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Real-time OEE for presses and CNC machines

Each machine gets its own OEE, split into availability, performance and quality. The machine supplies the counts, and the operator uses the iOS or Android app to add what only a person knows, such as the cause of a stop.

  • Availability: the share of planned production time the machine actually ran, with each stop logged by its start, its length and the cause the operator tags.
  • Performance: strokes or cycles counted by the PLC or a sensor, compared with the ideal cycle time, which exposes slow cycles and micro-stops.
  • Quality: good parts against all parts, with scrap entered at the quality check.
  • On the floor: a QR code on a press or CNC machine opens its record, files and repair history in one scan.

A press shop, a machining hall and an extrusion line are measured on the same basis, so the plant manager can compare them directly. See how the figure is calculated and displayed in our OEE software.

Die changes, tool changes and micro-stops

In metal forming and machining, lost time often comes in pieces too short or too routine to write down. Fabrico records each stop on a connected machine from its signal, so the downtime record no longer depends on what someone remembered at the end of the shift.

Die changes and tool changes: operators tag a die change on a press or a tool change on a CNC machine as the cause of the stop. Changeover time then shows up per machine, apart from breakdowns.

Micro-stops: a short jam in a progressive die, a coil feeder that hesitates or a part that sticks in the fixture lowers performance without ever looking like a breakdown. Fabrico detects these micro-stops from the signal and adds them up per machine, so a few seconds lost each time become a visible total.

Breakdowns and waiting: longer stops are listed by cause, machine and shift, next to waiting for material, for a crane or for the setter. MTTR and MTBF per machine show whether a press is failing more often or taking longer to fix.

Our downtime tracking software goes deeper into stop reasons and downtime analysis.

Machine monitoring by PLC, sensor or camera

Fabrico connects to each machine in the way that machine allows. Older presses and newer machining centers can sit side by side in one plant view.

  • PLC connection: live machine data such as cycle counts, run status and stop signals, read from the controller of a press, a CNC machine or an extrusion press.
  • IoT sensors: for a machine without an accessible PLC, a sensor counts strokes or cycles and reports when the machine runs and when it stops.
  • Computer vision: AI cameras on the production line count output where the machine gives no usable signal.

Machine data and operator input meet in one record per machine, so the OEE figure and the reason behind each loss are read together. For what each connection option needs on the machine, see our machine monitoring software.

Press and furnace maintenance, CMMS built in

When a stop needs a repair, the work is handled in the built-in CMMS. A technician opens a work order from the stop, and the repair is added to the machine's history.

  • Preventive maintenance: an annual PM plan and recurring task templates for presses, furnaces, casting machines and extrusion lines, on a calendar with drag-and-drop rescheduling.
  • Emergency repairs: a reactive flow with reaction-time tracking for each call-out.
  • Spare parts: a catalog with min and max levels, deliveries and stock-takes, with consumption tied to the work order.
  • Technicians: tasks allocated by drag and drop, with a warning when someone is over-allocated.

Top machines by repair count come from these work order records. Maintenance and production work from one set of downtime figures when they decide which press or furnace needs attention first.

Scrap, multi-plant OEE and ERP integration for metal groups

In many metal plants, scrap is counted on paper or in a separate system, away from the machine data. In Fabrico it lands in the quality figure of the machine that made it, so a press that runs all shift but makes bad parts no longer looks healthy.

Multi-plant view: a group account shows all plants together, with cross-plant comparison reports for press shops, foundries and extrusion sites.

ERP: bidirectional sync with SAP PM, SAP S/4HANA integration, and Dynamics or Oracle through a custom integration.

Open data: a REST API and webhooks, and any list exported to Excel or CSV for your own analysis.

Access: role-based access control and an audit log, with SSO available as a custom integration.

To put a money figure on the gap between today's OEE and your target, use the OEE calculator. For a longer read on CNC shops and fabricators, see our guide to OEE in metal fabrication.

Questions metal manufacturers ask about OEE software

Can Fabrico track OEE on older presses without a modern PLC? Yes, a press without an accessible PLC gets an IoT sensor that counts its strokes, so old and new presses report into one OEE view.

Is Fabrico an MES or a maintenance system? It is an MES and OEE platform that monitors production, with a CMMS built in for the repairs behind the stops.

Does Fabrico plan production or schedule jobs on the presses? Not today: production planning and job scheduling are on our roadmap, while Fabrico currently covers monitoring, OEE, downtime tracking and maintenance.

How long does a rollout take? Installing and connecting the OEE hardware on your machines takes about 1 month, and the plant is fully rolled out in 3 to 4 months.

Is our production data secure? Fabrico is certified to ISO/IEC 27001, stores data in the AWS EU region, encrypts it at rest and in transit, and runs daily backups.

What happens in a demo? It is a 30 minute conversation with a Fabrico consultant, no commitment, about your machines and the losses you want to measure, and anything you share is handled under ISO 27001.

Have a question about your own presses or furnaces? Contact us.

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