Connecting each controller in a workshop individually (FANUC, SIEMENS, ABB and so on) is often impossible or too costly. Measuring electrical consumption and inferring the operating state from it bypasses the obstacle: no modification to the machine, yet a real-time view of the workshop.
The heterogeneous-fleet bottleneck
In a real workshop, machines come from different manufacturers and generations, with incompatible controllers and protocols. Connecting to each one individually means as many specific integrations, sometimes closed controllers, and a cost that explodes. This is exactly the wall Boutyplast, a plastics-machining specialist, hit when it wanted to measure its fleet’s waiting times to increase capacity at constant resources.
Reading the electrical signature rather than the controller
Rather than talking to each controller, the POWER CONNECT® gateway continuously measures the equipment’s electrical consumption. From the power peaks and plateaus, it infers the operating state: idle, waiting, working. This approach is non-intrusive by design: it touches neither the machine’s program nor its control wiring. It applies in the same way to a fully heterogeneous fleet, where a controller-by-controller connection would fail.
From machine state to workshop steering
Knowing each machine’s real state opens the calculation of load rate, cycle times and waiting times, that is, the indicators of lean manufacturing. At Boutyplast, the same platform also dematerialised scheduling in KANBAN mode: operators see priorities per machine, and barcode badging advances the digital travellers in real time, with two-way synchronisation to the ERP. Energy monitoring thus becomes the interface between the information system and the physical flows of the workshop.
Frequently asked questions
Can a machine be monitored without connecting to its controller?
Yes. By measuring the equipment’s electrical consumption and analysing its power signature, you can infer its operating state (idle, waiting, working) without any connection to the controller or modification to the machine. It is often the only realistic approach on a heterogeneous fleet mixing several brands and generations.
What is the added value of a non-intrusive measurement?
It deploys quickly, with no risk to the machine’s program, and works identically whatever the manufacturer. You get performance indicators (load rate, waiting time) that are immediately usable for a continuous-improvement approach, without a heavy integration project for each piece of equipment.
