Replacing a Hardware Counter with a FANUC Macro Program: $1,060 Saved per Month

Replacing a Hardware Counter with a FANUC Macro Program: $1,060 Saved per Month

At a factory where I previously worked, we had around 200 CNC machines (turning and milling) running on FANUC control systems.

For many years, we used a hardware device called the Consolidated Counter (Koyo KCM-50P-1).

Its functions were quite simple:

1. Count the number of tool uses
2. Count production output by shift

However, we identified a recurring cost.

On average, we had to replace about 2 counter units per month.

Cost per unit: $530

Therefore:

Monthly cost = $1,060

And as the machines became older, the number of failures continued to increase.

Device Analysis

The counter had 9 counting positions.

Positions 1–8

→ Counted the number of machining cycles for tools 1 through 8.

Position 9

→ Counted the production output for each shift.

At the beginning of each shift, the operator reset the counter to zero.

At the end of the shift, they checked position 9 to determine the production output.

The Improvement Idea

Instead of continuing to replace the hardware, we used FANUC Custom Macro B to develop a software-based counter.

We used variables such as:

#1, #100, #500

along with system variables in the #3000–#9999 range to build the macro program.

What the Macro Can Do

The program can:

1. Count tool usage
2. Count production output
3. Remind operators to perform periodic inspections

For example:

After every 40 pieces, the machine displays:

“Perform inspection – 40-piece interval.”

This is an additional function that the original hardware counter did not provide.

One More Improvement

We also added logic to prevent inflated production reporting.

For example, if an operator actually produces 500 pieces, the logic prevents the system from simply being run again to report 550 pieces.

Result

After implementing the macro program:

No more counter replacements were required.

Monthly saving:

$1,060

The potential annual saving was:

$12,720

And if a similar solution could be applied across 200 machines, the potential value could reach:

$212,000 per month

or

$2.544 million per year.

Note: The $212,000 figure is a potential extrapolation based on the $1,060 monthly saving per machine, not the actual saving from the original implementation.

Question for Maintenance Engineers

How many machines in your factory are still using this type of hardware counter?

And how frequently do you replace them?

If a similar software-based solution could replace the hardware, how much cost could your factory save?

Share your numbers. It would be interesting to compare the potential Costdown across different factories.