It hinges on the free flow and sharing of data in terms of process control and operation monitoring. In the factory, the MTConnect open communications protocol works with process support software and provides connectivity and the capability to monitor then harvest data from all the different production floor machines, cells, devices and processes.
Yamazaki Mazak headquarters in Aichi, Japan was the first facility to incorporate this factory concept. Since then, its facilities in Florence, Kentucky and in Oguchi, Japan, have joined the ranks, and the company plans to designate all of its manufacturing operations as Mazak iSMART factories in years to come.