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This monitor near the entrance to the shop floor displays the status and run history of all 20 machines in the shop. The server used for collecting the machine-monitoring data is separate from the shop's main server. That way, data collection isn't interrupted if the main server is down. Plus, this dedicated data server has battery backup, so data collection can resume right away if the power was to go out, without needing to be rebooted. The black bands Parker Tumanic is pointing to shows the time the electrical power was off during my visit because a new 60-horsepower air compressor was being installed. 10 inches in diameter and as much as 20 inches long to match the capacity of the turning centers. However, machining on its two current HMCs (one an NHX 4000, the other an NH 4000) still represents approximately 20 percent of its busi- ness. It uses these machines because either there are some features that can't be milled on the lathes or a part requires so much milling work that it becomes a bottleneck to mill them on the lathes. The HMCs enable jobs to be set up on one pallet outside the workzone while the machine is milling on a part loaded in the machine, maximizing spindle uptime. J&R; Machine still has one vertical machining center (VMC), but given the HMC's dual-pallet design, it won't purchase another VMC moving forward, and the lone remaining VMC will soon be sold to make room for another HMC. However, to maximize unattended run time for that VMC, the shop has developed custom, high-density workholding fixtures that can accommodate a number of parts. The pallets quickly and repeatedly mount in the machine via zero-point, ball-lock systems. Tim Tumanic, company president and Parker's father, says the move to standardization is valu- able in a number of ways. It's easier to redeploy MMS FEBRUARY 2018 80 mmsonline.com MACHINE MONITORING