Big Data Is the Next Big Thing

Big Data can be scary. It calls to mind a certain terrifying Orwellian future in which information is collected, altered, and reissued to an unknowing public. But, thankfully, Big Data alone does not create Big Brother.

In layman’s terms, Big Data is an amount of information so large and complex that it is difficult to handle using traditional computer applications.

In modern manufacturing facilities, data comes from everywhere. It comes from the machines running on the floor, tools, material handling systems, software, the shipping dock, accounting, and likely even the lunch room. For years this data has been collected on clipboards, whiteboards, and scraps of paper.

Today, however, this data can be collected automatically. But what is more important is that it can be collated and viewed in real time to better understand how the shop is producing.

It does so by creating traceable, comparable analytics.

Every company, from search results-producing Google to the disappointment-producing Toronto Maple Leafs, is exploring the use of analytics. So what is analytics exactly?

It’s essentially the process of looking for meaningful patterns in data. It’s especially valuable in areas that produce a lot of recorded information. For a machine tool, that can mean spindle speed, acceleration, tool change time, number of parts produced, and repeatability. Analytics uses data to quantify performance. It also can be used to show the current environment and predict when future problems may arise, before an alert is ever issued.

Many companies currently apply analytics to business data to predict and improve earnings. The same techniques, however, can be used to monitor manufacturing data and improve productivity.

Over the past 20 years, lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, and kanban practices have been leading us somewhere ... they have been leading us toward working smarter.

Simply put, there is no better place than here, no better time than now.

Don’t rage against your machines. Use them and the data they produce to assess and improve your machining practices. Use the data that already is being produced anyway to identify the patterns that can increase yield and reduce costs.

The era of Big Data in manufacturing is only just beginning, but it is grounded in the practices and procedures of the past.

And as we learned in 1984: Who controls the past controls the future.