NUM has developed a new communications interface option for its CNC systems that fully complies with the open MTConnect ‘interoperability standard’.

Known as NUMConnect and available in the UK from Coventry-based NUM (UK) Ltd (www.num.com), the interface can be fitted to new or existing systems; it simplifies the integration of CNC machine tools with third-party manufacturing management software and allows users to implement productivity-enhancing real-time data collection and retrieval for production monitoring and analysis purposes.

Manufacturers are increasingly making use of data retrieved from CNC machine tools to improve the efficiency of their production processes.

However, until recently, the lack of a vendor-neutral data communications standard within the industry meant that CNC machine tool companies could only give their customers proprietary solutions for collecting and retrieving manufacturing data.

MTConnect is an open royalty-free communication standard that is managed by the MTConnect Institute. A growing number of machine tool manufacturers are adopting the standard, which is also supported by many leading suppliers of enterprise resource planning (ERP), manufacturing operations management and production ‘dashboard’ software.

The MTConnect standard is based on the Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) for capturing data that is readable by both humans and machines, with the format of all data transfers defined by hyper-text transfer protocol (HTTP).

NUMConnect is fully compliant with the latest 1.3.0 version of the MTConnect standard and is available ready-fitted or as a retrofit option for all of the company’s Axium, Flexium and Flexium+ CNC systems, as well as its earlier-generation Power 1000 series. The software can be installed on any standard PC equipped with Windows XP or later, and it runs in the background on any NUM industrial PC.