Paine Machine Tool Inc. (Paine) in Delta, British Columbia, is a dealer of CNC machinery and a systems integrator. The firm had sold and serviced a number of machines at a local manufacturer that needed a technology upgrade.

This customer had 16 CNC machines, but was still using paper punch tapes to load the CNC programs to each machine. Backup punch tapes were stored in filing cabinets, in little plastic boxes. The company recognized that storing programs on paper tapes was risky, because that medium is easily lost or damaged.

The company converted its programs into electronic files, but it still needed a way to store the files, call them up by part number, and load the programs on individual machines. It sought proposals from a number of systems integrators.

Paine recommended an Ethernet-based DNC solution. A PC attached to the existing network (used for business applications) would act as a server and send programmed instructions to the CNC machines using DNC software. There was only one problem: the company's CNC machines had no Ethernet ports.

The solution was an Ethernet Serial Device Server (ESDS) - a small box of electronics that converts serial data into Ethernet data and vice versa. The ESDS presents itself to the machine as a standard COM port on a PC, so no changes in the DNC software's code would be required.

The plant managers liked the software and hardware package that Paine presented, and also liked that Paine was willing to work around production schedules to minimize downtime.

The DNC software vendor, Refresh Your Memory, Inc. (RYM), recommended that Paine use ThinQ™ brand ESDS units from Quatech, a serial connectivity company based in Ohio. "We had been meaning to get into this type of work, but this was our first Ethernet network integration project," said Gary Wallace, applications engineer for Paine "RYM suggested we go with the Quatech units, because the set-up software is simple and easy to use."

A technician from Paine mounted the ESDS units on "trees" located at points spread out across the shop floor. He ran RS-232 cables from the units to the machines and then connected Ethernet cables from the units to the network.

Two days later, Gary Wallace came to install the software. "I didn't know what to expect," he said. "I needed to get the network to recognize the ThinQ units, and I didn't have any network experience."

"It was simple. From the time I put the ThinQ installation CD in the computer, to the time the system was up and running, was only ten minutes," he said. "The Installation Wizard automatically searched the network, found the ThinQ unit, and helped me establish the IP address."

Another advantage of the ThinQ ESDS is that it has special features designed for applications like the DNC/CNC market. ESDS units typically ship from the manufacturer set up to accumulate serial data in a buffer and send it in packets, reducing traffic on a busy Ethernet network. Unfortunately, that can also introduce latencies that may cause problems for a CNC machine.

Traditionally, CNC commands are "drip-fed" from an attached PC or LAN, in small packets or bits, and timing is critical. For example, if the program sends a "stop" command to a machine, but because of latency the instruction arrives too late, the result could be broken tooling costing thousands of dollars. The ThinQ units are the only ESDS product on the market to offer an Ultra-Low Latency™ setting. This software-selectable feature enables the device to send data as soon as it is received, bit by bit.

For systems integrators, time is money, so speedy ESDS installation and confidence in features like Ultra-Low-Latency mode have a direct impact on the bid quote and project profitability. In addition, environments like machine shops require high quality hardware design and a long warranty, and Paine found both in the Quatech ThinQ ESDS.

"The ThinQ units were fast to install, and Quatech was very responsive," Wallace said. "I will definitely use them again."