Mazak,
Cisco and
Memex teamed up to create the SmartBox.
The SmartBox addresses the three big problem that manufacturing has today:
- The ability to connect legacy machine tools, sensors, (turn it into MTConnect), do it securely and provide award-winning software to view what's happening on the plant floor.
Mazak is the world's largest machine tool maker, Cisco is the world's leader in networking and Memex is a recognized global leader in measuring manufacturing excellence.
Memex has hardware and software in the SmartBox. We have our Ax760-MTC and MERLIN (our shop floor monitoring platform). At Memex, we refer the ability to connect to anything on the shop floor as addressing
"the last meter" and we are recognized experts in this area.
Memex's MERLIN is award winning -
Manufacturing
Execution
Real-time
Lean
Information
Network - is what turns this into actionable intelligence for manufacturing operators, manages and CxOs.
Below is a photo of the SmartBox that appeared on
Mark Albert's (Modern Machine Shop Editor) blog on October 30th, 2015. The title of Mark's blog is appropriately titled, "
What's So Smart about the SmartBox?" Mark does a great job discussing what makes up the SmartBox.
Mark brings out five key points in his blog about the SmartBox and is well worth reading.
The SmartBox is about the size of a medicine cabinet.
I am just writing about SmartBox now, while it was announced in October, because I wanted to wait until I had time to give more justice to this huge announcement and it was a little closer to the time it would be shipping. I am sure I will be writing more about this exciting product.
Below is our (Memex Inc.) announcement in October on a game changing technology called SmartBox. I highlighted the many key points of the SmartBox.
"The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
just got real for manufacturing productivity. Later this month, Mazak
Corporation will showcase MERLIN software from MEMEX Inc. (TSX-V: OEE)
with hardware from information technology (IT) leader Cisco in what is
described as a collaborative platform called SmartBox.
Developed by Mazak, SmartBox will launch
in front of metalworking managers and C-level executives on October
27-29 and November 3-5 at DISCOVER 2015. This Mazak Technology and
Education event takes place at the company’s North American
Manufacturing Headquarters in Florence, KY.
Click here for Mazak’s October 15 press release on SmartBox.
Mazak is an industry-first launch
platform for easy and highly secure entrance into the Industrial
Internet of Things. SmartBox builds on MEMEX’s strategic partnership
with Mazak Corp., which earlier this year named MEMEX to its exclusive
Value Inspired Partner (VIP) program.
“The SmartBox collaboration realizes the
IIoT vision on the factory floor,” said MEMEX’s CEO David McPhail.
“We’re thrilled to be participating in this powerful combination with
Mazak and Cisco. As well as MERLIN software, we are contributing our
easy-to-deploy Ax760 hardware adapters to SmartBox. They enable every
machine on the shop floor, old or new, to become web servers that
utilize the MTConnect® manufacturing communication standard.”
Using MTConnect® as its foundation,
SmartBox connectivity of machines and devices allows for enhanced
monitoring and analytical capabilities including advanced cyber security
protection. SmartBox represents a huge leap in digital integration
across manufacturing.
“With the development of SmartBox, Mazak
continues to drive toward its iSMART Factory concept and connecting
today’s shops to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to achieve
levels of efficiency and productivity never before realized,” said Brian
Papke, President of Mazak. “And while our concept centers around open
connectivity and the Internet, we at Mazak believe it is our moral
obligation to also provide customers the highest level of security
possible with SmartBox. As with all the technology we develop, Mazak has
first implemented SmartBox into our own operations before expecting
customers to wholeheartedly embrace the system.”
The power of SmartBox will be
demonstrated at DISCOVER 2015 in one of the automated cells as part of
Mazak’s own manufacturing operations. Each of the cell’s four machines
are outfitted with a SmartBox and sensor array package, giving event
attendees a firsthand look at the device in action within an actual
manufacturing environment and network.
Mazak developed SmartBox to work with
any machine regardless of make, model or age and will offer it in
various configurations/kits based on the scenarios and challenges in
which the units will be used. The device physically mounts to the side
of machines without having to integrate into a machine’s electrical
cabinet. With several standard input/output connecting ports, SmartBox
lets users quickly and easily connect any standard off-the-shelf sensors
to the system for machine data gathering and condition monitoring. One
SmartBox may service several machine tools along with other associated
manufacturing equipment, depending on the application.
At the heart of SmartBox is Cisco’s
Connected Machines solution, based on the IoT System, designed
specifically for industrial environments and equipped with an MTConnect
software agent. Using a fog computing model, MTConnect runs directly on
the ruggedized Cisco Industrial Ethernet (IE) 4000 switch, providing
MERLIN software’s real-time visibility and insights into data right on
the factory floor.
MEMEX’s MERLIN software installed in
Mazak’s factory allows for monitoring analytics of machines, test stands
and other equipment within the plant. The Cisco hardware is designed to
help prevent any issues with unauthorized access from both directions –
to or from the machines and equipment within a network. SmartBox
satisfies the highly critical security concerns of IT departments when
connecting legacy equipment to a plant’s main network for the purpose of
gathering manufacturing data via the MTConnect protocol.
About the Company
MEMEX Inc. is a leading Industrial
Internet of Things (IIoT) technology platform provider that connects to
any machine and delivers real-time manufacturing productivity metrics.
Industrial strength MERLIN software provides Overall Equipment
Effectiveness (OEE) efficiency metrics in real time, from shop floor to
top floor. MERLIN connects to any machine, old or new, utilizing
MTConnect, other protocols or hardware adapters. The MERLIN magic
delivers a 10% to 50% average productivity increase so that any
manufacturer can achieve world-class standards of excellence. Based on
just a 10% increase in OEE, customers see profit improvements of
20%-plus and payback in less than four months. For more information,
please visit:
www.memex-inc.com."
