News

Pathfinder Shared Part Library

6/3/2010 9:12:25 AM

If you have ever needed to share profiles between folding machines, at best you had to export that profile from one machine and import it to another - and that's only if your machines were new enough to support the ability to export profiles. If you didn't have two identical makes and models of machines, you couldn't even do that. Unfortunately, for many machines the only option was to re-program the profile on the other machine(s) and hope it was programmed correctly.

Now, flash forward to today. AMS Controls has developed the cutting edge Pathfinder folding machine controller to allow your folding machine to do things even new machines can't. Pathfinder puts all of your folding machines on common ground; very high-tech common ground.

When your machines are using the Pathfinder controller along with the Order Desk Job Management system, all your trim profiles can reside in one shared database on your network. This means that all your machines will access the same profiles every time you run them. If you create a new profile on one machine, it's automatically available to the rest of the machines. With Order Desk, you can even create all new profiles from a desktop PC in the office and production doesn't even have to be interrupted. Those profiles are then stored in the shared database for all machines to access. How's that for creating a Corporate Profile Library?

Several Viewing Options in Pathfinder's Part Library View

Worried about the fact that the bending sequence on your Schechtl might be different from the sequence on your Jorns? Don't be. Pathfinder has you covered. The sequences for each profile are stored locally at each machine and are based on the actual geometry of that machine. The profiles you're making are the same, but the sequence may be very different. Can your controller do that?

Another benefit of the Pathfinder / Order Desk combination is the ability to create jobs from the office and have them automatically available to all your Pathfinder folding machines. Imagine simply scanning a barcode on a stack of blanks at the folding machine and having the job with the correct profile automatically load and the appropriate quantity already set...it is possible, and we'll talk more about that in the next issue. Stay tuned!