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How Do You Monitor CNC Machines? Start With the Hours
There are two ways to monitor CNC machines: connect to the controller and pull data from inside, or record the state the machine shows on the outside. If what you want to know is how many hours each machine ran and where the rest of the time went, the second way is enough, and it doesn't depend on the make. KAYA Vision AI keeps that record by reading each machine's tower light from the cameras you already have.
Two ways, two different questions
Systems that connect to the controller see spindle load, feed rates, the running program and alarm codes. If you want to track tool life, or find out line by line why a part takes too long, you need that data. The price is a separate connection for every controller, and on older machines that connection often can't be made at all.
Watching from outside answers a plainer question: when did the machine run, when did it stop, and was anyone there when it stopped? That is usually the question on the table when you talk about the weekly plan, quote times or whether you need another machine.
Which one do you need?
Look at who will use the number and what for. If it goes into the production meeting, the capacity plan or a quote, hours per machine will do. If a process engineer is trying to take seconds off a cycle, they need what the controller knows.
The two don't rule each other out. You can start with hours on every machine and add controller data on a few critical ones later.
What the hours show in a CNC shop
In KAYA's report, green time is the machine in cycle. Amber time comes in two kinds. Amber with someone there is most likely fixturing, zeroing, measuring or a tool change; it counts as runtime, but shows on its own line. Amber with nobody there belongs to a machine that has finished and is waiting for someone; it doesn't count as runtime and is reported apart. Red time is kept apart too, as alarm.
When a machine runs too little, the split tells you where to look. Is setup and measuring taking long, or is the machine standing idle waiting for an operator? The fixes are different: one is about fixtures and job preparation, the other about how many machines each operator looks after.
Example: one machine, one week
The figures are only an example. Say a machining centre in a two-shift shop has 80 planned hours in a week, and they break down like this:
| State | Hours |
|---|---|
| Light green (in cycle) | 52 |
| Amber, someone at the machine (fixturing, measuring, tool change) | 12 |
| Amber, nobody at the machine (waiting) | 10 |
| Red (alarm) | 2 |
| Light off | 3 |
| No evidence (camera couldn't see) | 1 |
| Total | 80 |
The line that stands out is the 10 hours the machine waited with nobody there. It was ready; the operator was somewhere else. The day view shows whether those hours pile up at shift changes, over breaks, or while the operator was setting up the next machine. The fix depends on which: staggering breaks, preparing jobs ahead, or rethinking how many machines one operator looks after.
Mixed makes and ages
All this asks of a machine is a tower light the camera can see; make, age and controller don't come into it. KAYA runs today at a live customer site on CNC and injection moulding machines. How to tell whether your cameras see the lights is in the post on runtime for old machines. The KAYA page lists the cases where KAYA isn't a fit, and the FAQ answers setup questions.
Where this method stops
None of the controller data from the first section comes this way; a camera can't see inside the controller. KAYA reports once a day. It won't warn anyone the moment a machine alarms, so anything that needs a response on the spot belongs to another system.
Part counting is a separate, optional add-on. It is used where parts pass through a defined camera zone, it needs an ERP connection, and it never changes the measured hours.
Common mistakes
Monitoring only the new machines
Monitoring often starts with the newest machines because they are easiest to connect. But the lost hours can just as well be on the older machines that can't be connected, and nobody sees them until they are measured. Measuring from the light counts old and new machines the same way.
Taking green time for cutting time
A green light shows the machine is in cycle. It doesn't tell you how much of the cycle is spent cutting rather than moving between cuts; for that you need the controller's data.
Deciding from a few days of data
A single week carries whatever jobs happened to fall in it. Look at a month together before deciding anything about the machines, which is also what the free first 30 days are good for.
How to start
Start with two or three machines. Make one of them the machine everyone says never stands still; that's where you'll see the gap between the measured hours and the feeling on the floor most clearly.
Nobody has to come to the shop: setup takes about an hour, remotely, and the machines stay untouched. The first 30 days cost nothing, and afterwards we go over what it measured with you.
Does your equipment have tower lights, and can a camera see them? Write to info@glotech.io.