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Digital and Independent with MTConnect

The digital transition requires increased networking between different components, machines, production facilities, and even companies. Gradually, manufacturers are equipping their machines to exchange information.

Yet many machines that are currently used in the processing industry still function as closed units. At most, the machines have access to sensors for detecting temperatures, setpoints, and cycle times. However, they do not have the ability to forward these valuable data. Thus, digitization could already end at the machine level,

Your profits from MTConnect:

The digital MTConnect interface for WAGO PFC100 Controllers allows networking of machines using the license-free, open-source standard.
MTConnect is a universal digital interface based on a simple ETHERNET standard, so it can be easily integrated into existing machines.
This simple concept enables companies with complex machines and processes to effortlessly digitize their manufacturing environment.

This does contradict the basic philosophy of Industry 4.0: “Collect and use data to make processes more efficient, to produce with maximum efficiency, and to leverage these to create competitive advantages.” This means that Industry 4.0 can only function if all of the relevant information is available at the right time. The ability to monitor, adjust, and control every aspect of a manufacturing area in realtime thus becomes increasingly important. Machines must be able to communicate among themselves and with higher level systems. For this reason, approaches that strive for a common communication standard are becoming more common.

A Uniform Machine Language?

Although the vision of a uniform machine language sounds easy and logical, there have been only a few conventional approaches to a solution. However, they are often difficult and expensive to implement. For example, if a machine already has a modern controller, the software can be modified so that important data can be sent over a network. However, the controller software must still be programmed by software professionals, which sounds expensive and time-consuming – because it is.

Many Machines, Many Solutions

Another approach is to fit each machine with an individually-designed application to monitor it. However, if multiple machines are present in a manufacturing area, and a specific application is required for each individual machine, then developing all of them can be extremely labor intensive. In addition, each application would require individual maintenance and documentation. Is there an easier solution for detecting and processing data for different machine types in order to implement the concepts of Industry 4.0? A universal, standardized machine language?

Solutions on the Market

One single machine language has never actually existed. In Germany and Europe, companies often rely on OPC UA as the conventional M2M communication protocol in industrial production for those cases where it is important to detect data from different machine types and to convert the data to information. In North America, another, very interesting standard has been used for a good ten years: MTConnect. The groundwork for the project was laid in 2006 at the annual meeting of the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT is the US organization comparable to the German VDMA). At that time, the basic problem in industrial production remained that there was no uniform language between tool machines and the other systems in the production line. The first standard for recording all machine data to a superordinate company level was created in 2008, MTConnect 1.0. The MTConnect Institute was founded the following year, which was dedicated to the development of the standard language.

Detecting, Translating, and Displaying with Few Expenses

Monitoring machines can uncover and report a number of problems before expensive failures occur. Monitoring provides specific numbers about the cycle times, and also supports planning and logistics. This is where MTConnect comes in: by allowing companies to visualize work flows in manufacturing areas, which further enables them to optimize processes, uncover savings potentials, and take necessary actions based on the information they obtain. The open-source, royalty free standard leverages proven Internet protocols to transform data from manufacturing equipment into a standardized format. In principle, the data obtained from the machines is provided to an application, which in turn translates the data into legible metrics, which ultimately enable remote monitoring of the machine's status and activity.