MTConnect Technology - It's Not Just for OEMs

I will be presenting (and demonstrating) at the upcoming AMTS 2011 conference in Dayton, OH.

When: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at 12 noon
Where: Advanced Manufacturing Technology Show
              Dayton Expo Center
              3900 McCauley Drive
              Vandalia, OH 45377
              937.454.8700

Learn about MT Connect Technology and how you can improve manufacturing processes by 20-60%. Find out what’s new for small to mid-sized companies: new applications, new uses, how it can save you money and how you can be better informed about what’s happening on your shop floor.

More information about AMTS- http://www.daytonamts.com/ 

Completing Your Authorized iPhone Unlock

Thank you for contacting AT&T Customer Care about unlocking your iPhone.

We have reviewed your request and confirmed that you are eligible to have the requested iPhone unlocked.

To complete the unlock, simply:

1. Open iTunes on your Mac or PC and verify that you have internet connectivity.
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3. Backup and restore your iPhone using iTunes .
For information on backup and restore, please visit http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414.
4. After restoring, your iPhone will be unlocked.
Additional information on unlocking can be found at http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3198.

For questions regarding AT&T’s wireless service and iPhone, please visit the Phone/Device Learning Center.

We thank you for your continued business and look forward to providing you with the best customer service.

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Book Review- Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

In this easy to read book the author outlines the differences in the financial decisions taken by the poor, middle class and the rich people. The rich people become richer by investing in assets. An asset is an investment which “puts money in your pocket”. That means that an asset is something which generates a positive cash flow. A liability is an investment which drains money out of your pocket and creates a negative cash flow. Against the contemporary belief, the author argues that the investment in the house you live is a liability and not an investment.  Individuals should strive to build assets so that the cash flowing in your pocket is equal to your expenses – that is to be financial independent. One can pay their bills by a steady income but cannot create wealth.  The author advices young couples to not invest all their money in a big expensive house, instead, concentrate on purchasing assets which will make them financially independent. The second point author emphasizes is to start your own business (work for yourself) and create a career ladder than climb a career ladder. Small businesses and corporations have enormous tax benefits. A short history of income taxes in United States is very interesting. The corporations spend first and then pay taxes, while the individuals must pay taxes beforehand. To conclude, the book provides commonsense financial and accounting advice for making sound decisions. A person not familiar with personal finance or just starting his/her career can find the book immensely useful. The author repeats many times that “make money work for you” instead of “work for money”.  

“App” Development Platform for Next Generation Manufacturing

The smart phone and information technology industry has stirred tremendous innovation by providing a platform (e.g. iPhone, Droid) to develop value added personal and business applications (“apps”). However, such a technology innovation was not possible in manufacturing, primarily, due to lack of universally accepted standard and closed architecture systems. However, the newly developed XML-based open MTConnect standard has been a game changing innovation for manufacturing. MTConnect can enable plug-and-play functionality and real time data from various assets in a production shop. In this presentation, we explain the development of a cloud-based MTConnect powered Shop-Talk application which provides a platform to develop value added productivity applications to achieve operation efficiency. The current apps include power monitoring, alarm management, enterprise content management, utilization monitoring and downtime analysis. The power monitoring app provides bottom-up methodology for autonomous energy consumption analytics with correlation of machining parameters and energy consumption from the lowest component features and up. The alarm management app provides customizable alarm notification with ability for user to add comments and classify the alarm according to its root cause. The enterprise content management is used to capture and organize all of the manufacturing documents including maintenance log, part programs and manuals into easy-to-find searchable electronic documents. The utilization monitor and downtime analysis enables machine, cell and shop performance monitoring with user selectable time scale for particular shift, day, week or month. Shop-Talk implementation will enable enterprises to further increase their efficiency leading to better overall performance and increased productivity essential for next generation manufacturing. The future work is concentrated on developing live value stream maps, supplier visibility, intelligent maintenance, and statistical process control apps. 

Reference:  “App” Development Platform for Next Generation Manufacturing; Amit Deshpande, Ron Pieper; Defense Manufacturing Conference 2011 (Accepted).