At the machine
Operators
See the target for the current run and how the shift is tracking against it, on a display at the line instead of on a clipboard.
- Live target versus actual
- Immediate stop visibility
- No manual counting
Real-time production monitoring
See what every machine is doing.Fix production losses faster.
Visual Factories automatically collects and analyzes machine activity, giving operators and managers accurate production information without manual data entry.
Visual Factories production floor footage
Trusted on production
floors worldwide
What the platform does
From machine activity to production action.
Drawing on any type of production machine, Visual Factories captures activity in real time, analyses it, and presents it through displays and reports that every level of the factory can read.
- Automatic machine-data collection
- Real-time monitoring
- Performance visualization
- Production-loss detection
- Role-specific reporting
- Gradual, machine-by-machine deployment
- 01
Real-time visibility
Machine activity is captured as it happens and presented as production information, not as raw signals.
- 02
Hidden inefficiencies exposed
Stops, slow cycles and unrecorded idle time become visible on a timeline instead of disappearing into the shift.
- 03
Uptime and efficiency
Performance is measured against realistic capacity per part and per machine, so improvement is measurable.
How it works
A signal path from the machine to the decision.
Each stage runs continuously, so the gap between something going wrong on the line and someone knowing about it closes to minutes.
- 01
Connect the machine
A compact monitoring unit attaches to new or legacy equipment. No machine replacement, no production line rebuild.
- 02
Collect the signal
Machine activity is captured automatically and continuously, removing manual counting and paper reporting.
- 03
Analyse in real time
Activity becomes production metrics: state, count against target, cycle time, downtime and efficiency.
- 04
Act on the shop floor
Floor displays and role-based reports put the same numbers in front of operators, supervisors and management.
The production line, end to end
01Machine running
02Signal collected
03Data analysed
04Loss identified
05Team alerted
06Action taken
07Performance reviewed
Watch the overview
Visual Factories in two minutes.
The overview film from Visual Factories, showing how machine monitoring reaches the shop floor.
Video hosted by Visual Factories on Vimeo. It only loads once you press play.
Value by role
One production truth, read three ways.
The same machine signal answers a different question depending on where you stand in the factory.
Across the floor
Managers
See every connected machine at once and where the shift is losing output, while there is still time to intervene.
- Floor-wide machine state
- Downtime by cause and duration
- Shift and line reporting
Across the plant
Executives
Track efficiency trends over time with the same underlying data the shop floor sees, rather than a separately assembled report.
- Efficiency trends
- Plant and line comparison
- One source of production truth
Factory problems
Production losses hide in the gaps between shifts.
Most discrete manufacturers already know their output is below target. What is missing is the minute-by-minute record that explains where it went.
- Losses found after the shift
- When production data is collected on paper and typed up later, a bad shift is only visible once it is finished and unrecoverable.
- Unexplained downtime
- Machines stop for reasons nobody records. Without an automatic timeline, the pattern behind repeated stops never surfaces.
- Numbers nobody trusts
- Manually entered counts disagree between the floor, the office and the ERP, so meetings debate the data instead of the problem.
- Legacy machines in the dark
- Older equipment without a modern controller is usually left out of monitoring, leaving a blind spot in the middle of the line.
A shift with 20 minutes of unrecorded stops
06:0009:0012:0014:00
Demonstration timeline. Without automatic collection, the stopped and idle bands are simply absent from the shift record.
Machine compatibility
Works with the machines you already run.
Visual Factories draws on any type of production machine, new equipment with modern controllers and legacy machines without them. Start with a single machine and expand across the floor as you go.
PLC equipment
GE Fanuc, Siemens, Heidenhain and more
Communication standards
MTConnect, OPC UA
Machines with no PLC
Or PLCs with no available API or assembly
Any workstation
Operable from the workstations you already use
New machinesLegacy machinesOne machine to whole plant
The product
A production dashboard the floor can read at a glance.
The same collected data drives the shop-floor display and the management report. Here is what it shows, annotated.
Line 3, Machining cell
Shift A · Live production
OEE
72.4%
Actual output
2,876pcs
Downtime
48min
Avg. cycle time
44s
Shift timeline, running, idle and stopped
06:0008:0010:0012:0014:00
- Running
- Idle
- Stopped
Target versus actual, by product
- Housing A-21812 / 840 target
- Bracket B-08388 / 620 target
- Flange C-141,174 / 1,120 target
| Machine | State | Count | Target | Cycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNC-04 | Running | 812 | 840 | 44 s |
| PRESS-11 | Stopped | 388 | 620 | n/a |
| WELD-02 | Running | 1,174 | 1,120 | 31 s |
| ASSY-07 | Idle | 502 | 700 | 62 s |
Illustrative production view assembled from Visual Factories’ documented metrics, machine state, production count, target, actual output, cycle time, downtime and OEE. Figures are demonstration data, not customer results.
- 01
Machine state, continuously
Every connected machine reports running, idle or stopped without an operator entering anything.
- 02
Target versus actual
Production count is measured against the target for the part currently running, per machine and per product.
- 03
Downtime made visible
Stops appear on the shift timeline as they happen, so a loss can be addressed inside the shift.
- 04
Machine-level detail
Drill from the line summary to a single machine's count, target and cycle time in the same view.
Customer outcomes
What changes once the machines report for themselves.
The shift from manual reporting to automatic collection changes the working day for every role on the floor.
- 01
Losses caught inside the shift
Stops and slowdowns surface as they happen, so a supervisor can act while the shift can still be recovered.
- 02
Reporting without paperwork
Production counts arrive from the machine itself, removing the manual tally sheets and the transcription behind them.
- 03
A shared set of numbers
Floor displays, supervisor reports and management summaries all read from the same collected machine activity.
- 04
Targets that hold up
Actual cycle times and downtime patterns give planners a realistic basis for the targets they set.
Case studies
Deployments on real production floors.
Published case studies from Visual Factories customers, available as downloads.
FISA
Discrete manufacturing, Peru
- Challenge
- Production follow-up relied on manual reporting, so weak links in the line were only visible after the fact.
- Solution
- Machines were connected to Visual Factories for continuous activity capture and real-time production visibility.
- Outcome
- The team can now identify weak links in production as they happen and act on them to increase productivity.
Guhring
Cutting tool manufacturing
- Challenge
- Understanding true machine utilisation across a mixed fleet without adding manual data entry for operators.
- Solution
- Visual Factories connected existing equipment and presented machine activity per line, machine and product.
- Outcome
- See the published case study for the full account of the deployment and results.
Testimonials
In the words of the people running the floor.
“Visual Factories simplicity and compatibility enabled us to connect all our machines on our own, and start monitor & analyze our performance in a matter of days.”
“We wanted a more trustworthy and real-time method to follow up on a production in our plant. With the Visual Factories solution, we are now able to identify weak links in our production which allows us to solve problems and increase productivity.”
“VF is the best investment I did in my 25 years in manufacturing.”
“Spent the afternoon with my team at FabTech. One of the biggest issues I see across suppliers is inability to address O.E.E. To get the data in a factory is pretty challenging unless you have expensive software, and even using the data to drive out waste is tough. Visual Factories has got it figured out. Blown away by the no nonsense solution. Aerospace friends, look these guys up.”
“We were amazed by Visual Factories… from saying 'Yes' to a working POC in <1 week!”
Security and data handling
Factory data handled with care.
Production data is commercially sensitive. Visual Factories runs as a cloud platform with named-account access, and publishes the terms that govern how information is handled.
- Cloud-based platform
- Production data is collected to a cloud service, so managers can review lines and machines from any workstation without exposing the shop-floor network.
- Named user access
- Access to factory data is through named accounts, so each person sees the reporting appropriate to their role.
- Machine data, not personal data
- The system is built around machine activity (state, counts, cycle time and downtime) rather than individual worker surveillance.
- Documented terms
- How information is handled is set out in the published privacy policy and terms and conditions.
Visual Factories operates an ISO 27001 certified Information Security Management System. For the security terms that apply to your deployment, contact the team. See the privacy policy and terms and conditions for the current published statements.
FAQ
Questions manufacturers ask first.
Visual Factories continuously captures production machine activity and turns it into real-time monitoring, analysis and reporting, machine state, production pace, capacity per part and per machine, downtime and overall production performance, per line, per machine and per product.
The infrastructure is compatible with PLCs such as GE Fanuc, Siemens and Heidenhain, with machine communication standards including MTConnect and OPC UA, and with machines that have no PLC or no available PLC API.
Yes. Visual Factories is designed for mixed fleets. Machines with no PLC, or with a PLC that exposes no usable API, can be connected without replacing existing machinery.
No. The system draws directly on machine activity, so production data is collected without human input and without relying on manual reporting.
Visual Factories is an out-of-the-box product: quick to install on any machine, plug and play, and ready to use within hours. Customers describe going from decision to a working proof of concept in under a week.
Yes. Whether you want to monitor one machine or one hundred, a package is built around your needs, and the rollout can be gradual, one machine at a time.
Real-time machine state and production performance measurements, optimal capacity per part and per machine, early problem detection, root cause analysis, consumable consumption control and OEE.
Yes. The solution is cloud-based, so managers can compare lines, machines, products and shifts from any workstation, wherever they are.
You can sign up for a free trial with no obligation. Contact Visual Factories for a custom price quote and to start the trial; billing is on a monthly basis and you are free to cancel at any time with no penalty.
The platform is cloud-based with access through named user accounts. For the current, complete statement of how information is handled, see the privacy policy and the terms and conditions.
Visual Factories supports customers through the full journey, from the first machine connection to factory-wide visibility. Contact the team for the support terms that apply to your deployment.
Start with one machine
See your production floor as it actually runs.
Request a demo and the Visual Factories team will show you what real-time monitoring looks like on machines like yours, and quote a package around them.