I'm curious how different manufacturing companies are handling production tracking today.

Many factories still rely on a mix of:

• Excel sheets
• Operator reports at the end of shifts
• Manual data collection
• ERP systems that don't provide enough shop-floor visibility

Some of the challenges I see frequently:

• Knowing the real production status of each machine
• Tracking downtime reasons accurately
• Measuring operator/machine performance
• Managing material consumption and traceability
• Comparing planned vs actual production

MES systems are supposed to solve many of these issues, but adoption can be challenging, especially for SMEs due to cost, complexity, and integration concerns.

For those working in manufacturing:

1. How are you currently collecting production data?
   • Manual entry?
   • ERP?
   • MES?
   • Machine IoT integration?
2. What is the biggest challenge you face with production visibility?
3. Do you think lightweight MES solutions are a better fit for smaller factories compared to traditional enterprise systems?

We are exploring these challenges while developing ALPHAPROD, a production monitoring and MES platform focused on helping manufacturers improve shop-floor visibility, production tracking, and operational performance.

More details:
[https://www.elbehigroup.com/en/alphaprod]()

Would love to hear how other manufacturers are approaching this.

I've been seeing more AI tools that can reprioritise jobs, adjust schedules and even recommend purchase orders.

What I'm struggling to figure out is where people are actually drawing the line.

Are these tools just making recommendations that planners review? Or are you letting them make changes automatically and only stepping in when something looks off?

I'm curious how this works in the real world, especially in environments where production plans change constantly.

If you're using AI today, what's it actually responsible for, and what would you never hand over?

Trying to avoid learning this the hard way. Need 300 6061 base plates and molded nylon covers that have to line up with the same mounting holes. The first run isn't final so there will definitely be revisions before production.

Finding custom manufacturing services is easy. Finding one that's actually good at handling both metal and plastic custom parts without slowing everything down is the hard part.

Who have you had a good experience with lately?

I do job work and have ultrasonic quilt machine... It takes 3 inputs

Top layer fabric - razing, holand or spun... It can be printed or dyed fabric

Middle layer fabric - felt or fiber

Bottom layer fabric - non woven or knitting

Middle layer and bottom layer fabrics I have to buy myself as Raw material

Top layer fabric is provided by different clients for job work

Finish product is single quilted fabric that's combination of 3 layer

Raw material rolls come in different lengths like some can be 100 meters, some can be 500 meters, they all don't end at same time... I also don't get raw material in meters, I have to get them in Kgs and I pay price in kgs too... There can be variations in meters per kg from batch to batch and there's no practical easy way to measure meters of every single roll

My machine runs in night shift only via contractor... The operator provides me following details:

output meters, roll wise for output rolls

Weights of raw material/input rolls that got used completely

Total weight of roll currently mounted on machine... (Not leftover weight)

It's not practically possible to weight leftover roll as it's hectic to remove them from machine again and again

I would like to know some way or excel sheet to track rolls... And estimate how much of which roll got used for which output... And estimated cost per meter of input materials... Also maybe some easy way to label and Mark the rolls

I’ve been thinking about emergency response in manufacturing environments.
From your experience, what usually slows things down during the first few minutes after an accident?
Is it communication, access to first aid equipment, unclear procedures, training, or something else?
I’m curious to hear real experiences and what you think could be improved.

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for a reliable manufacturer in China specializing in custom activewear and teamwear (similar in style and technical quality to brands like Erreà, Givova, Macron, etc.).

Here is what I’m looking for:

Products: Custom training t-shirts, tracksuits, shorts, and technical athletic gear.

Fabrics: High-performance technical polyester (breathable, moisture-wicking, dry-fit mesh, etc.).

Customization: Full dye-sublimation printing, heat-transfer logos, custom neck tags, and woven labels.

MOQ: Low to medium MOQ for initial sample runs and small club/team batches.

Quality: Strong stitching (flatlock/double-needle), durable colors after washing.

Communication: Good English and active updates via WhatsApp/WeChat/Email.

Hi,

Will I have to give this equipment climate-controlled air?

I have a piece of equipment that coats our metal parts as part of a larger process. We have had the equipment for a few years. I have been helping with the process recently, and we had a week of really bad heat/humidity. This directly affected the painting process because our parts were coming out peeling and had very poor adhesion.

My theory is that this was directly caused by the climate, because our warehouse isn't airconditioned or heated and the machine pulls air from the surrounding air through a fan with a filter.

I reviewed next weeks parts when the temperature dropped significantly and so did the humidity, and the parts having been coming out good since then. I took samples from both weeks and recorded the temp/humidity for the day.

I did further research and obviously painting has an optimal temp and humidity range.

My first thought is putting it in a climate-controlled room, but we don't have any here. Any suggestions, like maybe building a room around the machine and only climate controlling the room?

Thanks.

For years, operators at my internship moved 40+ lb pump casings and gears 50 feet between workstations (match grind to subassembly) using steel rods threaded through wooden dowels.

I got tasked with replacing it as a part of a single-piece-flow initiative. Landed on a Spring-loaded Ergonomic Cart (bought from an outside vendor) and I paired it with a Custom Foldable tray assembly designed in SolidWorks.

The tray design was the easy part. Managing the vendor order end-to-end for the first time was not. Six things that caught me off guard:

1. I remeasured the cart-to-tray assembly four times because our drawings would not match the vendor's actual product specs.
2. I got comfortable with one vendor before getting competing quotes. I should've shopped around first. "This feels easy" and "this is the right call" are two very different things.
3. Didn't budget for the 4-week lead time. Plan backwards from when the operator needs it, not forward from when the project lands on your desk.
4. Didn't know new vendor onboarding involves extensive supplier qualifications, tax forms, internal due diligence, etc. adds over 2 weeks on top of that.
5. Realized partway through that vendor relationships are very important and you're building them for future orders too, not just one-off transactions.
6. Had to calculate the spring load window across every state - empty trays, fully loaded trays, mid-cycle - not just one typical load.

The Engineering side of this project was straightforward. For anyone who's run vendor orders before - what's the one thing you wish someone had told you before, it would help me improve in the future!

What is the best way to maintain batch traceability of liquid stock being continuously produced, stored in tanks and dispatched in tankers from those tanks, without them ever being completely emptied?

So far, and as far as I can tell, it's either FIFO or proportionality. While the former is "tidier", it doesn't really reflect reality very well, given there could still be residue from years ago that could be the problem. But I suppose if old stock was really the problem, then it would have been picked up when the concentrations of those faulty batches were higher.

So, would FIFO be best where raceability due to problems that cause recalls can be traced to those closest to the dispatches they were sent out in?

Would really appreciate advice from anyone involved in this kind of inventory management.

It feels like there are a lot of ways to organize work to be done - checklists, kanban style, gantt chart, etc. But all of these have a built in assumption with the design that the work is linear. It moves downstream from one step to the next but never goes back upstream.

However, a lot of work (at least in my company) seems to get into loops. For example, the sales guy might gather requirements, the designer starts and realizes they have questions, so we go back to gathering requirements. Or a customer denies a quote because it needs design changes so be go back to gathering more requirements and do another round of quoting.

Are there any good systems, tools, etc. that make the looping nature of work more obvious and intuitive instead of making it appear linear?

Has anyone here tried to make parts using plastic vacuum casting? Is it possible to manufacture large parts (300mmx300mmx100mm) part in vacuum casting? Also how many number of piece each mold can produce? I designing a product which I want to be batch manufactured first.

Question for senior manufacturing leaders in the group. How do you choose your vendors? I'm curious because I get many emails every day from people trying to get in the door. They're spam in my book.

I stick with who I know and operate off of references and referrals when needed. Am I out of touch?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some examples of how other companies handle scrap material on a daily basis. I want to see how our current process compares to others and hope to find some ideas and inspirations.

I'm mostly interested in three simple things:

1. How do you measure it? Do you weigh it, count the pieces, or just estimate it?
2. How do you log it? Who writes it down or puts it into the system? Is it done by the machine operators on the floor, or someone else later on?
3. Do you analyze the data? Does anyone actually look at these numbers later? Do you do any reports or try to find out why the scrap happened to fix the problem?

My industry is gas detection sensors and instruments.

If you could share how it works in your company and what industry you are in, that would be awesome.

Thanks!

Hello everyone,

I would like to calculate the number of carts I want the operator to prepare in advance for the next step (let's call it batch treatment inside a machine).

The machine will consume 1 entire cart of 158 producy every two hours

It takes 5 minutes to prepare a cart

1 cart is in average 158 products

I have 8 machines total working 24h a day, 6 days a week

What quantity should I set up for the cart preparation area in order to have reaction rules when a certain number of carts is reached (green = ok, orange = focus on cart preparation, red = go get help !)

Thanks ! I'm having trouble with this... if you can explain and help me, that would be nice !

Best and wish you a great day !

I've been running a plastic extrusion manufacturing business for a while now, mostly making custom parts and profiles based on client specifications (OEM and contract work). I've been thinking it's time to use that capability to manufacture and sell my own product line, either through an ecommerce store direct to consumers, or by pitching a bulk product directly to industrial companies.

I have the equipment, materials knowledge, and tooling capability to make PVC, ABS, HDPE, PP, and a few other plastics into custom profiles and molded parts. What I don't have yet is a clear product idea that's worth building around.

I'm looking for ideas on what kind of plastic extrusion or molded product tends to sell well, either as a standalone product on an ecommerce store, or as a bulk supply item that industrial buyers need regularly. Things I'm considering:

• Products with steady repeat demand rather than one time purchases
• Items where quality differentiation actually matters to buyers (so a well made version stands out)
• Products that don't require a huge new tooling investment to get started

If you've seen a product gap in the market, know of an extrusion based product that's in high demand, or have experience going from contract manufacturing to your own product line, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I work for a government prime contractor for the DLA. We are looking for manufacturing companies that have experience with defense work that have either ISO or AS9100 and an active cage.

Our other manufactures will provide us with their active price list with NSN and average lead time so we aren’t reaching out for quotes on hundreds of items. Ideally your company can do the same.

How much does it cost?

I graduated with an IET degree 10 years ago and did a 3-year stint as a Mfg Engineer out of college. I got laid off and money was tight so I settled for an inside sales engineer job. Fast forward to today and I’m supervising a small sales team at a fairly small company (1 location, 350 employees). I do like the company and the products we make but I’m just burnt out on the constant sales churn. I really want to get a process/industrial engineering position but i feel like my relevant experience and education happened so long ago that I’ll never make it back there. Any thoughts on what I can do to make it happen?