MANUFACTURING INTELLIGENCE: POWERED BY INDUSTRY 4.0

Reliable part counts are the backbone of good decision-making on the shop floor. Yet for many manufacturers, getting that number right is anything but easy. Some machines have unreliable or inconsistent part counting built in. Others rely on operator input or custom programming to get it right. And when your operators are busy running machines, inspecting parts, and managing changeovers, manual counting is the last thing they should be focused on. When counts are missing or...

For manufacturers operating multiple plants, getting real-time, apples-to-apples visibility is a major challenge. Each site often runs different systems, measures performance with different KPIs, or reports data inconsistently (and usually in a manual fashion). This leaves operations leaders, VPs, and plant managers spending too much time piecing together spreadsheets, comparing outdated reports, and reacting to problems only after they’ve impacted throughput or delivery....

Legacy MES systems and basic monitoring tools are often rigid and slow to adapt. While they claim to offer broad functionality, they’re rarely configured to reflect the nuances of your operations - and trying to force-fit unique workflows into generic systems only creates friction. Every manufacturer is different: machines, processes, KPIs, team structures, and tribal knowledge all vary. Your systems should support that, not fight it. Introducing the MachineMetrics App...

There’s no shortage of data on the modern shop floor. The problem is getting the right information to the right people - with the right context to make a difference. Supervisors walk the floor to check on machines. Operators rely on paperwork to see what job is next. Production planners and schedulers constantly follow up to understand where jobs stand and what’s holding them up. And even with ERP systems and machine monitoring in place, many teams still lack a clear,...

For most manufacturers, labor tracking still feels like a disconnected process. Time clocks sit in one system, job data lives in another, and payroll has to piece it all together later. This creates real challenges: Inaccurate or incomplete time records Duplicate data entry across systems Difficulty reconciling labor time with actual production Limited visibility into operator attendance and coverage Manual processes that slow down payroll and create compliance risk...

You ran the kaizen event. You saw the improvement. But two months later… is anything actually different? It’s a challenge every CI leader faces. Gains made during Lean or Six Sigma initiatives often fade once the post-it notes are cleared and attention shifts to the next fire. And without a way to monitor what’s really happening on the floor, it’s hard to tell whether your process improvements are creating a short term performance bump or driving a lasting impact. That’s...

Manufacturing schedules look great on paper—until they meet the real world. Every day, jobs run late. Machines sit idle. Priorities shift. And despite everyone’s best efforts, it’s hard to answer one deceptively simple question: Are we on schedule? Most manufacturers don’t have a clear way to answer that. ERP systems show when work orders are supposed to start and finish—but not whether they actually did. Supervisors might track delays informally, but that insight rarely...

Even the most capable ERP system can only tell you what was planned. It can’t tell you what’s actually happening on the floor, right now. For most discrete manufacturers, job tracking still relies on end-of-shift paperwork, late or missing labor tickets, and verbal updates passed between operators and supervisors. The result? Leaders make decisions based on stale data, operators work with incomplete information, and production risks remain hidden until it’s too late to act....

Executive Snapshot Tariff policy has shifted sharply in the past 18 months, squeezing margins for U.S. discrete-manufacturing plants. Metal duties remain in force, a new 25% levy on imported vehicles and parts took effect this spring, and Chinese imports have risen at an astounding rate. Manufacturing executives have already begun taking action, flexing their supply chain muscles to identify new sources of material, bring manufacturing back to the US, and, in many cases,...

Did you know that MachineMetrics provides real-time visibility into tool life across your entire shop floor? MachineMetrics Tool Life Monitoring delivers real-time visibility into tool life and enables proactive, data-driven decisions to optimize when tool changes occur. With this release, manufacturers can stop relying on guesswork, spreadsheets, and operator memory, and start managing tools using real-time data. Tool failures are a constant threat to production, resulting...