Since the inception of MTConnect, Mazak Corporation has taken a leadership role and continued to show its unwavering support for the open communications protocol. And in line with that commitment is the company’s ongoing participation and sponsorship of the annual [MC]2 conference, workshop and expo events.
This year’s [MC]2 Conference, hosted by the MTConnect Institute, takes place in Dallas, Texas, April 19-21, at the Intercontinental Dallas Hotel. At the event, Mazak’s Application Engineer, Developer and MTConnect Specialist Neil Desrosiers will present the company’s Mazak SmartBox technology that represents a huge leap in digital integration across manufacturing and was developed in partnership with Cisco Systems Inc.
Using MTConnect technology as its foundation, the Mazak SmartBox provides connectivity of machines and devices and allows for enhanced monitoring and future analytical capabilities including advanced cyber security protection. With it, manufacturers access real-time production floor data that they can then use to improve overall productivity efficiency and responsiveness to customer and/or market changes.
The Mazak SmartBox is yet another component within the Mazak’s dynamic Mazak iSMART Factory™ concept that uses advanced manufacturing cells and systems together with full digital integration to achieve free-flow data sharing in terms of process control and operation monitoring. At Mazak’s own Mazak iSMART Factory™ in Florence, Kentucky, MTConnect works with process support software and provides connectivity and the capability to monitor then harvest data from all the different production floor machines, cells, devices and processes.
“MTConnect and Mazak SmartBox working in tandem accounts for a significant technological step in the future direction of factories toward full digital integration and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT),” said Brian Papke, president of Mazak. “From the start, we recognized MTConnect’s value to our customers in the ability for them to establish extensive and open channels of communication for plug-and-play interconnectivity between devices. And we continue to propagate the protocol’s benefits within the machine tool OEM industry. All the machines we build are MTConnect compatible, and we have consistently expanded the use of the protocol throughout our own manufacturing operations as well.”
At the 2016 [MC]2 Conference, thought leaders and industry insiders will gather to solve problems and showcase cutting-edge solutions for the rapidly expanding world of connected manufacturing. From cyber-physical security and open architecture to automation, robotics and new training platforms, [MC]2 will present how to plan and execute a digital factory as well as demonstrate how to integrate systems across suppliers, producers and clients for a strong vital network between IT and mechanical and electrical engineering.
In addition, Neil Desrosiers will hold a workshop, Debugging MTConnect, on Thursday, April 21 from 4:15 to 4:45 pm. Plan to attend to learn more about the most common MTConnect implementation issues.
For more information on or to register for the [MC]2 2016 MTConnect Conference, please visit www.mc2conference.com.