Case studies

Four representative engagements, described the way we would describe them to another engineer. Client names are withheld under standard confidentiality terms; references are shared at proposal stage.

Packaging converter · Sacramento, CA · 2025

Cartoner line: 31% fewer unplanned stops

Situation. A three-lane cartoning line was averaging 7.4 unplanned stops per shift. Maintenance had replaced two servo drives without improvement.

What we did. Instrumented every stop with reason codes, then traced 62% of them to an accumulation table that starved the infeed after each label-change pause. Rewrote accumulation logic, added a 40-second buffer and re-tuned the infeed servo cam.

Unplanned stops per shift: 7.4 → 4.1
Mean time to repair: 34 → 19 minutes
Payback on engineering fee: 11 weeks

Contract electronics manufacturer · Fremont, CA · 2024

Documentation recovery on 14 legacy machines

Situation. Fourteen machines commissioned between 1997 and 2011 had no current drawings. Every fault escalated to an outside vendor at premium rates.

What we did. Surveyed each panel, traced I/O, produced as-built drawings in AutoCAD Electrical, rebuilt tag databases and wrote photographed maintenance procedures. Established a version-controlled program archive with a change log.

Documented I/O coverage: 44% → 100%
External call-outs: 9 per quarter → 2
Spare-parts list consolidated from 3 spreadsheets to 1

Food processor · Salinas Valley, CA · 2024

OEE visibility across two processing lines

Situation. Two shifts reported availability using different definitions, so seasonal capacity planning was guesswork.

What we did. Designed an ISA-95 aligned tag model, deployed an Ignition historian, added operator reason-code prompts at the HMI and published one dashboard for the floor plus a weekly executive report.

One shared definition of availability across shifts
Downtime reasons captured on 97% of stops
Seasonal staffing plan built on measured throughput

Metal fabricator · Hayward, CA · 2023

Robot load/unload cell retrofit

Situation. A press line needed a robot cell without replacing the 1998 conveyance already installed.

What we did. Integrated a six-axis arm with safe-speed zones, designed guarding and light-curtain layout to R15.06 practice, and bridged the legacy Modbus conveyor controls to the new EtherNet/IP cell.

Cycle time: 42 → 29 seconds
One operator redeployed from load/unload to inspection
Existing conveyance retained — capital avoided

All figures are taken from client-reported production data collected before and after the engagement. Results depend on the plant, the product mix and the maintenance resources available; we will say so plainly when a target is not achievable.

Pattern we keep seeing

The constraint is almost never where the noise is

In three of the four projects above, the machine the plant blamed was working correctly — it was simply the first station to notice an upstream timing problem. Measurement before mechanics is not a philosophy, it is what keeps the invoice small.

See how we run an assessment

Tell us about the line that keeps you awake

Send drawings, a fault log or just a description of the problem. You will get a written response from an engineer — not a sales script — within one business day.

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