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Andon Light vs Andon Board: Signal at the Machine vs Signal for the Plant

Andon Light vs Andon Board: Signal at the Machine vs Signal for the Plant

An andon light tells you one machine needs help. An andon board tells you the whole line’s state at a glance. Why mature plants run both, not one.
Andon Light vs Andon Board: Signal at the Machine vs Signal for the Plant
Andon Light vs Andon Board: Signal at the Machine vs Signal for the Plant

Key takeaways

  • An andon light signals the state of one machine or station to whoever is nearby.
  • An andon board aggregates many signals into one plant- or line-level view.
  • Lights drive immediate local response; boards drive supervision, escalation, and trend visibility.
  • Mature plants run both — the light for the operator, the board for the team leader and beyond.

Short answer: An andon light is a per-station signal — green/yellow/red telling anyone nearby that a machine is running, needs attention, or is down. An andon board aggregates those signals into one screen for the line or plant. The light triggers the immediate fix; the board triggers escalation and shows patterns over time. See also oee for manufacturing.

What an andon light does

  • Shows one station’s state at the station.
  • Triggers immediate operator or team-leader response.
  • Often operator-activated (call for help) or machine-triggered (fault).

What an andon board does

  • Aggregates many stations into one view.
  • Shows line balance, bottlenecks, and who is down now.
  • Feeds escalation timers and response tracking.
  • Becomes a data source for downtime analysis.

Why you need both

The light gets the right person to the right machine fast. The board gives the team leader the whole picture, supports escalation when a call goes unanswered, and turns andon events into downtime data you can Pareto.

From andon to OEE

Every andon event is a downtime or assistance record. Feed andon signals into an OEE system and the "call for help" becomes a reason-coded Availability loss you can actually reduce.

Common mistakes

1. Lights with no board. No escalation, no trend, no accountability.

2. Board with no lights. Operators have no immediate local signal.

3. Andon events not logged. The richest downtime data evaporates.

See how Fabrico captures this automatically on your lines — explore OEE for manufacturing or book a demo.

Related reading

Frequently asked questions

Is a board just a digital andon?

It aggregates many andon signals; a single light is one station.

Can OEE software replace the board?

Often yes — a live OEE dashboard is a modern andon board.

Should andon be operator- or machine-triggered?

Both: operators call for help, machines signal faults.

Do andon events feed OEE?

They should — each is an Availability event.

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