Automating operational data collection means: the employee logs the job, setup time, and quantity in a few seconds at the terminal, via scanner, or in an app on the machine. We capture machine runtimes and downtimes right where they occur: at the controller or the counting signal. The figures go into the ERP automatically, without anyone typing up slips in the evening.
The operator writes down start, stop, and quantity on a paper tally sheet, the sheet travels to the office, and someone types it into the ERP there. By the time the job is in the system, it has long since shipped and no one can still steer against it.
Five setups we build again and again in manufacturing. Your machines and your ERP stay, only the paper slip goes away.
The operator scans the barcode on the job paper card and logs start, interruption, and end with a single tap. A wipe-resistant terminal on the line or a tablet on the machine is enough, no keyboard or login name needed. The time is in the system the moment it happens, not at the end of the shift.
Savings 4-8 h of re-entry saved per weekFor newer equipment we pull runtime, downtime, and cycle count from the controller via OPC UA or MQTT. Older machines without an interface get a counter or a signal from the control cabinet that counts just as reliably. The operator does not have to log anything for this, the machine reports itself.
Impact Downtime visible while it happensSetup, waiting for material, and disruptions get their own logging reasons instead of disappearing into runtime. Within a few weeks you see in black and white what article changeovers really cost your machine. This is the basis for batch-size and sequencing decisions that used to be gut feeling.
Impact Setup costs provable per articleGood and bad parts are logged separately, and for scrap the operator picks a reason from a short list: material fault, tooling, setup. We keep the list deliberately short, otherwise the first entry always gets clicked. This produces an error statistic per article and machine that quality assurance can actually use.
Impact Scrap reason instead of just scrap quantityThe logged actual times flow automatically onto the job in the ERP and are compared against the calculated standard times. If a job runs off track, you see it the next morning, not at final invoicing. Jobs that consistently come in under the estimate stand out by themselves at the next quotation round.
Impact Deviation visible the next day instead of months laterWhich tool fits depends on your machinery and your ERP: a shop floor with OPC UA-capable equipment runs differently from a business with 30-year-old machines and industry software that has no interface. We commit only after the on-site assessment at the machine, not based on a partner program.
Data hubReceives the bookings from the terminal, the scanner, and the machine gateway, checks them for plausibility, and writes them into your ERP. Runs, if you prefer, on a server in your facility or in a German data center, so machine data never has to leave the plant.
Microsoft worldIf you already work in Microsoft 365, we build the logging screen as a Power App for the shop-floor tablet and let Power Automate pass the data on. Accessing an on-premises ERP, such as SQL Server or SAP ERP, requires the On-premises Data Gateway, and this gateway as well as custom connectors are licensed entitlements. We work this out with you before implementation so the license does not become a surprise later.
Legacy system without an interfaceSome industry software in manufacturing simply has no interface, and the vendor is not building one anymore either. In that case a software robot takes over the booking exactly as a human would type it, just at night and without typos. This is the bridge when an ERP switch is not on the table right now.
We work at a fixed price instead of an open timesheet. After the initial analysis you know what it costs before we start.
In 60 minutes we walk through your current path from the paper tally sheet to post-costing: which machines, which bookings, who retypes what. Afterward both sides know whether automatic data collection pays off for your machinery.
We define with you what gets logged and what does not: job number, setup, disruption reasons, scrap reasons. Fewer booking reasons are almost always better, because they actually get maintained during the shift. You receive a quote with a fixed price and fixed scope.
We start on one machine or one cost center and let the data collection run in parallel with the paper sheet for a few weeks. Only once the logged times match the sheets do we roll out to the remaining workstations.
You receive documentation, a briefing for the shift supervisors, and an audit trail: every actual time in the ERP can be traced back to the terminal or machine it came from. You keep control, and we stay on as support if you wish.
Once the actual times are cleanly in the ERP, it quickly becomes clear that order confirmation, material ordering, and invoicing are still done by hand. On the process automation overview page you can see what else can be taken off your hands around production.
In the free initial analysis we walk through your facility together and work it out: 60 minutes, no obligation, with an honest assessment of whether your machinery justifies automatic data collection. If a paper sheet is the cheaper solution for you, we will say so.
Operational data collection (BDE) records what happens in production: job times, setup times, quantities, scrap, and machine states. An MES additionally controls, it plans sequences, directs material, and prescribes inspection plans. Many businesses with 20 to 100 employees first need reliable data and only afterward control, which is why we attach the data collection to your existing ERP instead of selling you an MES. If you genuinely need detailed scheduling, we say so honestly and you buy an MES.
Yes, usually via a signal instead of a data interface. If the controller cannot do OPC UA or MQTT, we tap an existing counting pulse, a signal light, or the current flow, and derive runtime, cycle, and downtime from that. This is cruder than a data protocol, but it is almost always enough for runtime and downtime detection. What your specific machine can actually provide, we only see at the control cabinet, which is why we look at that during the initial analysis.
That is the actual point of the exercise, because a BDE island without an ERP connection just creates a second set of figures. We write the bookings onto the job through your ERP's interface: for common systems via the existing API, for older ones via the database or an automated import. If your software has no way in at all, a software robot takes over the entry. Which path works, we check before the quotation, not after.
If a works council exists, yes: technical facilities suited to monitoring the behavior or performance of employees are subject to co-determination under section 87 (1) no. 6 of the German Works Constitution Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz). Intent does not matter here, suitability is enough, and a job-time recording system is suitable. We therefore involve the works council early and define technically which evaluations are possible, for example evaluation per machine and job instead of per person. The works agreement itself belongs in the hands of your lawyer, we provide the technical basis for it.
That depends on the number of workstations, the age of the machines, and how well your ERP can be connected, so we cannot honestly quote a flat price without an analysis. The biggest cost driver is rarely the software, but the hardware on the shop floor and connecting old machines. After the free initial analysis you receive a fixed-price quote with a fixed scope, not an open timesheet. As a digitalization consultancy, our services may also be eligible for funding, for example through the BAFA advisory grant.
