However, the introduction of another standard seems a contradiction in terms, and is as much a concerning development as it is a promising one, since multiple standards means there is really no standard at all - just multiple competing frameworks equipment makers must either choose between or support in parallel.

MMS has reported on the advance of the MTConnect standard for years, and we have argued for its value, so our view might well be biased. What impact the introduction of this standard will have is unclear, because there already has been a standard in existence with the same or a similar aim - MTConnect. Various machines throughout the show were being monitored in real time through a remote system built on Umati. Given there is an existing machine tool data standard, what will be the impact or role of this one?Īrguably the most notable development at the show related to manufacturing connectivity was the working debut of Umati, a standard for sharing data with and among machine tools developed by VDW (the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association) in partnership with a group of machine tool and control system manufacturers. Machines throughout the show were monitored on a system enabled by Umati. VDW introduced Umati, a standard for machine-tool data sharing. Indeed, Executive Editor Derek Korn and Publisher Bryce Ellis were there at EMO with me, and a sliver at best is what the three of us in total were able to see. With more than 2,200 exhibitors from 48 countries covering nearly 2 million square feet of exhibition space, it’s only possible to see a sliver of what’s being presented at the show. Exhibitors throughout the show seemed to convey the same perception of what manufacturers are asking for right now: automation.ĮMO is too big an event to cover thoroughly. Robots, it would seem, have now reached the point of being not just accepted but required. That was an exaggeration, of course, but one that captured what was most strikingly apparent about the show this year: Robots were everywhere.

“It’s like a robot show with machine tools,” he said. One machine tool company executive I was speaking with while we were there offered a fitting off-the-cuff take on what we were experiencing. The biennial EMO exposition, the largest machine tool trade show in the world, was held last week in Hannover, Germany.

Photo impressions 4.0