What if machine tools came with a standard way of exchanging information? It's coming, with the promise of dramatic efficiencies, data access and competitiveness.
The enabler: a machine tool interoperability initiative launched by AMT, the Association for Manufacturing Technology. AMT's board of directors has approved a two-year initiative with an initial budget of up to $1 million to begin the effort. The first demonstration will be at the September 2008 International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago.
The goal of the initiative, announced in February, is to provide a standard way of exchanging information among all types of manufacturing equipment. To succeed, vendors will need to avoid thinking of standards as commoditization, cautions CAD and automation analyst Joel Orr, vice president, Cyon Research Corp. User acceptance is key, he adds.