Network Cable Punch
2009
Network Cable Punch
 |
US $29.98
Computer Integrated Manufacturing - So What?
Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) is a relatively old term, but is not really heard too much these days.
For the hard hit discrete manufacturing sector (you know those folks that make planes, trains and automobiles), the advance of technology on their factory floors has been steady, but I argue not fast enough. The key here is that we need to make products faster, better, cheaper and more efficiently and to that end we need integrated technology to fill the productivity gap. In short, we need more of IT (Information Technology) on the factory floor.
Missing until recently has been a common IT device communication language. I am happy to report that we now have that in part with the recent adoption of MTConnect XML Schema V1.01 (check out http://www.mtconnect.org/). This web-based, self-describing language easily allows for dissimilar devices to talk over the LAN or WAN to applications (like Overall Equipment Effectiveness or OEE software) or to each other. Missing as of yet are file management and write capabilities - but that is now allowed as valid "extensions".
Everything will be connected sooner than you think - my goal in this blog is to chart the course of CIM coming back into the forefront. Is CIM boring, irrelevent or useless? I think not.
Keep posted and we will try our hand at "automating the automation". Also, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=674RpaMSYEw for a better insight.
CIM - Today & Tomorrow
Over 20 years ago, I can remember Modern Machine Shop writing about Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) and Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) like they were the next big thing. If you remember, Microsoft was starting to get noticed outside of the computer community, and the '486 was a real breakthrough. With Lotus 123, VisiCalc and this new thing called Excel - the business and manufacturing world was starting to apply Information Technology (IT) to the factory floor.
I can remember giving a speech in June 1990 to the Computer Science senior class at Fanshawe college in London Ontario called "Computing in the 90's - Today & Tomorrow". In preparation for this speech, I paid a visit to the new Canadian Microsoft headquarters in Mississauga and was impressed with the passion the young people had there. If you can imagine, I was invited in and offered a Coke (not a coffee) and brought in to hear the latest release from a manager who had come back from Redmond. It was an inside peek into Microsoft Windows 3.1 Work Group Version. The use of separate operational windows, that were able to run as many programs as you had windows open, was a real trick in multi-tasking capability back then.
I might add that my discussion during that Fanshawe speech about our research on viruses had the students on the edge of their seats. I left thinking that these new computer science students were in for the ride of their lives in the '90s and that they "didn't know what they didn't know". Shortly afterwards (September 1990), I was like them in this regard when I went to my first International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) trade show in Chicago.
On the trip to IMTS in 1990, I can distinctly remember asking my employer at the time (who I was helping at the trade show) just "what was a machine tool anyway". Bill Peiman, from Tulip Electronics who had worked for GE and had started making third party CNC memory upgrades, told me what CNCs were, but it wasn't until I walked the show and realized that machine tool controls were "just computers that run machines". I was used to networking, main frames, PCs and the computer sub-culture - and thus I found this application exceptionally interesting. Skip the nice graphics and print material, these machine tool controls actually made something!
From the $50k Pro-Engineer CADCAM Unix boxes to the expensive machine tools they made programs for, the only obvious gaping hole in this discrete manufacturing space was the lack of connectivity. The front office with all its networks and PCs could not talk well with the machine tools on the factory floor. Back then paper punch tape, and serial ports were the norm - with no network cables in sight (Novel, ArcNet, 10Base2 or 10BaseT). If you can believe it today, 20 years later, serial connectivity is still the norm and I wonder - "if you don't have broadband on the factory floor, how can you get true CIM or even FMS?"
Since 1990 then, I have been dedicated to bridging this gap. From Tulip, I went on to found Memex Electronics Inc. in Hamilton in 1992. In 2000 Memex morphed into a public company called e-Manufacturing Networks Inc.and later into Nexas Networks today (with a few other ventures in between). The purpose has always been to "InterNetwork factory floors to the world", but we have discovered some interesting things in the machine tool connectivity world. This blog will explore some of these ideas I hope.
In summary, the CIM strategies of "today and tomorrow" are influenced by the past and the legacy ideas and equipment. Knowing the trials and tribulations, the successes and false starts, the millions made and lost - all serve us want to reinvent CIM and make it a driver for the future. IT applied to the factory floor will play an ever more important part in the "automation of the automation" in my opinion. Keep posted as we explore these areas in the this blog today & hopefully tomorrow...
About the Author
Tom Gaasenbeek, CEO of Nexas Networks Inc.
For over 20 years I have been active in the manufacturing connectivity space. As a visionary and early adopter, I founded a series of companies from Memex Electronics, to e-Manfuacturing Networks, to Nexas Networks today - all to bridge the front office to machine divide. I have filed patents on Dynamic Computer Aided Manufacturing (DCAM). My goal has been to lead our DNC, CNC memory, machine monitoring, OEE and connectivity standards areas with enlighted thinking. From speeches to articles, I keep on trying to help the world get more "Lean" and thus maximize their competitiveness to survive and thrive. Let's leverage IT to the max and make the factory floor the last frontier for connectivity.
|
|
NETWORK CABLE TESTER $56.99 NETWORK CABLE TESTER |
|
|
Network cable testing kit $152.99 Network cable testing kit |
|
|
Cables To Go Cat5E PVC Network Installation Kit with 500ft Cable $119.99 1 Year Limited 17 lb 29292 Cable 500ft Punch-down tool Tester This kit includes PVC jacketed or plenum rated Cat5E cable in a pull-box, 110-style punch down tool and an easy to use network tester to verify the cables are terminated properly. Cables To Go Cat5E PVC Network Installation Kit with 500ft Cable Network Installation Kit www.cablestogo.com |
|
|
Cables To Go Cat5E PVC Network Installation Kit with 1000ft Cable $161.99 1 Year Limited 29293 30 lb Cable 1000ft Punch-down tool Tester This kit includes PVC jacketed or plenum rated Cat5E cable in a pull-box, 110-style punch down tool and an easy to use network tester to verify the cables are terminated properly. Cables To Go Cat5E PVC Network Installation Kit with 1000ft Cable Network Installation Kit www.cablestogo.com |
|
|
network cable $29.99 Digi - Network cable - HD-68 (M) - DB-78 (F) - for AccelePort Xp |
|
|
PS3 - Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion $76.24 Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion (Streets 9-20-11)(Crave Exclusive) |
|
|
Adtran Network Patch Cable $105.99 1186025L2 25 ft Adtran Copper Network Cable Network Patch Cable Patch Cable www.adtran.com |
|
|
network cable boots $30 C2G - Network cable boots - gray (pack of 50 ) |
|
|
network cable - 500 ft $53.99 C2G - Network cable - 500 ft - silver satin |
|
|
network cable - 4 ft $69 Digi - Network cable - DB-9 (F) - 4 ft |
|
|
network cable - 6 in $19.99 Atek - Network cable - RJ-45 (F) - 6 in |
|
|
Network cable - 500 ft $423 Black Box - Network cable - 500 ft |
|
|
Network cable - 3 ft $94.99 ADTRAN - Network cable - 3 ft - for MX2820 M13 |
|
|
29293 - Cables To Go Cat5E Pvc Network Installation Kit With 1000Ft Cable - Network Installation Kit $159.96 this Kit Includes Pvc Jacketed Or Plenum Rated Cat5e Cable In A Pull-box, 110-style Punch Down Tool And An Easy To Use Network tester To Verify The Cables Are Terminated Properly. [1776892] UPC: 757120292937 UNSPC: 26121609 16.3L x 16.3W x 10.4H 26.6 LB 1.54 Cubes |
|
|
29292 - Cables To Go Cat5E Pvc Network Installation Kit With 500Ft Cable - Network Installation Kit $114.48 this Kit Includes Pvc Jacketed Or Plenum Rated Cat5e Cable In A Pull-box, 110-style Punch Down Tool And An Easy To Use Network tester To Verify The Cables Are Terminated Properly. [1968959] UPC: 757120292920 UNSPC: 26121609 12.5L x 25.25W x 9.5H 14.4 LB 1.33 Cubes |
|
|
Cisco Network Cable 1.6ft CABGS50CM $78.05 Cisco Network Cable 1.6ft CABGS50CM |
|
|
Belkin Cat5e Network Cable A3L79125 $16.42 Belkin Cat5e Network Cable A3L79125 |
|
|
TRENDNET Network Cable Tester TCNT2 $59.83 TRENDNET Network Cable Tester TCNT2 |
|
|
Tripplite / 110/66 PUNCH DOWN CABLE / N046-000 $34.12 Tripplite - 110/66 PUNCH DOWN CABLE - N046-000 |
|
|
Multi-Network Cable Tester-E - network tester $67.99 C2G Multi-Network Cable Tester-E - Network tester |
|
|
GN 14201-22 Network Cable $30.99 1 x RJ-11 Male Network 14201-22 14201-22 Network Cable Copper GN GN Netcom A/S Network Cable Not Applicable RJ-11 www.gnnetcom.com |
|
|
Network RJ45 RJ11 Wire Cut Off Impact Punch Down Tool $11.58 Network RJ45 RJ11 Wire Cut Off Impact Punch Down Tool |
|
|
Cables To Go 29292 CAT 5e PVC NETWORK INSTALLATION KIT WITH 500ft CABLE $183.4 This kit includes PVC jacketed or plenum rated Cat5E cable in a pullbox 110style punch down tool and an easy to use networktester to verify the cables are terminated properly.The tester that is included is part #13138 our LANtest Network Tester. |
Comment