Did you ever wonder what happens to an exhibit after the trade show ends? Rather than collecting dust in a storage room, some live on鈥攁 shining example is the Intelligent Flexible Manufacturing Cell from the AMT Emerging 都灵体育直播 Center (ETC).
As featured at IMTS 2018, the cell demonstrated how the communication protocol enabled components in an automated manufacturing cell to coordinate activities, share data, and demonstrate best practices for smart manufacturing. Today, the cell is the centerpiece of a $250,000 cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of Commerce鈥檚 National Institute of Standards and 都灵体育直播 (NIST), and the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing ().
鈥淲e are using the to demonstrate distributed manufacturing principles,鈥� says Tim Bakker, PhD, CCAM Intelligent Factory Research Manager. 鈥淲e can show OEMs and their suppliers how to build qualified parts by leveraging open standards and the digital thread.鈥�
CCAM (pronounced 鈥渟ee-KAM鈥�) is an applied research center and not-for-profit 501c3 with membership from industry, academia, and government. Its structure creates a research consortium to save members valuable resources by accessing pooled talent, tools, and technology to improve methodologies and increase product introductions (learn more in this on the IMTS Network).
Digital Thread Key components in the Intelligent Flexible Manufacturing Cell are a Hurco VM10i machining center, a Mitutoyo MiSTAR 555 shop floor CMM, and a Universal Robot UR5 collaborative robot arm to move parts between the CNC and CMM. Cisco provides industrial hardware and an edge computing module. In addition to the physical components, three open standards play a critical role, specifically:
MTConnect enables machine-to-machine communication.
The STEP AP 242 managed model-based 3D engineering standard captures geometric design and tolerance (GD&T) data.
The Quality Information Framework (QIF) conveys metrology data.
鈥淯sing open standards lowers the entry barrier and cost of deployment, especially for smaller companies,鈥� says Bakker. 鈥淥pen standards allow for the creation of a robust, extensible digital backbone for the modern factory.鈥�
鈥淭he Intelligent Flexible Manufacturing Cell encourages the manufacturing community to adopt a model-based engineering (MBE) approach,鈥� adds Russ Waddell, Managing Director, MTConnect Institute, AMT. 鈥淲hen a company wants to buy equipment, they always ask, 鈥榃ell, who else is using it?鈥� That鈥檚 easy for a machine, but more challenging for open standards and MBE. The Intelligent Flexible Manufacturing Cell will provide industry with encouraging IoT use cases.鈥�
Knowledge Transfer The work being done by CCAM is essential for helping U.S. industry re-think and rebuild its chains. By digitizing the framework, OEMs and larger manufacturers can transfer a qualified process to suppliers that can then deliver qualified parts.
The U.S. government (through NIST) encourages CCAM鈥檚 efforts because they support two national objectives. First, it helps the Department of Defense (and OEMs with U.S.-based operations in general) expand domestic sourcing. Suppliers can add value by delivering qualified parts faster, more accurately and with less time and material waste. Second, because suppliers can be chosen closer to the point of use, it reduces energy use and transportation costs. Both objectives increase the competitiveness of smaller U.S. manufacturers and job shops.
Bakker reports that CCAM is currently working to complete the cell鈥檚 architecture, and in 2021 the cell will begin producing test parts. Part of the plan involves intentionally designing imperfections into a part file and, through feedback from the CMM, prove that the cell can resolve issues to automatically create good parts.
鈥淭he digital thread enables a collaborative supply chain approach instead of adversarial/piece-price relationship,鈥� notes Waddell. 鈥淕overnment agencies and OEMs need to source parts to companies that have the capability to qualify parts and have standards in place. They know that a lot of small manufacturing facilities don鈥檛 have those capabilities, so they support efforts like the ones at CCAM.鈥�
In September 2020, CCAM and Mitutoyo released a white paper titled Open Standards for Flexible Discrete Manufacturing in the Model-Based Enterprise. The paper is available from NIST, and Bakker is one of four authors.
