Only a week to go now before the APEX trade show in Las Vegas. This is the first major trade show following the launch of OML (Open Manufacturing Language). APEX will feature several events and presentations about OML, including a key demo of OML technology in use at the Mentor Graphics booth (#3003).
Seeing is believing, and the OML demo is amazing. The most exciting thing for me is to see the machine operation, as shown in proprietary machine software compared to the version that is constructed out of the OML standard data. Each different type of machine makes the data relating to complex mechanisms, movements and key events available in different formats. Through representation of the data in OML, the exact same information is contained. You can then see information coming from any process, from any vendor, all in the same process.
Although this in itself sounds good, the implications may be more than you expect. With every machine now talking the same language, an event such as a machine stop on a line that is “waiting for PCB”, can now be qualified in terms of the real cause and location of a problem – for example a machine earlier in the line had material delivered which was damaged, could not be loaded, which stopped that machine, which then starved the machine in question later in the line. There is so much value that can be gained from having normalized data as opposed to the raw data that machines make available and report directly.
Seeing is believing. Come along and see the latest OML and related technologies for the Internet of Manufacturing, APEX, booth #3003. I will be there also, so come along and let’s chat!
