THE LAST METRE
The last metre, or last meter if you live in the United States, is the combination of technical, and sometimes business, challenges involved to make the final connection of a device to the Internet. A device would be any device from a multi-million dollar machine tool to an inexpensive sensor.
Many have heard of “the last mile problem” as it relates to the challenge of connecting a house to the Internet. Solving “the last mile problem” can be quite complicated and costly with legal right of ways, homeowner associations, and local politics and of course homeowner concerns. Solving the last metre is exponentially more complex because of the number and types of machines and devices on the manufacturing floor. At MEMEX, we know how to solve the last metre on the manufacturing floor and we know our smart manufacturing toolkit and Continuous Improvement Fast-Track Services methodology can provide the platform to solve the last metre problem in a variety of industries.
Why is the last metre important?
As the old saying goes, the great thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from, and there are more standards coming every day. It is widely believed that less than 10 percent of all shops or plants monitor their manufacturing floor. The reason for this very low number is the complexity and cost of connecting to the wide range of machine tools and manufacturing equipment. Without the ability to connect and get data from these devices, the ability to improve plant operations is completely stymied. When shops or plants are asked what their current utilization percent are, the number is typically 65 to 70 percent. When these plants are actually measured, the real number is 30 to 35 percent.
As Lord Kelvin so simply, yet elegantly stated, “you cannot manage what you cannot measure.”
Where and how is the last metre being solved?
With a wide range of protocols and expensive proprietary options, it has only been the largest of companies that have attempted to solve the last metre problem. Even then, these companies typically find out that it is much more costly and expensive than they initially planned. Too many companies end up with one-off solutions where they are forever locked into a very specific and usually expensive solution.
MEMEX solves the last metre problem in a way that leaves the customer with choices today and choices tomorrow.
