CNC machining
Monitoring for a CNC machining shop
A machining shop lives on machine hours. If the machine hour number is a guess, so is every quotation that leaves the office.
We read CNC machines from outside with sensors, so the same approach can be used on every machine in the shed regardless of make or vintage. No controller integration is needed. The full explanation is on the CNC machine monitoring page.
What machining shops tell us
- Real spindle utilisation is unknown, so job work rates are built on assumption.
- A stopped machine is noticed when somebody walks past it.
- Mixed makes and vintages mean no single system covers the whole shed.
- Setup time is absorbed into the job and never priced properly.
What we measure
Four states per machine, plus counts and power where the machine allows it.
Running, stopped, idle and off
Every minute of every shift, on new and old machines alike. Setup and breakdown are recorded as stoppage reasons.
Spindle utilisation
Real cutting time against machine on time, which is usually about half of what people expect.
Part counts
From cycle detection, using spindle current or a proximity sensor on a repeating movement.
Power per machine
So electricity can be attributed per machine instead of spread across everything. This is an add on set up per factory.
How it is fitted
External sensing is the core. No FANUC FOCAS, MTConnect, OPC UA or G-code is needed.
Current transformer on the spindle drive
Cutting current and idling current look different, which separates running from idle.
Optocoupler tap
On tower lamp or contactor signals, isolated from the machine.
Proximity sensor
On a turret, door or bar feeder stroke for cycle counting.
What a rollout looks like
Pick the machine you argue about most, fit it in a changeover gap, and watch two weeks of real spindle data. We have no CNC case study yet, so a pilot on your own machine is the honest way to judge it.
We have no CNC customer to point at. Our proven deployments are textile looms, screen printing machines and a mixed 150 machine plant, on the same hardware and the same state model.
Start with one machine
Send us your machine list with makes and rough vintages. We will tell you what each one can and cannot give us.
Related reading
CNC machine monitoring
The full page: four states, external sensing and why it works on the old machines too.
OEE software
The whole OEE calculation, worked through on an example CNC lathe shift.
Machine downtime tracking
Reason codes and the Pareto that ranks where the hours went.
The LiveMach sensor device
What the device reads, how it is isolated and how it is fitted outside the machine.