Simple Reporting Systems Collect Valuable Data from Your Legacy Machines

Machines built 20-years ago were built to withstand decades of use. They are the core of many factories, but these machines also hinder your ability to compete, increase profitability and scale your operations to new heights. The problem with legacy equipment is that they were engineered in an era where access to real-time reports didn’t exist, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were impossible to obtain on machines.

Historically, machinists would track machine usage on paper forms. At the end of the day or shift, they would record how long a machine was running and how much time the operator spent setting up the machine at the start of his or her shift. This helps management bill the correct number of hours for the job. While that process helps produce an invoice, if you were to compare the manually recorded report to actual measured data, you would likely find a huge difference between the two.

Old or complicated reporting processes won’t improve logging and communication capabilities or give control back to the operator with the scaling systems at the device instead of the central office. Our proprietary system collects Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) no matter the make, model, or vintage of the machine and creates reports, in real-time, that companies can use to make informed decisions and optimize manufacturing processes. It will also provide an extended lifespan of the legacy equipment with new knowledge using simple reporting features.

The New Way: Better Data Means Operations Improvements

Leading manufactures seek increased operational efficiency and productivity, and many are looking to the Internet of Things (IoT) to bring it. You can collect the same data from legacy machines that new machines produce for a fraction of what it would cost to replace an old machine. By digitizing your factory, you can improve equipment efficiency and lower the overall Cost Of Poor Quality (COPQ).

Monitoring legacy systems fosters better interoperability between hardware devices and software applications. By installing our software in your plant and adding an adapter to older legacy machines, you can detect Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that provide better insight into operational efficiencies. These adapters transform an older machine’s signals into the software protocol without disrupting the mechanism.

Our system will increase your plant’s Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) using historical data for predictive maintenance, supply shortages, and demand spikes. It will also find those hidden capacities in legacy machines to improve productivity. This real-time production visibility is available to anyone in your plant using simple reporting dashboards. Anyone in the plant can access and understand it, which will help quickly identify issues often before they occur. It can even issue alerts to managers and operators through e-mail and text messaging. Management can see where bottlenecks are occurring and why they are happening, empowering them to react and not lose production time.

Operations Improvements Include

• Analyzing downtime and cause rejection.
• Better production scheduling.
• A fully connected plant floor.
• Usage-based predictive maintenance.
• Increased operator engagement and productivity.

Most plant managers know that their operations need some improvements, but don’t have the hard data to make informed decisions on how to accomplish that. Collecting valuable information from all your machines, including your legacy equipment, can change that. Contact us to find out how you can start optimizing your plant floor today.