doing a very important bicycle ride to benefit Johns Hopkins Kimmel Center.

As Harry states why he is riding, "Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer last Fall, likely resulting from Agent Orange exposure during my tour in Vietnam; prostate cryosurgery in January; and healthy now!  Certainly healthy enough to ride for others and support the Ride to Conquer Cancer.  Mother-in-law is a breast cancer survivor, father-in-law (now deceased) had Leukemia.  Get old enough and someone in your family will probably be diagnosed with some form of cancer.  Lots of research is needed to beat the many forms this disease can take.  Support that research in any way you can"




Please support Harry on this tough ride (75 miles Saturday and 75 miles on a Sunday through some tough hills in Maryland).

Both Harry and my father got cancer from agent orange in Vietnam.  I donated and so should you!

Here is the link that will take you to the page to donate!

Harry's rider number is 1120531-1
 Ready to ride!

Friday, July 18, 2014

Great Article - "Benefits of a Networked Plant"



Memex Automation's Thomas Smeenk, VP of Business Development, wrote a very nice article for Today's Medical Developments:


Below is a snippet:

"Mazak’s MTConnect networked plant shows global manufacturers that through the Internet of Everything, plants can achieve dramatic improvements through connectivity.

Mazak doesn’t just talk about the benefits of networking machine tools with MTConnect. At its 536,000ft2 plant in Florence, Ky., the company is proving that connectivity is providing manufacturing’s first major shift in the 21st Century."




"Earlier this year, Ben Schawe, vice president of manufacturing, presented the results of the implementation of an MTConnect networked plant using MERLIN, a real-time machine monitoring and manufacturing execution systems (MES) solution. The results are nothing short of stunning and a clarion call to manufacturers, globally. With a 17% increase in plant-wide productivity, Mazak has demonstrated the validity of the MTConnect networked plant."

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Nice Article on FOEE at Thomasnet's Tech Trend Journal


The nice folks at Thomasnet's Tech Trend Journal, specifically Al Bredenberg, wrote a very nice article titled:
Al Bredenberwrote a very nice article titled:

Next-Gen Financial Analytics Drive Manufacturing Into Profitablity

The article starts out with the premise of FOEE:

"Yet another benefit emerging from the new technology-enabled shop floor is the power to apply financial analytics to manufacturing operations, equipping decision-makers with the visibility they need to improve profitability. 

This kind of capability can be called financial overall equipment effectiveness (FOEE), according to David McPhail and Dave Edstrom, the respective CEO and CTO of Ontario-based Memex Automation.  FOEE builds on the standard OEE metric, calculated by multiplying availability, quality, and performance.  However, adding the financial dimension helps answer the all-important question of whether the company is making money."
Yet another benefit emerging from the new technology-enabled shop floor is the power to apply financial analytics to manufacturing operations, equipping decision-makers with the visibility they need to improve profitability. This kind of capability can be called financial overall equipment effectiveness (FOEE), according to David McPhail and Dave Edstrom, the respective CEO and CTO of Ontario-based Memex Automation. FOEE builds on the standard OEE metric, calculated by multiplying availability, quality, and performance. However, adding the financial dimension helps answer the all-important question of whether the company is making money. - See more at: http://www.thomasnet.com/journals/techtrends/articles/next-gen-financial-analytics-drive-manufacturing-into-profitability#sthash.ezIe1ZzY.dpuf
Yet another benefit emerging from the new technology-enabled shop floor is the power to apply financial analytics to manufacturing operations, equipping decision-makers with the visibility they need to improve profitability. This kind of capability can be called financial overall equipment effectiveness (FOEE), according to David McPhail and Dave Edstrom, the respective CEO and CTO of Ontario-based Memex Automation. FOEE builds on the standard OEE metric, calculated by multiplying availability, quality, and performance. However, adding the financial dimension helps answer the all-important question of whether the company is making money. - See more at: http://www.thomasnet.com/journals/techtrends/articles/next-gen-financial-analytics-drive-manufacturing-into-profitability#sthash.ezIe1ZzY.dpuf