b'Data Mining sion thus far, he said this servicewell for relatively small sites.hasnt been launched fully. But once you get big, you need Although it offers more capa- to set up a hard-wired network, and the skill sets needed to set up abilities, the cloud version of Redaxthat tends to be a challenge for a server and install the software, andhas been less popular than the on- lot of companies, Hale said. They they struggled to find someone lo- premises option. The reason is con- dont have people with those skills, cally who could do it cost-effectivelycern about data security, Hale said,so it can be very expensive for them for them, he said. So now we pro- despite the fact that Ancas cloudto install a network.vide a turnkey solution that they justprovider employs sophisticated se- Getting machines connected and plug in to a socket to connect tocurity measures. communicating on a network is the their network. Opening up their networks tobiggest problem for many users Those who opt for the other ver- the outside world is something aof Fanuc Americas data collection sion of Redax install software thatlot of companies arent comfortableproducts, Webster reports. Compli-Fanuc AmericaFASData allows machine users to view snapshots of operations on any PC or tablet, as well as on monitors on a shop floor.allows them to connect all their ma- doing, he said. cating matters is the fact that shops chines to the cloud. This makes theiroften have different generations machine and production data avail- Not Connecting of equipment that require differ-able anytime and anywhere. A major obstacle to using eitherent types of connection hardware. If youre outside of your busi- form of Redax is the sorry state ofLarge companies have in-house re-nessnetwork,Halesaid,younetworking at many shops. sources to handle situations like this, can still pull out your phone andTo set this up, you need con- he said, but small and midsize shops check whats happening on yournectivity to all your machines, Halemay not and therefore could require machines. said. But often, there is no hard- the services of a consultant.To receive preventive mainte- wired network (at a shop). Or if there nance advice, users of the cloudis, its in very poor condition. Data Developmentsversion also could let Ancas serviceAnca offers a plug-and-play USBA new product that simplifies engineers access machine data. ButWi-Fi adapter that allows machinesequipment networking and com-because an insufficient number ofto be hooked up wirelessly. He saidmunication is the Fanuc Field sys-shops have opted for the cloud ver- thisarrangementworksprettytem. Currently being used by early 58AUGUST 2020MachineControl.indd 58 7/17/20 3:02 PM'