Line Video Storage: Edge or Cloud, Excerpts or Continuous Recording

Key takeaways

• Continuous recording stores every second. Saved excerpts store only the seconds around a stop.
• On a sample line with 3 cameras, continuous video fills 129.6 GB a day. One 20 second excerpt per stop fills 1.5 GB.
• Ask what leaves the line: a stream, counts and stop records, or saved excerpts. Each needs a different link.
• Agree retention and access in one line before the first camera goes up.

A line camera makes a lot of video, but OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) needs very little of it. If you save video at all, save a short excerpt per stop instead of recording all day. Analyse the frames next to the line, and storage, uplink and privacy work all shrink.

Fabrico is a cloud-based OEE and light MES (manufacturing execution system) platform, with AI cameras as an add-on that count parts. Stops come from the machine signal and the operator adds the reason. You can open the camera video for that minute, and in the standard setup it is streamed, not stored in Fabrico. So the sizing below is for video a plant stores itself, for example on its own cameras or recorder. The arithmetic is shown for IT and plant managers.

How much video does one line camera make?

It depends on the camera's bitrate: how much data it produces each second while it records. The datasheet gives it in megabits per second (Mbit/s). Four things set it:

• Resolution: more pixels, more data.
• Frames per second: a fast line needs more frames to see a short jam.
• Compression: newer codecs store the same picture in less space.
• Motion in the scene: a busy conveyor makes more data than an empty one.

The arithmetic is simple. Divide the bitrate by 8 to get megabytes a second. Multiply by the seconds you record, then by the number of cameras and the days you keep it.

A line that runs around the clock records 86,400 seconds a day per camera. Measure the real bitrate on the pilot line, at full speed: a datasheet is a start, not a measurement.

What is the difference between saved excerpts and continuous recording?

Continuous recording stores everything and searches later. Saved excerpts keep only what matters.

In an excerpt design, a recorder holds the last few seconds in a rolling buffer. When the machine signal reports a stop, those seconds become the start of the excerpt. Everything else is dropped.

Fabrico's standard setup is different: camera video is streamed, not stored in Fabrico. Stops come from the machine signal, such as a PLC (programmable logic controller). Our guide to micro stops and computer vision shows what the camera add-on's video can show.

Worked example: how much storage does a sample line need per day?

Sample line (illustrative numbers, not a customer): a bottling line that runs three shifts, 24 hours a day. Three cameras watch the filler infeed, the labeller and the case packer.

Each camera records at a sample bitrate of 4 Mbit/s; check your own camera's datasheet. The machine signal logs 150 stops a day, and the plant saves a 20 second excerpt for each. Each stop record is about 1 KB. Here 1 GB = 1,000 MB.

• One camera, continuous: 4 Mbit/s / 8 = 0.5 MB a second. 0.5 x 86,400 seconds = 43,200 MB, or 43.2 GB a day.
• Three cameras, continuous: 3 x 43.2 = 129.6 GB a day.
• Saved excerpts: 150 x 20 seconds = 3,000 seconds of video. 3,000 x 0.5 MB = 1,500 MB, or 1.5 GB a day.
• Stop records: 150 x 1 KB = 150 KB a day. Too small to matter.
• Ratio: 129.6 / 1.5 = 86.4. The excerpts need about 86 times less storage.

Retention multiplies the gap. Three days of excerpts, 4.5 GB, take the same space as 50 minutes of continuous video from the three cameras: 4,500 MB / 1.5 MB a second = 3,000 seconds.

The uplink tells the same story. Continuous video sent to the cloud would hold 3 x 4 = 12 Mbit/s of the plant link all day. The excerpts average 1,500 MB x 8 = 12,000 Mbit over 86,400 seconds, about 0.14 Mbit/s.

And the excerpts are the part you would review: each one belongs to a stop and its reason. The other 128 GB a day show a line running normally, and people at work.

Should line video be processed at the edge or in the cloud?

Frames at the edge, small data upstream. Video analysis is heavy on bandwidth and sensitive to delay. That makes it a natural job for a computer at the line or in the plant.

• At the edge: the frames, the model, the rolling buffer and any saved excerpts waiting for review.
• Upstream: part counts, stop records, OEE figures and the video you decide to send.
• In the cloud: model updates, dashboards across plants and search.

Storing raw video in the cloud by default is a choice to make on purpose. It fills the uplink and turns every frame into a data protection question. Decide it with IT and your data protection officer, and ask every vendor what leaves the line.

Edge processing can also help privacy. Frames can be processed in memory and discarded, with faces blurred or bodies reduced to boxes before anything is stored.

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) notes that processing in real time without recording can be the less intrusive option, depending on the purpose. Our edge or cloud worksheet for shop floor data sorts the rest.

What should you agree on retention and access?

Write it as one line per camera group, and sign it before the first install. The line has five parts:

• What is kept: stop records and one excerpt per stop, or stop records only. No continuous video.
• Where: on which machine, at the line or upstream.
• How long: days, deleted automatically. The EDPB says ideally after a few days; beyond 72 hours needs stronger justification.
• Access: named roles, for the stated purpose, every view logged.
• Exceptions: longer only for an open repair or quality case, with the reason written down.

For the sample line above, it reads: Line 2 cameras: frames analysed at the line and dropped; one 20 second excerpt per stop; excerpts deleted automatically after 3 days; access for the shift lead, the improvement lead and the maintenance planner; every view logged.

Keep the stop record apart from the excerpt. The record holds time, minutes and reason, which is what OEE needs, and it follows your OEE data retention strategy. The excerpt can go once the reason is added.

In Germany, the works council co-decides on any camera able to monitor performance. Our guide to production line cameras without surveillance covers the rest.

What mistakes do plants make with line video storage?

• Sizing for continuous recording, then keeping excerpts "just in case". Each extra day is more footage to protect, and OEE gains nothing.
• Excerpts with no stop record. Every excerpt belongs to one stop, or nobody finds it.
• Clocks out of step. Video times must match the stop times from the PLC, so put cameras on the plant's time server.
• No proof of deletion. Ask how deletion is logged, and check the log at each review.

Where Fabrico fits

Fabrico is a cloud-based OEE and light MES platform. OEE and light MES come first; cameras are an add-on.

• AI cameras (an add-on) count parts on manual and packing stations.
• Camera video you can open for a stop's minute. In the standard setup it is streamed, not stored in Fabrico.
• The operator adds the reason.
• OEE live by line and shift, with every loss priced in money.

Where video is processed and the access rules are agreed for each plant with Fabrico's technical team. You start with a pilot on one line. Devices connected in about a month; full rollout in 3 to 4 months. There is no free plan and there are no tiers: each plant gets a quote. See the computer vision OEE and MES page (cameras are an add-on).

Frequently asked questions

How much storage does a production line camera need?

It depends on its bitrate and on what you keep. Divide the bitrate in Mbit/s by 8 for megabytes a second, then multiply by the seconds you store. Saved excerpts store only the seconds around each stop, so they need far less.

Should we record production line video around the clock?

Not for OEE. The stop record and, if you want one, a short excerpt per stop give the plant what it needs. Continuous recording multiplies storage, uplink load and privacy work. If an investigation needs more, agree a short, time-boxed recording with your data protection officer and works council first.

How long should saved production line video be kept?

Days, not months. The EDPB guidelines on video say footage should be erased, ideally automatically, after a few days, and keeping it beyond 72 hours needs stronger justification. Agree the period with your data protection officer, and keep an excerpt longer only for an open repair or quality case.

Can we keep stop data longer than saved video?

Yes, and you should. The stop record holds the time, the minutes and the reason, which is what OEE trends need. It is small and holds no video. Delete saved video on its timer and keep the record under your normal OEE data retention rules.

Plan your camera storage in a demo

Have your IT rules at hand. We will show lines like yours: a stop, the reason the operator adds and the cost. Ask us about the camera.

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