Machine and Process Line Tracking

The BellHawk software has the capability of tracking the following states of a machine or process line:

• Idle - available for use
• Being setup for a run
• Running production
• Down - needs fixing - with reason code
• Down - being fixed
• Being cleaned up

These state changes, along with the jobs that it is running, are recorded using barcode scanning or on a touch panel display. The operator running the machine or the team working on the line can also be recorded along with the materials consumed and produced by the machine or line.

This data can be used for:

1. Enabling managers and supervisors to view the real-time status of their machines or production lines from anywhere they have an Internet connection.
2. Providing alerts to maintenance people when machines need fixing or lines are down. These alerts can be sent to their cell phones.
3. Capturing performance data that may indicate the need for process improvement or improved maintenance procedures. This may include detecting setup times that take too long or machines that are breaking down too often.
4. Capturing financial data for job costing. Here BellHawk has the capability to allocate the hourly cost of machine operation across all jobs being run simultaneously on the same machine.

BellHawk can be customized to automatically feed setup data to machinery and process lines, based on the job(s) being run. It can also collect process data from PLCs as well as simpler equipment such as length counters. These can then be integrated into the materials traceability record for each product or batch being made.

Please click here to learn more about the Capabilities of the BellHawk.