Best DNC / MDC Software?

Our shop is looking at implementing DNC & MDC (machine data collection). Reasons:

a. DNC - no viruses and good program version control/proven program database management
b. MDC - to monitor our issues on the shopfloor/improve productivity.

Notes:

a. We have done all the RS232/Ethernet wiring with switch boxes ourselves already. It is a wired solution for reliability and speed.
b. We are looking at 27-29 CNCs in the shop.

Now, Here are my questions:

1. Which the the best DNC & MDC software on the market ? Predator? CIMCO? Multi-DNC? DloG? or something else?

2. How much is a fair price for a DNC solution? $200, $300 or $400 per machine?

3. I got some quotes for the DNC + MDC packages and was wondering if the prices i was getting was way too high ($24-30k for ~28 CNCs)? I only got quotes from CIMCO but am collecting from others.

4. Is MDC worth it? What should I look out for ?

5. For those that have got an MDC solution, how much did it cost & what was the average ROI time for it?

I appreciate the help.

Do you actually have issues with viruses making it onto machines, or is that a solution to a hypothetical problem?

We DNC to three of our machines, purely because they are older and don't have ethernet. The rest have ethernet and use ftp to pull programs off of our fileserver. You can use any document management/versioning system you want in this case. It costs nothing, and is as secure and capable as you make it.

I would investigate Predator software. They have many suites tailored for various aspects of shop management.

Is Predator better than CIMCO?

Also, having DNC would help when trying to transfer programs to 28 CNCs and keeping them running.

The virus thing is hypothetical I guess.. the source of that problem was something else. I was hoping that DNC would help with reducing downtime and having the operators come to the programmers office (1 office/location where programmers sit) for 28 machines.

Another few questions - we were looking into CIMCO NC Base and PDM / MDM.
1. How much should I expect to pay for PDM /MDM on top of NC Base?
2. Also, is PDM worth it? I want to have user access control and control manufacturing documents. Note that I do not have computers next to each CNC Machine.

I don't know anything about CIMCO, sorry. Predator DNC is very powerful and you can execute downloads and uploads from the machine among many other things. You can check it out at DNC CNC Predator Software | Shop Floor Automations

Someone recommended a package called "Open Communication For Fanuc" and I have to admit, it connected to my Oi-Mate MD via FTP/wireless Ethernet on the first try. Transfers files back and forth, wonderful! The only issue is that it's a demo and the guys that wrote it don't respond to license requests. It's a shame, works like a charm otherwise.

I'm testing EasyDNC, we'll see how it goes. The only other choice that seemed inexpensive was NCLink, but it's not compatible with Windows 7/8 64bit.

I'm curious how the Open Comm for Fanuc is making FTP work. My controller can ftp *out* to a pc, but the software seems to recognize the mill via the FOCAS port and then doing a reverse-local thing.

I don't have the data server option for drip feed (yet), but imagine it gets even easier with that.

Sorry for the blathering, hope some of it is useful.

AD

I know I'm replying pretty late to this thread, but i do recommend anyone looking for DNC/production document management take a look at our wesbite: Welcome to Nexas America - Improve your manufacturing productivity we provide a variety of software machining solutions.

You guys should really check out http://www.highlanddnc.com/ Jerry is awesome to work with, has excellent product at very fair prices. He has never let me or one of my customers down!

Reach out to him, let him know what you want to do and he'll give you the straight answers you are looking for.

I use CIMCO and it works fine every time. The workers typically use a DOS based program to send and receive programs though, due to its simplicity, reliability, and the fact the foreman is stubborn about learning or implementing new things.