Straight from the machines
Read from PLC, HMI and OPC tags
- Running, idle and stopped states
- Good and total part counts
- Cycle signals behind run rates
- When each stop began and ended
- Reject counts, where a tag exists
For people who run the floor
Start with the number that matters. The dashboard comes after.
You already have screens, exports and spreadsheets. What is often missing is agreement on which figure should open the morning meeting, who answers for it, and a way to see it every shift without anyone typing it in. Vectis Works helps you settle that first, then builds the live view around it, straight from the machines.
Pick your first number with us
Four questions we answer together before anything is built
-
1
Which bottleneck costs the most?
The machine, line or changeover where lost time hurts output hardest.
-
2
Which measure proves it?
One defined figure that the whole meeting reads the same way.
-
3
Who owns fixing it?
A named role that answers for the figure when it moves.
-
4
What shows it every shift?
A live view fed by the controls, not rebuilt by hand the night before.
More data is not the fix.
Plenty of shops are not short of numbers. There is an HMI screen at every machine, an export from the ERP, and a spreadsheet somebody updates before the meeting. Each one counts uptime a little differently, so the conversation starts with whose figure is right.
One more screen of disconnected numbers makes that worse. The useful step is smaller: agree on a single measure tied to the bottleneck, give it an owner, and let the machines report it.
Already in your controls
What the machines can report today
PLCs, HMIs and OPC servers such as Kepware usually hold what a first measure needs. We connect read-only and pull these figures from the floor as they happen.
- Machine status
- Part counts
- Run rates
- Uptime
- Downtime, with reasons
- Scrap, where it is recorded
- OEE (overall equipment effectiveness)
- Trends over days and weeks
Which of these goes on the screen first depends on your answers to the four questions.
One measure on a screen
A figure, a name beside it, and where it is heading
A first view can be as small as one tile. It carries the measure, the role responsible for it and how it has moved over recent shifts, so the meeting opens on the same figure and moves straight to what to do about it.
Unplanned downtimeSample
Press cell 4, second shift
38minutes this shift
OwnerSecond-shift supervisor
Last eight shifts
An honest split
Some of the number comes from the machines. Some comes from you.
The controls know when a machine runs, stops and makes a part. They do not know your plan for the day. We say which half is which at the start, so nobody is surprised later.
From your schedule and standards
Mapped in from your ERP, standards or team
- The shift calendar and planned breaks
- Ideal cycle time for each part
- Which part or job is on each machine
- The stop reasons your team agrees on
- The target the owner is measured against
OEE needs both halves. Availability and counts come from the controls; planned time and ideal cycle time come from your own records.
Read-only and yours to keep
Nothing we add can change how a machine runs.
A measure on a screen should never become a new risk to production, or a system you rent back from us.
No write path to the controls
The connection reads tags and logs. It sends no commands and changes no setpoints.
Your team can check it
Your controls and IT people can see every connection and account, and confirm for themselves what is being read.
You own what is built
The code, the dashboard and the data stay with your company. Support afterwards is a choice, with no license tail.
Bring the argument from your last meeting.
Tell us where the floor loses time and which figures people dispute. We will work through the four questions with you, and say plainly if a dashboard is not the answer.