Fastems has announced a new version MMS 8.2, the software that controls Fastems automation systems, that helps CNC manufacturers utilize automation to measure, report and optimize their production sustainability efforts. Users can measure the energy consumption of their NC programs, minimize power usage during machine idle times and dedicate specific machine tools to process certain metals for high-quality chip recycling. MMS version 8.2 is available as a new feature and as an upgrade to existing Fastems automation systems.
"Automating CNC machines has always been a sustainable choice," said a company spokesperson. "Benefits include safer jobs; increased profitability; and reduced manufacturing emissions by half, achievable by lessening machining, facility energy consumption, scrap, outsourcing and logistics. With more than 5,000 automation systems installed globally and a willingness to learn from its customers, Fastems has implemented new features into its automation systems to help manufacturers fulfill their sustainability measuring and reporting obligations."
One of the most important requirements for a manufacturer is to begin measuring and reporting the carbon footprint of produced parts. MMS 8.2 measures and reports the machine tool energy consumption of each NC program, allowing the manufacturers to calculate the energy usage in part level. The information can also be used to adjust the inefficient NC programs, or running certain parts overnight when the electricity demand is lower.
To minimize unnecessary energy usage, the new Auto-Power On/Off function turns machine tools off automatically when there are no planned NC programs to run. With the automatic wake function, the machine starts and warms up before the next NC program start time.
Since metal is a nonrenewable and valuable resource, recycling is important to sustainability efforts. MMS 8.2 comes with a material-dedicated feature that allows users to route the jobs with specific material to specific machine tools. This way, high-quality chips can be easily separated and recycled.
"When it comes to CNC automation, sustainability and profitability go hand in hand," said Heikki Hallila, Vice President of Digital Manufacturing and Automation at Fastems. "The idea of automation is to remove the unnecessary, frustrating and repetitive work-and our goal is to also make the sustainability work as easy as possible for our customers. These are our very first sustainability-reporting features, which we are extremely proud of, and we already are working on the next developments regarding sustainability."
For more information contact:
Fastems, LLC
9850 Windisch Road
West Chester, OH 45069
866-702-0611 / 513-779-4614
service.usa@fastems.com
www.fastems.com/sustainability