01 · Operational Context
The Problem
Production status across multi-plant facilities was captured on physical paper job cards, handed over at shift end, and manually typed into the ERP overnight. Management was consistently operating on yesterday's plant data rather than real-time conditions.
02 · Direct Observation
What We Noticed
On-the-ground reality
Shadowing shift supervisors on the floor revealed that supervisors walked identical physical loops multiple times a day merely to collect clipboard tallies. Crucially, recurring line stoppages were preceded by subtle temperature and vibration anomalies up to an hour before any operator noticed.
03 · The Underlying Signal
What Mattered
The issue wasn't operator diligence; it was latency. The paper handoff decoupled the physical line event from the maintenance intervention window.
04 · The Engineering Solution
What We Built
- 1Ruggedised touch terminals with barcode job scanning deployed directly at each machine workstation.
- 2SCADA and PLC sensor streams piped into an event bus for real-time line throughput visualization.
- 3Automated condition-based alerting routed directly to maintenance technicians when thermal drifts exceed operational thresholds.
05 · Qualitative Shift
What Changed
Supervisors ceased manual data runs and returned to floor coaching. Unplanned downtime dropped significantly as maintenance transitioned from reactive repair to anticipatory intervention, and ERP inventory counts reflect actual hourly floor throughput.