TIP: Do You Know Where Your Backup NC Software Is?
02.17.2015
In the machine tool world, we often overlook an important part of the CNC machine when considering predictive maintenance and planned downtime. Your Okuma machine has a brain, and that brain consists of NC software, which has been created specifically for your CNC machine. This software interprets your part programs into machining commands to create your specific parts. That’s all it does…day in and day out.
Don’t Let This Happen to You!
If you’re like most machine tool owners, you don’t think about the possibility of some catastrophic event, which may damage the brain of your machine. What happens after that lightning storm or power surge leaves your factory equipment in a mess, and your machine memory has been damaged? You cycle power on your machine in hopes that the condition is only temporary. You wait in anticipation to hear those contactors click, and for the display to come up with that familiar Okuma screen….but it never quite gets there!
You now contact your Okuma distributor and after some investigation, you’re told that your memory board is damaged and must be replaced. The next step is to install your NC software to get that machine back into production. No problem! Okuma has always sold our machines with a copy of the machine-specific NC software contained in the control cabinet. And, if you purchased after-market options or upgrades, we supplied a revision to the NC software, which adds the required functionality to your original software build. You’re safe.
But wait. It’s been many years since you’ve needed that software media that resides in your machine control cabinet. Is it still there? Did someone remove it from the machine to store it in another location within your facility, or has it been lying in a pile of oily residue for a few years? We see this scenario all the time. You have a bunch of Okuma CNC machines on your floor, but no idea as to the whereabouts or condition of that NC software. Now you must work with your Okuma distributor to order what Okuma calls “Duplicate Software.” The good news is that Okuma can produce this Duplicate Software for ANY OSP-Control machine that we’ve ever sold. The bad news is that you have just delayed the startup of your machine and now face the inevitable cost of lost production.
Special 25% Discount: Backup NC Software
Okuma recommends that a tally of NC Software be performed as a part of your preventive maintenance program on every Okuma CNC machine. If the software is missing or damaged, please contact your Okuma distributor to order Duplicate Software for any OSP-Control Okuma machine. As an added incentive, we’re currently offering a price discount for this – see the article Special 25% Discount: Backup NC Software for more details. This special discount expires on April 21, 2015.
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