This is a very well written article on MAN - Modern Application News titled:
Below is the opening introduction:
"Mathematician and 19th century inventor William Thomson's timeless advice made sense in the 19th century, but applies just as well today to the North American manufacturing industry: "If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it." Yet according to Dave Edstrom, past Chairman of the MTConnect Institute, approximately 95% of manufacturing machines are not monitored. By monitoring all types of machine tools and associated processes, shops can improve communications to increase production and profit."
The article goes on to discuss The Last Meter:
"MERLIN is a hardware and software solution that solves that "last meter" of connection that manufacturing companies need. It monitors machines across the facility and analyzes where the bottlenecks are happening and where the company can make improvements. MERLIN also provides real-time dashboards of plant operations performance indicators for all to see."
Below is a GREAT example of what are doing with MERLIN at Mazak:
"Mazak installed MERLIN on 15 machines at the Florence plant and so far have yielded a 42 percent improvement in utilization for the monitored machines. In addition, Mazak reduced operator overtime by 100 hours per month and 400 hours per month of previously outsourced work was returned to Mazak.
