While visiting one of our customers in the Visalia area this week, the visit provoked some ideas about innovation in manufacturing. Luckily there was a tie in to that in the news as well. On LinkedIn we saw several discussions about calculating OEE and looking beyond just OEE so this week's topics are: Efforts to Promote Innovation in Manufacturing OEE and Beyond, What … [Read more...]
How Does CIMCO Software Maintenance Work?
One question we get asked frequently is how maintenance works with CIMCO Software products. The best way to think of the maintenance cost of your software is as an entitlement to receive all software updates for the duration of the term. It doesn't matter if the updates are just that, an incremental update of an existing version or a completely new version of the software; a … [Read more...]
Empowered Employees – Your Solution to the Manufacturing Skills Gap
It's hard to talk about manufacturing in the US without the issue of the skills gap coming up. We'll always advocate to make the conditions as favorable as possible for employees and employers alike, and in this case we'll take aim at opportunities within your organization. We learned recently from one of our customers who had CIMCO MDC installed last year a startling fact. … [Read more...]
Two for Friday – Global Competition and Autonomous Cargo
So many of the conversations going on carry over from week to week with regards to North American Manufacturing. Specifically this week what stood out: North America Now Very Globally Competitive Are Unmanned Cargo Aircraft the Future of Economical Air Freight? North America Now Considered Very Globally Competitive North America (specifically the US and Mexico) have … [Read more...]
How to Change the Order of User Input Variables in CIMCO Edit Professional
For this Wednesday's product related content we're going to update you on a feature within the Editor that controls the order of user input variables. You may have at one time had to write a macro to modify this, but with CIMCO Edit Professional Version 7 it is no longer necessary. The function to change the order of the user input variables is in the Macro Definitions. You can … [Read more...]
Poll: Where will Tesla Build Their 5 Billion Dollar Battery Factory?
The winner(s) of our poll today won't win accolades or prizes, but with this whole selection process heating up for Tesla, one really has to wonder where it will end up. Tesla bringing large scale battery manufacturing to one lucky south/west US state has big implications. The states said to be in the running are Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. If you follow the news … [Read more...]
Two for Friday First Edition – Industry and Talent Update
As advocates of the manufacturing industry we love to serve, we're always plugged in to see what the news and trends are. So in this new feature every Friday we'll bring up two topics to discuss with you. There are a number of critical topics this week but two really stood out: Will 2014 be a good year for US Manufacturers? Acquiring Skilled Talent Will 2014 be a … [Read more...]
How to Isolate your CNC Network by Dual Homing DNC Max
Before reading this article I strongly recommend you review "CNC Machine Security: The Dangers and Management of USB Devices" and "Introducing OT-Max: A Game-Changer for Secure CNC Machine Connectivity". Often with CNC communication products including CIMCO DNC-Max server, the server hosting the software resides on a single network. Some companies and government agencies … [Read more...]
Vulnerability in SIEMENS Simatic S7-1200
It is certainly not typical for CNC Controls or Industrial Automation Systems to be accessible to exploit without a network first being compromised, but the ramifications can be very significant. For that reason we keep an eye on the security updates related to Industrial Automation Systems. If you do not have any of these systems in your facility this can still serve as a … [Read more...]
CIMCO Software Training at NASA AMES
Every once in a while you find yourself in an incredible place with incredible people doing incredible things. Last week that happened. Monday morning we were getting our guest badges and introducing a group that entered as individuals and departed as a team from NASA AMES in Mountain View California. We were hosted by NASA for CIMCO software training for a few of our … [Read more...]