One of the great things about CIMCO Manufacturing Data Management (MDM) is its ability to organize and present data to the users that need it. Sometimes, the users that need that data are in the best position to capture it. A perfect example of this is setup pictures. An operator can look up their part in MDM and see pictures for the job they are setting up. These can include … [Read more...]
How to Enable Debug Logging in CIMCO MDM
Some times a need arises to find out more about what is happening or not happening in your CIMCO Manufacturing Data Management Installation. The first step is to watch the messages in the MDM server setup real time, but what if you need more information? To make debugging issues our customers might encounter CIMCO enabled a debug log feature in 9.00.13. This feature allows a … [Read more...]
CIMCO Tech Tip – How to Configure MDC to Auto-update clients
Did you know that you can upload the latest version of CIMCO MDC-Max to your database from a client and have all other clients automatically update when they log on? It’s a simple process to set up and the automatic update is actually significantly faster than doing it manually. Not to mention the fact that the machines only have to have access to the MDC server, not the … [Read more...]
Save time with CIMCO Editor Macros Part 2 – NC File Standardization
In part one of this series, we looked at how to use CIMCO Editor macros to prompt us for the program information to add to our NC-Base database. If you missed part one, you can find it here. Today we'll look at how we can use the same approach to update the NC file header automatically from information in the database. Let’s say for example that you have a lot of legacy … [Read more...]
Using the Port Debug Log in CIMCO DNC Max
If you've owned or worked with any CNC equipment, you know that issues come up from time to time. Sometimes these issues affect your Machine Data Collection or your program sending and/or receiving. CIMCO provides a very useful debug feature for these very cases. This quick tip shows you how to use debug to see what is happening with one of your machine ports to maybe get some … [Read more...]
Five Methods to Measure Your Hidden Factory
Recently we shared some inspiration provided by some up and coming engineers we've had the opportunity to work with. Part of this inspiration was their ability to think bigger, be more creative and make incremental improvements to a project providing much better results for their employers dollars invested. This big picture thinking drew out some thoughts about the process a … [Read more...]
Thinking Big and Planning Small
As many baby boomers retire from manufacturing jobs, it is inevitable that younger people must come in and fill the ranks. At a recent event by SME and SVMI, Chico State Alumni and current SME Sac Valley Treasurer Ryan Greenehagen was sharing his goal of building a bridge between the Chico State Manufacturing Engineering program and employers in the Sacramento area. As he put … [Read more...]
How to Find a Complete Machine Data Collection Solution
In recent years improvements in machine data collection protocols have paved the way for more companies to offer products to the CNC machine monitoring industry. This is both good and bad. It is great to have competition, it makes us all better and forces software developers to improve or step aside. For that reason we welcome this development. The downside however, is that … [Read more...]
Changes in CIMCO MDM 9
This article is intended for users of CIMCO Manufacturing Data Management. If you're not already using MDM, you may be missing out on opportunities to add a level of control and access to your manufacturing data that you may have thought was either too expensive or just not possible. If you are already using MDM, I am preaching to the choir, and this article is intended for you … [Read more...]
Automating Repetitive Tasks with Macros
Automation - More than Robots When people think of automation, they tend to think of things like the automotive assembly lines you see on Television. The ones that have the big arms that are swinging car doors around at top speed. While this is absolutely true, I want to focus on the opposite side of the coin. Today I would like to share a practical example of how we can … [Read more...]