Reports really only have value if people actually look at them and then act upon the information they have read.
CADDIS reporting is designed to provide actionable data for production meetings, initiatives, and analysis. CADDIS currently has three primary reports available that are aimed at three primary goals. These goals are to enable businesses to properly maintain their machines/assets, increase the overall efficiency of these assets, and also increase company profits.
Below is a summary of the reports that CADDIS currently offers, with other planned to be added in the near future.
CADDIS Reporting Samples
Excessive Downtime Report
The Excessive Downtime report shows each instance where a piece of equipment was down for longer than expected. These entries include the start and end times when the event occurred and provides a duration for how long the downtime event was.
Figure 8.1.1 – Excessive Downtime Report
In addition, the report allows users to set why the machine was down for that long. The possible reasons are as follows.
- Man (i.e. there was no operator)
- Machine (i.e. the equipment was in need of repair)
- Method (i.e. an operator cannot keep a piece of equipment running due to not having the proper tools)
- Material (i.e. no material was available to run the part)
- Schedule (i.e. the equipment was not scheduled to run, or was scheduled incorrectly)
- Maintenance (preventative maintenance was being done on the equipment)
Once a reason is set in the drop-down box, the downtime entry in the report will disappear.
Downtime Reason Drop Down
Downtime entries that have already had a reason assigned can be shown again by checking the Show Previously Marked checkbox. If no additional entries appear after setting the checkbox, it may be that there have not been any entries that have had their reason set yet based on the time filter you have set.
Excessive Downtime Report Show Previously Marked Checkbox
As downtime reasons are set in the report, the bar chart at the top of the report will begin to populate. There are two bars for each reason. The purple, left-most bar is the number of occurrences of the reason. The green line indicates the number of total hours the equipment was down for that reason. This chart can be hidden at any time by un-checking the Show Chart checkbox.
Excessive Downtime Report Chart
Summary Report
The Summary Report option is only available above the equipment level in the company tree hierarchy, and reports on data from the current level down to the bottom of the company tree. The sections of the Summary Report are outlined below. Utilization color-coding follows the pattern outlined in the Overall Utilization section.
Summary Report
- Takes the utilization metrics from all equipment below the current level in the company tree, and combines them into one value. Below the overall percentage, the value is an indicator showing the hours run versus the hours scheduled.
- Shows a breakdown of each group (department, facility, etc.) directly below the current level in the company tree. This makes it easy to determine how departments and facilities are performing compared to each other.
- Equipment Exceptions: When the No recent cycles (>=2d) tab is selected, devices on equipment that have not reported in for at least the last 2 days are listed. Reasons for this can vary. Equipment can be powered down for maintenance, thus shutting off power to a device, or a device might have a network connection issue. This list can be used to help the maintenance department triage devices that need attention. When the Underutilized (<80%) tab is selected, pieces of equipment that are showing less than 80% utilization are listed.
- Excessive Downtimes: This shows the number of hours associated with excessive downtime in each department/facility below the current level in the company hierarchy.
The threshold defining what constitutes excessive downtime can be set in the equipment management section of this guide.
- Downtime Reasons: Pie chart showing the distribution of reasons why the equipment was down. This chart depends on the information provided by users in the Excessive Downtime report.
This information can be used to determine which facilities, departments, work cells, etc to focus on, but is very dependent on the type of equipment in a facility. For instance, a CNC machine shop will typically have a smaller number of excessive downtimes than a molding operation that involves several manual steps by an operator.
Therefore, groups of equipment cannot always be directly compared. Hovering your mouse cursor over each bar in this chart will show a tooltip with the hour values. Downtime Reasons: Pie chart showing the distribution of reasons why the equipment was down. This chart depends on the information provided by users in the Excessive Downtime Report.
A legend is provided on the right, showing the reasons that users are allowed to enter. Hovering your mouse cursor over each slice in the pie chart will display the number of times that a reason was selected as being the cause of the excessive downtime.
Raw Cycle Data Report
The raw cycle data report is only available when at the equipment (lowest) level in the company hierarchy.
Raw Cycle Data Report
The table includes individual cycle information including when the cycle occurred, what the cycle time was, what the temperature (measured via thermocouple) was, and what tags (if any) are associated with the cycle. The data in this table is set based on the time filters. There is also an Export button that allows the data from the table to be downloaded for further analysis in applications such as Excel and Minitab. When the Export button is clicked, two new buttons will appear. The first is JSON, and the second is CSV.
If in doubt, choose CSV because it can be directly used with Excel or Minitab. Clicking the CSV or JSON buttons will present you with a save-as or open dialog in your web browser. The filename of the downloaded file is encoded with the start and end timestamps of the data.
CADDIS Reporting can lead to savings for your business. Need more information on CADDIS Reporting? Contact us today.
Caddis Systems
/by CurlyHostWhat Is Industry 4.0? How Can It Benefit My Business?
Ultimately, Industry 4.0 refers to a new concept in the industrial revolution that focuses heavily on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time data. Not only does it improve machine efficiency, but it can essentially establish a whole new way to track the progress of a business.
More specifically, Industry 4.0, also known as the fourth industrial revolution, offers a more comprehensive, interlinked, and integrative approach to manufacturing. It connects physical interaction with the digital landscape. Additionally, it allows for better collaboration and accessibility across departments, partners, vendors, products, and even people.
Caddis Systems and IoT (internet of things)
Basically, Caddis Systems wants to empower manufacturers to better control every aspect of their operation. Understanding Industry 4.0 standards and how its data boosts productivity and growth is an influential tool in any manufacturing, digital, or growing business. In fact, this new technological industrial revolution inspires business owners to take action and move towards a more internet of things model. Accordingly to ZDNet, the internet of things, or IoT, “refers to the billions of physical devices around the world that are now connected to the internet, all collecting and sharing data.” Essentially, collecting and sharing data through a variety of cloud-based elements will spur growth and knowledge.
How Can Caddis Influence My Business?
There are several benefits to using CADDIS Systems. Our smart machine approach maximizes the return on assets and prevents future problem areas. In addition, insightful and continuous data (see video below) is at the core of improvement and effectively monitoring machine uptime avoids unnecessary disruptions. Most importantly, time will not be wasted as underperforming assets will be noticeable and fixes can occur more rapidly. Contact us today for a free demo.
CADDIS Machine Monitoring Applications
/by Chris MooreCADDIS Systems is not just another machine monitoring system.
CADDIS was initially developed to monitor CNC’s found in machine shops across the globe. Since then CADDIS has been deployed on many other types of machines to monitor not only utilization percentage but also a number of other key metrics that are critical to a company’s success.
Below is a sampling of the type of data that CADDIS is now monitoring for our customers:
• Overall Machine Utilization
• Cycle Count
• Cycle Time
• Excessive Downtimes
• Conveyor Speed
• Fluid Flow
• Fluid Levels
• Fluid Temperature
• Ambient Temperature
• Vibration
• Shift Start and Stop
• Humidity
• Preventative Maintenance tasks and schedule
Below is a sampling of the type of Machines CADDIS is now monitoring for our customers:
• CNC’s
• Robots
• Presses
• Conveyors
• Boilers
• Mills
• Parts Washers
• Permanent Mold Machines
• Pumps
• Compressors
• Spin Blasters
• Tumble Blasters
• 3D Printers
• Core Machines
• Molding Machines
• Dehumidifiers
• Wire Annealing Machines
Let CADDIS provide you with a simple solution for long term success!
Equipment Utilization Data: How it Benefits You
/by Cindy WhitemanHow can CADDIS Systems help?
The current overall utilization is shown on top as shown in the image above. The data below that is a breakdown of how that value was calculated. To the left of the slash is a XX.XX h value that represents the number of hours the equipment has run. To the right of the slash is a XX.XX h value which represents the number of hours that equipment was scheduled for use.
The run hours divided by the scheduled hours times 100 (run / scheduled * 100) yields the utilization value. At the bottom of the area is a bar that graphically represents the utilization percentage.
It’s a simple equation that tells you so much. Is your equipment being used the way it was scheduled to be used? Knowing the answer saves you so much. To learn more reach out to the CADDIS Team today and request a free demo of the system.
The Benefits of Preventive Maintenance Management
/by Cindy WhitemanTrack all your machine maintenance needs for only $10.00 per month
The CADDIS System was designed by a team of engineers, software developers, and operations experts to maximize machine efficiency and increase output. Our Cloud-based architecture coupled with a dynamic, mobile-friendly user interface allows CADDIS Systems to deliver real-time analytics that can be monitored from anywhere. The benefits of Preventative Maintenance Management are numerous so let’s discuss how Caddis Systems is the perfect system to ensure your business avoids unplanned downtime by using data to address potential problems prior to machine failure.
How Preventative Maintenance Management can benefit your business:
CADDIS Systems allows you to build your machine family tree, schedule maintenance tasks, and assign tasks to those responsible. First, tasks are assigned to an individual(s) and they will receive an alert via text, email, or both. Once this step is completed, they will then be responsible for completing the task and noting this within the CADDIS Preventative Maintenance Management System. Over time you will build a maintenance log that will encompass all of your preventive maintenance tasks as well as any notes related to those tasks. With Preventative Machine Maintenance, CADDIS devices have multiple inputs allowing them to automatically detect machine status and alert you to any excessive threshold. The system is efficient. It takes just a few minutes to set up CADDIS devices.
Current Caddis Preventative Maintenance Applications:
What are the additional benefits of CADDIS Machine Monitoring?
We’ve discussed the value added by preventative maintenance management. There are numerous other benefits including:
Put CADDIS Systems and the benefits of Preventative Machine Maintenance to work for your business.
Our team has hands-on experience working in all types of manufacturing, transportation, and industrial environments where machine uptime is critical in the success of the business. We recognized a problem and are offering you a solution to increase your profit and avoid costly downtime. We would like to put CADDIS Systems to work for your business. For more information or to set up a free demo, contact us at 563.551.6418
CADDIS Reporting Capabilities Lead To Increased Profits
/by Chris MooreReports really only have value if people actually look at them and then act upon the information they have read.
CADDIS reporting is designed to provide actionable data for production meetings, initiatives, and analysis. CADDIS currently has three primary reports available that are aimed at three primary goals. These goals are to enable businesses to properly maintain their machines/assets, increase the overall efficiency of these assets, and also increase company profits.
Below is a summary of the reports that CADDIS currently offers, with other planned to be added in the near future.
CADDIS Reporting Samples
Excessive Downtime Report
The Excessive Downtime report shows each instance where a piece of equipment was down for longer than expected. These entries include the start and end times when the event occurred and provides a duration for how long the downtime event was.
In addition, the report allows users to set why the machine was down for that long. The possible reasons are as follows.
Once a reason is set in the drop-down box, the downtime entry in the report will disappear.
Downtime entries that have already had a reason assigned can be shown again by checking the Show Previously Marked checkbox. If no additional entries appear after setting the checkbox, it may be that there have not been any entries that have had their reason set yet based on the time filter you have set.
Excessive Downtime Report Show Previously Marked Checkbox
As downtime reasons are set in the report, the bar chart at the top of the report will begin to populate. There are two bars for each reason. The purple, left-most bar is the number of occurrences of the reason. The green line indicates the number of total hours the equipment was down for that reason. This chart can be hidden at any time by un-checking the Show Chart checkbox.
Summary Report
The Summary Report option is only available above the equipment level in the company tree hierarchy, and reports on data from the current level down to the bottom of the company tree. The sections of the Summary Report are outlined below. Utilization color-coding follows the pattern outlined in the Overall Utilization section.
The threshold defining what constitutes excessive downtime can be set in the equipment management section of this guide.
This information can be used to determine which facilities, departments, work cells, etc to focus on, but is very dependent on the type of equipment in a facility. For instance, a CNC machine shop will typically have a smaller number of excessive downtimes than a molding operation that involves several manual steps by an operator.
Therefore, groups of equipment cannot always be directly compared. Hovering your mouse cursor over each bar in this chart will show a tooltip with the hour values. Downtime Reasons: Pie chart showing the distribution of reasons why the equipment was down. This chart depends on the information provided by users in the Excessive Downtime Report.
A legend is provided on the right, showing the reasons that users are allowed to enter. Hovering your mouse cursor over each slice in the pie chart will display the number of times that a reason was selected as being the cause of the excessive downtime.
Raw Cycle Data Report
The raw cycle data report is only available when at the equipment (lowest) level in the company hierarchy.
Raw Cycle Data Report
The table includes individual cycle information including when the cycle occurred, what the cycle time was, what the temperature (measured via thermocouple) was, and what tags (if any) are associated with the cycle. The data in this table is set based on the time filters. There is also an Export button that allows the data from the table to be downloaded for further analysis in applications such as Excel and Minitab. When the Export button is clicked, two new buttons will appear. The first is JSON, and the second is CSV.
If in doubt, choose CSV because it can be directly used with Excel or Minitab. Clicking the CSV or JSON buttons will present you with a save-as or open dialog in your web browser. The filename of the downloaded file is encoded with the start and end timestamps of the data.
CADDIS Reporting can lead to savings for your business. Need more information on CADDIS Reporting? Contact us today.
Christmas with CADDIS 2020
/by Chris MooreAs the holidays approach many companies around the globe are slowing down production or come to a complete halt. Companies also have fewer employees on-site, as many choose to use the final days of their vacation to spend time with family, or travel to exotic places like Bettendorf, Iowa where CADDIS is based!
With fewer onsite personnel watching over operations, CADDIS’ remote monitoring capabilities can provide key company stakeholders with the peace of mind that their facility is still meeting scheduled or even non-scheduled runtime expectations as well as ensuring that machine health is being managed and maintained.
It’s important to remember that monitoring key machine failure indicators can mean the difference between ending 2020 on a positive note or stepping into 2021 with a possible workplace disaster. Please be aware that the following issues can lead to big problems and should be avoided at all costs.
1. Vibration increase or non-typical vibration.
2. Excessive component heating.
3. Excessive fluid temperature.
4. Rapid increase or decrease in the flow of such liquids as coolant or lubricating oil.
5. Rapid increase or decrease of key machine temperature parameters.
If you want to ensure your production environment has a healthy and happy 2021, reach out to CADDIS. CADDIS monitoring systems make great stocking stuffers and are the perfect gift for that hard to buy for Plant Supervisor or Company President!
How Can CADDIS Machine Monitoring Save Your Company A Lot Of Money?
/by Chris Moore“How can CADDIS Machine Monitoring Save My Company A Lot Of Money”?
My immediate response to a customer when this question comes up is…How can CADDIS NOT save you money? Below are some very defined and proven ways of how integrating CADDIS into your production environment will immediately not only save you money but also make you money. Ultimately, CADDIS is considered a cost-effective machine monitoring software.
Cost-Effective Machine Monitoring
Machine Utilization: tracking the overall machine utilization percentage on a daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly basis will ensure that this machine has minimal downtime and is being utilized to its fullest potential.
Capital Improvement Expenditures: having a clear view of your overall utilization and efficiency of your entire operation will enable you to be in a much better position to either approve or disapprove large capital expenditures. Regardless of the industry, machines are expensive, and knowing how utilized a machine is can be the deciding factor in deciding if another one is needed or not?
Predictive Maintenance: with the ability to track key predictive maintenance indicators such as runtime, cycles, temperature, and vibration, companies are taking a proactive approach versus a reactive approach. CADDIS allows users to create maintenance schedules based on the key predictive maintenance indicators and then assign these tasks to those responsible. Over time large amounts of money can be saved because machines are serviced and maintained based on the key predictive indicators and not only when they either break down or it’s marked on a calendar, regardless of the machine even ran. Maintenance is critical to a company’s profitability, but over-maintenance can also be wasteful.
Accountability & Safety
Accountability: many of our CADDIS customers are very lucky to have such a dedicated and loyal workforce. However, there are those employees that may take a bit longer break, continuously have a late shift start, or just not properly maintain their equipment. CADDIS allows supervisors to better manage their team and also recognizes those employees that continuously meet or exceed their goals. CADDIS does promote accountability, but it also is a tool that gives the employee the motivation they sometimes need to hit their goals. In the end, the more employees that take accountability for their work the more revenue a business will generate.
Safety: now includes the need for social distancing, and pay closer attention to washing hands, facility cleaning, and sanitizing touchpoints in your factory, plant, warehouse, etc. How this relates to machine monitoring may sound complex but is actually very straightforward. The fewer employees your business has in a specific area means a lower chance of transmitting an illness. A way that many companies are adapting to this is by integrating a machine monitoring system that allows their employees to monitor operations remotely. While operators and shop floor personal are still needed on a day-to-day basis at their facility.
Overview
Many other employees such as the executive team, sales, marketing, scheduling, and IT can work either entirely remote or on a flex schedule that requires less time in an enclosed workspace with others. Machine monitoring gives these departments a visual overview of their entire operation. They will have remote access to all the data they need to effectively manage their responsibilities and monitor the job performance of the company, department, and individuals. Essentially, if you are interested in cost-effective machine monitoring, contact CADDIS Systems today. Call Us Today to increase machine efficiency and machine productivity.
Predictive Maintenance In Manufacturing
/by Chris MooreAccording to a report from McKinsey Global Institute on the Internet of Things (IoT), Predictive Maintenance can lead to a savings of anywhere from $200 billion to $600 billion for manufacturers by 2025. Yes, this is spread throughout a large number of manufacturers that are producing a wide variety of parts and products, but it is still a HUGE number that cannot be ignored.
The goal of any Predictive Maintenance program is to develop a clear and efficient strategy that will improve Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) and ensure that machines are meeting all safety requirements. A successful Predictive Maintenance program and any Machine Monitoring Systems will enable not only your machines to stay running but also protect your most valuable asset, your employees.
In the past, Predictive Maintenance Programs have been deployed on a manual basis. Each machine has a specific schedule of when a service task needs to be completed. Once completed, the individual performing the task will make a note on a spreadsheet, checkbox, or report that confirms when and who this maintenance task was completed by. Unfortunately, when a shop, foundry, plant, or facility becomes busy, Predictive Maintenance can take a back seat to get parts out the door.
While this may make sense at the time, in the end many companies suffer the consequences when maintenance tasks are pushed down the priority list. It’s also very easy to simply forget when a maintenance task is due? Unless you have the luxury of having a specific individual monitoring a maintenance schedule and then enforcing the adherence to the maintenance schedule, you can also fall behind on maintaining your equipment.
The best way to overcome any issue related to Predictive Maintenance neglect is through the integration of a machine monitoring system. One such option is CADDIS Systems. CADDIS is designed to not only manage your machine utilization and OEE, CADDIS Systems also provides the ability for companies to deploy a Predictive Maintenance Program within the software which allows a company to build a history of Predictive Maintenance tasks completed. Those responsible for maintenance tasks receive a text or email alert when a task or service is due and then the ability to make a note of when the task was completed and provide any additional comments that relate to the task or machine serviced.
CADDIS Systems is a simple and cost-effective solution that will guarantee you a return on the investment. By integrating CADDIS Systems into your production environment you will see a number of benefits.
Just a few of these benefits include:
For more information contact Chris Moore, Marketing Vice President: chris.moore@lcm2m.com
CADDIS Announces New Referral Program
/by Chris MooreReady to increase your profits?
Ready to enter Manufacturing 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing?
Earn $1500 CADDIS CREDIT with our new Referral Program!
How It Works:
New Customers: All new qualified* customers receive one free unit ($1,500 value!), for a limited time only.
Existing Customers: For existing customers, or new customers that soon will become existing customers. Every qualified* referral you supply that accepts this limited time offer, the company you refer receives 1 no charge unit and your company receives 1 no charge unit too!
Annual Data fees of $200/unit apply at time of shipment. Caddis to confirm qualifications of referred and new customers, all rights retained to determine qualified versus unqualified on an account by account review. Data fee to charge at time of shipment. All no charge units must be installed on equipment within 30 days of receipt or the unit must be returned within 5 days at the receivers’ expense or will be charged full amount of unit.
Let’s enter together and help your supply base, friends, and customers do the same!
Contact Chris Moore for more information, or to apply to the Referral Program
OR, Request a Free Demo
Chris Moore, VP of Marketing
Caddis Systems | 563.551.6418 | Email Chris
Why Is Machine Monitoring Important For Your Company to Be Successful
/by Chris MooreIn the last few years, machine monitoring has gone from “Something Nice To Do” to “Something We Must Do”. The reason behind this transition is simply because succeeding in business has become increasingly competitive due to overseas competition and customers expecting high quality at a lower cost.
Luckily, Caddis Systems has developed a cost-effective machine monitoring system that is easy to integrate into your production environment and provides you with a visually intuitive dashboard that is viewable on any device. Our customers continuously provide us with feedback on how they use Caddis and the positive results they are now seeing as a result of integrating Caddis into their production environment.
Below is a short summary of why machine monitoring is important to the success of our customers.
Machine Utilization: This is extremely important when it comes to capital expenditures. We hear from many customers that in the past if they were told they needed a new machine to keep up with production, they simply took this as fact and spent the money. The reality is that in many cases, the solution was not to spend $250-$500k on a new CNC but to better schedule the current machines they have. The only way supervisors and decision-makers were able to overcome excess spending on high dollar items was to clearly see the utilization data Caddis provides and then make purchasing decisions based on factual data rather than best guesses.
Predictive Maintenance: No one likes to be the messenger when it comes to telling their boss that their machine is down. In the past handwritten notes on maintenance actions probably kind of work but it’s easy to forget maintenance when production is speeding along and delivery schedules need to be met to keep the customers happy. Unfortunately not maintaining a machine on a regular schedule or not noticing clear signs of machine wear can cause costly results. Caddis has Predictive Maintenance capabilities that allow a user to enter in a schedule and then get reminders when machines are due for service.
In addition, a user can track cycle runtime and downtime. So over time, a user will see that a machine typically experiences some sort of failure at a specific point of time. Another nice aspect of the Caddis Predictive Maintenance capabilities is tracking such signs of breakdown such as vibration, psi, and fluid, stack, or ambient temperature. By setting up certain excessive thresholds within Caddis, the user is alerted by text, email, or audio/visual alarm on the shop floor that a machine is showing signs of failure and address the issue immediately.
Shift Accountability: In an ideal world every shift would perform at the same level of efficiency. However, we don’t live in an ideal world so we must adapt to overcoming shortcomings in shift efficiency. While some customers had initial concerns about Caddis being a “big brother” tool that would upset their employees, it was quickly realized that Caddis not only held people accountable to on-time starts and OEE. Caddis also gave operators and supervisors more control over their success. Now they are made aware of potential machine issues and they can schedule their department, cell, or machine in a way to become much more efficient than they were able to previously.
Caddis has also brought about some friendly competition between departments and shifts. By meeting or exceeding efficiency expectations, employees and owners are now enjoying the increased profits which lead to overall not only a more stress-free and stable work environment but also an increase in salaries, bonuses, profit sharing, etc.
If you are ready to increase the success of your business, please reach out to us and request a demo to learn how Caddis Systems can help you be a leader in your industry.