I can understand where installing the EnterpriseIQ RealTime™ system in your manufacturing plant can seem overwhelming. If you are unfamiliar with electrical wiring, just the terminology alone may seem like you are reading a foreign language. Schematics, ladder diagrams, control logic, relays, diodes, transistors, capacitors, rectifiers, optocouplers, NPN, PNP … what does it all mean?
All those symbols and lines are really a map showing how machines are intended to work and what options are allowed for expansion and interfacing with other machines. To further complicate the process, terminologies differ among manufacturing companies. This can make interpreting and understanding specifications very difficult. So it is not surprising when customers call and need help connecting their equipment to EnterpriseIQ’s RealTime™ Machine Monitoring module on the shop floor.
We here at IQMS try very hard to give the customer all the information they need to install and successfully implement the RealTime™ module. In the preliminary stages, we ask the customer to complete several documents, including terms and conditions, hardware surveys and a RealTime™ survey. This survey includes questions such as: What type of equipment do you have, what voltage does it require, how fast will it cycle and more. This information is critical to our understanding of what type of device best suits your machines and equipment.
One of the main delays in this process can be the contact who is asking, "How do we install RealTime?" The best person to contact us is the one who will actually do the installation. Now I don't mean the installation of the EnterpriseIQ manufacturing ERP system as a whole. I am speaking directly about the hardware for RealTime™ only. This should be an electrician or maintenance person with electrical experience. Nothing against the folks in the IT world, but that's who usually makes the call. Once we explain how it all works to them, they typically end the conversation with: "Here is the name of my electrical contractor, please give them a call."
I guess my point is this: Don't worry, delegate. Pick a project manager, put a team together and explain that everybody has a role to fulfill. Many tasks can be done in parallel with each other and one of those tasks is to contact your electrician/maintenance department and have them get involved right up front by contacting me directly.
My name is Neil Gow and I love the challenge of working with new people and helping them get RealTime™ going in their facility.
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