What Is Machine Monitoring? Real-Time Machine Monitoring on the Shop Floor

Peakboard monitors machine status, cycle times and downtime reasons in real time on the shop floor display – connected directly to the PLC or via OPC UA, without middleware and without an IT project. That is machine monitoring with Peakboard: no status change that goes unnoticed, no stoppage that is only spotted on the next walk-through, no production metric that is only evaluated at month-end.

What is machine monitoring?

Machine monitoring is the continuous, automated capture and display of the operating state of production machines. The goal is to detect stoppages, performance losses and quality deviations early enough to intervene before damage occurs.

Peakboard implements machine monitoring without a long IT project: the connection to the machine controller is configured, not programmed. The first dashboard is live within a few days.

What does machine monitoring track?

A machine monitoring system typically tracks the following signals:

• Machine status: running / idle / fault / set-up / maintenance
• Cycle and takt times: actual cycle time vs. ideal cycle time
• Counter values: parts produced, scrap, good parts per shift
• Fault messages: error codes and alarms from the machine controller
• Process parameters: temperature, pressure, speed (depending on machine type)
• Availability: operating time vs. planned production time

Machine monitoring vs. MES vs. SCADA

Machine monitoring, MES and SCADA are often confused but serve different purposes:

• Machine monitoring: lightweight, shop-floor-focused, fast to introduce. Goal: transparency and speed of response.
• MES (Manufacturing Execution System): full production control including order management, material flow and quality assurance. High implementation effort, often 6–18 months of project time.
• SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition): industrial process control technology, mainly for continuous processes (chemicals, energy). Real-time control of plants.

Peakboard positions itself as a complementary layer: it uses the data from existing MES and SCADA, aggregates it and makes it visible on the shop floor – without replacing those systems.

Machine monitoring for older machines

In many manufacturing plants the machine park is mixed: modern CNC systems next to 20-year-old presses without a digital interface. Peakboard supports both worlds: modern machines are connected via OPC UA or S7 direct access. Older equipment can be brought into monitoring via external clamp sensors that measure power consumption. The result: a unified overview of the entire machine park.

Connection to shop floor management

Machine monitoring is the data source for every other shop floor system. The OEE metric is calculated from the monitoring data. Downtime tracking uses the machine signals for stoppage analysis. And the Andon board escalates automatically when a machine status flips. Machine monitoring is therefore not an isolated tool but the foundation of the digital shop floor.