Today’s manufacturing equipment comes with a wide array of data-collection mechanisms–from sensors and scales to full-screen displays it can be easy to see what each machine is producing and when, and if errors occur. But for older manufacturing equipment–workhorses built before robotics and sensors–there is a gap in plant management’s understanding of downtime incidents, peak production speeds, exception reporting and more.
Smart sensors on legacy manufacturing equipment
Older manufacturing equipment can now be equipped with simple, low-cost technology that requires only WiFi and power. High-speed, semi-automated and even manual processes can now produce quantifiable data including throughput, speed, downtime, maximum and minimum outputs, and more.
Don’t just see the data – act on the data
Once you’ve seen how powerful it is to turn outdated equipment into data-generating machines, you’ll quickly want to turn that into actionable information. Consider this example of how this can immediately improve your operations.
Here’s an example of how real-time reporting drives results. Second shift had 5 downtime incidents totaling over 2 hours — all for the same issue — with no resolution to the problem. What if the second time the equipment went down, the shift supervisor got a text to check the machine and the line. The third time it went down the shift supervisor and the plant leader received texts. How much impact would that have on productivity? Tremendous!
It’s all configurable of course, but that’s the kind of insights that take a business from good to great. Issues can be addressed at the time they are happening by the people who can help. Record output can also be tracked to see how to replicate it!
Learn more about adding data gathering to legacy manufacturing equipment or get a free data analysis to see how your operations could benefit from real-time data and alerts!