"Out with the old and in with the new."

I am sure you have heard the title of this post before. It seems that is the mantra around New Years day (or spring cleaning, or fall or ...whenever a milestone is reached).

Unfortunately, in the world of machinery, that news is not always welcome. We would all like to have replacement parts available for our machines for 10 or more years. I have had calls for products that were discontinued 20 years ago. Sadly, parts are not made forever. New technologies make old parts obsolete. The good news is that new technologies are an improvement over the old machines. Still people like to stick with what they know works. I really can't blame them. "So where is all of this going?" you might ask.

Last year the ZOID product line was discontinued because some parts were not manufactured anymore. KEP could not get them anywhere. Some years before that, it was the EB500 Series of HMI that went obsolete for the same reason. All of this caused upheaval with customers. So, no doubt, this next announcement will also cause some heartache.

In December of 2011 the MMI8056 will become obsolete. Yes, it is because parts availability is the issue. We would like to continue selling this product into 2012 but will be unable to do so.

This is a very early announcement so that users of the MMI8056 can convert their projects over to the MMI8070H. The 8070H is a widescreen unit that fits in the same cutout and programs up with the same software as the MMI8056.
Pick up the MMI8070H datasheet here.

On the bright side, there is a new release from KEP coming soon, the MMI6100. This is the popular MMI8100 without an Ethernet port. It programs up through its miniUSB port. If you do not need Ethernet communications this is the perfect 10 inch unit to suit your application.
More great news: The list price is under $1000.00!

The MMI6100 makes a great replacement for the former MMI-1500T, MMI-1500S or MMI1050.
Availability should be 01FEB11. Watch for details coming soon.

So, "in with the new" and Happy New Year!