A Manager's Guide to Using Computer Vision for OEE

Mike has a new OEE system, but it only works on half of his equipment.

His biggest bottleneck, a 30-year-old stamping press, is a "black hole" in his data. He has no real-time information on its uptime, its performance, or its quality output.

He's still managing his most critical asset with guesswork and a clipboard. This is where Computer Vision provides a simple, powerful solution.

Forget the technical jargon about AI and neural networks. The concept is simple.

You take a standard industrial camera and point it at a machine. Then, you use software to tell it what to watch.

Think of it like giving a security guard a very specific, simple job. "Just tell me when that green light turns red," or "Just count the number of boxes that go by on this conveyor."

The Diagnosis (The Vision System):

The camera is trained to watch a single, simple indicator of the machine's status. This could be a status light on a control panel, the movement of a robotic arm, or the rotation of a gear.

The second the light turns red or the movement stops, the system automatically logs it as "Unplanned Downtime," giving you a 100% accurate, real-time measure of your Availability.

The Integrated Cure (The CMMS Workflow):

This is the Fabrico difference that turns a cool technology into a real solution. The downtime alert isn't a dead end.

The event instantly triggers a high-priority work order in the integrated CMMS, which is sent directly to a technician's phone. This turns your oldest, "dumbest" machine into a smart, connected asset that can automatically ask for help the moment it goes down.

The Diagnosis (The Vision System):

A camera is mounted over a conveyor belt and automatically counts every part that passes by. This provides a 100% accurate, real-time feed of your "Total Count."

This data is essential for calculating your OEE Performance score, and it's impossible to capture this accurately by hand on a high-speed line.

The Integrated Cure (The Proactive Trigger):

The system uses this data to compare your actual production rate to the ideal.

If the system detects a "slow cycle" condition where the production rate has dropped by 10% for five minutes, it's an early warning. This allows Mike to proactively create an inspection work order in the CMMS to find out why the machine is running slow before it breaks down completely.

The Diagnosis (The Vision System):

The camera is trained to spot common, visible defects. This could be a misaligned label on a bottle, a scratch on a finished part, or "flash" on a plastic molded component.

Every time it sees a defect, it automatically increases the "Reject Count" for your OEE Quality calculation.

The Integrated Cure (The Quality Alert Workflow):

A sudden spike in the reject rate is a critical alert that you are actively producing scrap.

This event can be configured to automatically trigger a work order in the CMMS for a quality check or a machine calibration. This allows you to stop producing bad parts the moment the problem starts, saving thousands in wasted material and rework.

Do we need expensive, specialized cameras?

No. For most common use cases like status light monitoring and part counting, modern computer vision software is designed to work with a wide range of standard, off-the-shelf industrial cameras.

Is Computer Vision difficult to set up and train?

While the underlying technology is complex, modern platforms have made the setup process simple. Training the system can be as easy as drawing a box on a screen and telling the software what to look for, with no coding required.

How is this different from a traditional sensor?

A traditional sensor can only measure one thing (e.g., proximity, temperature). A camera is more flexible. It can be trained to "see" and interpret a wide variety of events, making it the perfect solution for older or more complex equipment where installing a traditional sensor is impossible.

The camera is just the eye. It's a powerful tool for diagnosis.

But the real magic is the integrated system that connects what the eye sees (the diagnosis) to the hands that can fix it (the cure, managed by the CMMS).

Ready to see how our integrated platform makes it easy to bring all your assets—new and old—into one smart, connected system?

Book a personalized demo of Fabrico today.