The National Tooling & Machining Association recently announced that Fredon Corp. of Mentor is the recipient of its 2018 Technology Best Practices Award.
Fredon’s use of a Machine Utilization Tracker — MUT — is an example of how manufacturers are using Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud technologies to improve performance on the factory floor, a company news release stated.
The Machine Utilization Tracker, as its name implies, detects which machines are being used. Information is then translated to a dashboard in real-time.
The award was presented March 8 at the Manufacturing for Growth Meeting in Miami, Florida, hosted by the National Tooling & Machining Association and the Association for Manufacturing Technology, during the Technology in Action session for conference attendees.
“What gets measured gets improved,” said Rich Ditto, Fredon vice president of operations. “We are excited to have this cutting-edge technology that allows us to monitor the efficiency of our equipment and our team. It was one of the most successful ways we have found to easily and visually evaluate the percentage of machine utilization.
“Working hand in hand with Matt Ulepic (founder of E Solutions’ MUT) to ensure the units and software dashboard was specific to what our company wanted to see was exciting and beneficial — for both Fredon and E Solutions.”
With the insight gained from the MUT, small process improvements create large gains in capacity, increasing capacity drives revenue, lower costs and improve competitiveness, Ulepic explained.
Founded in 1969 and veteran-owned, Fredon Corp. specializes in precision machining for complicated projects, engineering partnerships and project management, and serves customers in the aerospace, electronics, machinery and equipment, medical, nuclear, and transportation industries.
“Fredon is honored to be recognized by our peers in the NTMA for our advances in manufacturing technology,” said President Alyson Scott. “Our dedication to continuous improvement has allowed us to offer the highest quality products and services to our customers for the past 49 years.”
View news article at The News Herald.
