WireFreeCNC is pleased to unveil a significant new product in the drive towards at IMTS 2018. The simple yet revolutionary new system is named Excellerant API and will be demonstrated September 10 – 15 in Chicago’s McCormick Place East, booth 133354. Excellerant API provides small to large manufacturers the ability to connect every CNC machine tool controller, no matter the brand, allowing a firm to monitor and manage each machine’s data in real time and send that data to the company’s MES and/or ERP systems.
“We expect this product to get a lot of attention at IMTS because Excellerant API is the fundamental link that’s been missing to simplify data driven manufacturing at the shop floor level,” says Christopher Levesque CEO at WireFreeCNC. “It’s been a source of frustration at even the most sophisticated manufacturing companies applying the latest concepts in Industry 4.0 – that there hasn’t been a universal decoder to connect and capture CNC machine data as it happens. Excellerant fills this crucial gap.”
According to Levesque, Excellerant API builds on MTConnect, Fanuc Focas, OPC-UA, Haas MNET Q-Codes, and other machine control connecting protocols, as well as legacy CNC machines. This allows companies to link across systems while substantially expanding and customizing the information they receive. Although some control systems offer the ability to link to their same brand, manufacturing companies typically have a variety of different control systems and a combination of older and newer machines, thus requiring a more universal solution. Excellerant API is that solution, allowing manufacturing firms to keep all of their current systems including upstream programs such as ERP and MES.
Recognizing that systems are only effective when people are inclined to use them, Excellerant API is designed for ease of use across work groups and operational levels. This is achieved through a simple and elegant graphical user interface, clear and logical functionality, and an array of convenient output types. Machine operators can communicate problems, request assistance, and report progress at the touch of a button. Supervisors and managers can assess cycle time, downtime, and process status by job, machine type, operator, and a host of other useful dimensions. Executives now can run reports in real time, with continuous and immediate feeds from machine controllers through to the ERP level. This, in turn, allows for timely assessments of progress, capacity, and bottlenecks, and fuels more accurate forecasts and dynamic scheduling.
The Excellerant API package is currently available and consists of a software license and proven, easy-to-install hardware connecting to each machine controller.
“Companies have been investing significantly in computerized management systems, especially over the last five years,” says John Carpenter, President of WireFreeCNC. “The last thing they want to do is have to start from the beginning with something new. Our system fits seamlessly into whatever they are using and provides the basic and vital information direct from each machine tool that allows their existing systems to really work for them — furnishing the critical insight necessary to drive superior productivity and profitability.”
About WireFreeCNC
WireFreeCNC (a division of Macdac Engineering, Inc.), established in 2002, offers system level hardware, software, and services for machine tool communications and data collection. Its mission is to simplify, optimize, and improve the discrete manufacturing process. The company was the first to provide reliable wireless communications in a manufacturing shop floor environment. In addition to developing and providing software and hardware products, WireFreeCNC provides consultation, systems integration, training, and technical support services.
For more information, contact WireFree CNC at 860-749-5544, browse www.excellerant-mfg.com.
