The 75-year-old, family owned business in this case study distributes testing equipment used by construction, laboratory, food service, pharmaceutical and other industries. A few years ago they decided to create a CNC shop within their facility to make a product of their own.

More recently they sought to improve the efficiency of their manufacturing operations by working with the Gosiger applications engineering staff. The result is an automated cell that enables lights-out production of a large family of cylindrical parts.

Along with an Okuma Genos CNC lathe, the cell includes an LNS automatic bar feeder equipped with an

e-Connect Ethernet communications system that provides bilateral communications between the bar feeder and the Okuma Thinc OSP control’s master scheduling function.

This interconnectivity allows the cell to monitor material usage and make on-the-fly modifications to the production schedule to improve workflow, reduce material waste, speed up changeovers and reduce overall parts costs by more than 25%. It’s a true example of the power of the Industrial Internet of Things. (Link: )

To further facilitate unattended operation, the e-Connect system uses the bar feeder’s built-in Web server to access the Internet, provide reports, and enable remote monitoring of the system.

Get the complete story by downloading this free case study. To learn more about how IIoT and other advanced manufacturing technologies can improve your bottom line, contact your local Gosiger facility.