Real-time OEE production dashboard for a factory: sensors and budget

The verdict in three sentences

An OEE of 58 % calculated once a month in a spreadsheet does not steer anything: it only records. A real-time OEE dashboard wired to every moulding press, with stoppages coded by operators at the machine, makes a gain of 5 to 10 OEE points realistic within 6 to 12 months. The decision is between a market subscription at £45 to £130 (CAD 75 to 220) per machine per month and a custom tool delivered in 2 to 4 months that you own.

Why a monthly OEE figure is no longer enough

In an injection moulding shop, OEE multiplies three rates: availability, performance and quality. For a plastics moulder in London's outer belt or the Greater Toronto Area running 24 presses from 80 to 650 tonnes, a 58 % OEE typically breaks down as 78 % availability, 82 % performance and 91 % quality. The real problem is lag: when the figure lands on the 5th of the following month, Monday night micro-stops, slow mould changes and cycle time drift are long forgotten.

A real-time dashboard changes three concrete things. Shift leaders see the status of each press on a shop floor screen (running, stopped, setup, breakdown). Operators code the stoppage in two taps on a tablet or a push-button box. The plant manager gets a Pareto of losses by press, mould and shift every morning.

The 5 to 10 point gain rarely comes from new machines. It comes from fixing the top three or four stoppage causes the Pareto exposes in the first weeks.

Sensors, screens, software: what the project really costs

The budget splits into three blocks. Hardware: one data acquisition box per press reading the end of cycle signal (dry contact, 24 V output or Euromap 63/77 on recent presses), shop floor screens and a few tablets. Software: data collection, OEE calculation, stoppage entry, screens, reports. Integration: link with the ERP for work orders and scrap quantities.

Kolonell's grid also covers the smallest case: a simple application at 2,500,000 to 4,000,000 FCFA (3,810 to 6,100 EUR) is enough for a 6-press pilot without ERP link. The typical schedule runs 2 to 4 months: 2 weeks of scoping and machine signal audit, 4 to 8 weeks of development, 2 to 4 weeks of pilot on one cell, then roll-out.

Subscription or custom build: how to decide

A subscription makes sense if you want to start within 3 weeks and need standard OEE only. A custom build wins when you already have an ERP to feed, moulding-specific rules (blocked cavities, purges, mould heat-up time) and a fleet that will grow. Over 5 years, 24 presses at £90 a month add up to about £130,000 of subscription with no code ownership. Three questions settle it: how many presses in 3 years, how deep the ERP link must be, and who will maintain the screens in-house.

For the data consolidation side, see also automating sales reporting for a distributor and our custom web applications.

Mini case study

Emma, plant manager of a 140-person plastics moulder near Toronto, runs 24 presses on three shifts, about 6,000 open hours per press per year, so 144,000 machine hours. Her OEE is 58 %. After 6 months of dashboard data, the Pareto shows mould changes and robot micro-stops cost 11 points. She recovers 6.

Calculation: 144,000 h x 6 % = 8,640 extra productive hours. With a contribution margin of CAD 38 per press hour, the gain is about CAD 328,000 a year. The full project (acquisition boxes about CAD 19,000, 4 screens about CAD 5,500, plus a complex application at the low end of Kolonell's grid, about 11,000 EUR) stays far below one quarter of the annual gain. Payback: under 2 months, with no per-machine fee.

FAQ

Do older presses need replacing to measure OEE?

No. A press built in the 2000s almost always provides a usable end of cycle signal through a £260 to £450 box. Only recent presses also expose process parameters via Euromap 77 or OPC UA.

How long before OEE improves?

The first stoppage causes show up after 3 to 4 weeks of data. A 3 to 5 point gain at 6 months is common, provided a working group reviews the Pareto every week.

Will operators actually code stoppages?

Yes, if entry takes under 10 seconds and offers 8 to 12 reasons at most. Beyond that, the coding rate drops below 50 %.

Can the tool connect to our ERP?

Yes, through an API or file exchange, to pull work orders and push good and scrap quantities. That link moves the project into the complex application band, 7,000,000 to 15,000,000+ FCFA (10,670 to 22,870+ EUR).

Where is production data hosted?

On a local server in the plant or in a UK or Canadian cloud region, your choice. Hosting terms are set in the quote according to your cybersecurity requirements.

Let's scope your project. We define with you the presses to connect, the stoppage reasons, the screens and a 2 to 4 month schedule. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.