Perlick Corporation, www.perlick.com , in Milwaukee, WI has been manufacturing bar and beverage dispensing equipment since 1917. 

We recently talked to Debbie Zenisek, Manufacturing Engineer, at Perlick Corporation.  Perlick has an extensive history in using a DNC system.  They changed to CIMCO DNC last year because their previous system was “not stable.”  If one machine went down, all the machines went down.  As you could imagine this would happen at the most inconvenient times, many times during their second shift.  A significant point here is that while they were not happy with their old DNC system they clearly understood how valuable a reliable DNC system could be to their throughput.  After a thirty-day trial on two of their machines, they quickly scrapped the old system and embraced CIMCO.

We asked Debbie what convinced management to invest in yet another DNC system after experiencing such limiting results with their old system.  Debbie said, “We are trying hard to standardize our programs and set-up data and have that information accessible to everyone.   Attempting to do that on the old system was very difficult.  The information we did have required entry into a homemade MS Access database and I was the only person capable of using it.  We knew it would be impossible to accomplish our objectives with the old system.  We had to find a better way to meet our objectives.”

We asked Debbie what she likes about the CIMCO DNC system.  “It’s window based and easy for everyone in the shop to use,” was Debbie response.  She went on, “The CIMCO software has so many more options.  For example, we use two different Mazak controls, T-Plus and Fusion.  The old system could check only one of the directories.  The CIMCO system will check the Fusion directory and if there’s nothing there, it will automatically check the T-Plus directory.  It’s certainly helping us to standardize.  All the programs and set-up data are easily accessible.  The operators can obtain whatever they need from a computer right on the manufacturing floor.”  Debbie continued to explain, “There have been a few times when I had to access the system from home during the second shift, and it was very easy to do.  We were able to keep the jobs running.”

Why did Perlick select MSI and the CIMCO DNC solution.  Debbie answered, We have been dealing with your company for many years and are confident and satisfied with the relationship.  Jody (Editor’s Note:  Jody Romanowski, Manager, of the Machinery Systems Software Division) is very knowledgeable and has always quickly responded to any questions or needs we have had.”

And, finally, when I asked Debbie if she has been able to quantify a throughput or productivity increase, Debbie responded that she hadn’t determined a percentage although she does know that machine down time is definitely less.