An MTConnect integration provides a robust amount of data and typically does not entail additional hardware or software adapters - along with the accompanying labor - that are necessary for older, legacy equipment.  In fact, MTConnect is so simple, machine integration can often be accomplished without the aid of MachineMetrics on-site technicians. 

Article Topics

This article contains the following topics:

• What is MTConnect?
• MTConnect-Supported Machines
• Enabling MTConnect
  • How to find out if your machine is producing MTConnect data
• MTConnect Integration Types
  • MTConnect Agent
  • MTConnect Adapter
  • MTConnect Adapter Custom
• Using Other Data Standards
• Where to learn more about MTConnect

What is MTConnect? 

How to find out if your machine is producing MTConnect data

1. Wire ethernet from your network to the machine and set a static IP.
2. From a desktop, ping the IP address of the machine to confirm that it's connected.
3. In a browser, go to port 7878 on that machine (Example: 192.168.10.11:7878).
4. If no data appears, then your machine is not producing MTConnect data. You may require a control software upgrade. If no software upgrades are available for your machine model, MachineMetrics can suggest other methods for data acquisition.
   
   *Keep in mind that MTConnect may be an executable file on your machine control's Windows based back end. A search for MTConnect should reveal whether this software is installed on your machine. A restart of the software might be necessary: How to Restart MTConnect

If you are able to successfully enable MTConnect, the next step is to add your machine to your MachineMetrics Account. 

MTConnect Integration Types

There are three different MTConnect options present when selecting a machine’s integration type in your Machine Settings.The differences between the three types are described below.

MTConnect Agent

Connects the machine to MachineMetrics by reading its MTConnect Agent XML, typically  off of port 5000 from the MTConnect server on the machine. 

MTConnect Adapter

Connects the machine to MachineMetrics by ingesting a SHDR stream emitted by the MTConnect Server on the machine. Does not support any MachineMetrics data transform capabilities.

MTConnect Adapter Custom

Connects the machine to MachineMetrics by ingesting a SHDR stream emitted by the MTConnect Server on the machine. This option allows for custom configuration using MachineMetrics data transform capabilities.

Using other data standards

If you are already gathering data using other standards, there is no need to switch to MTConnect. MachineMetrics supports all existing data standards. If you do want to switch, many existing standards have adapters already written for them. You can find them on the MTConnect Github.

Where to learn more about MTConnect