The record starts at the controller, not at the keyboard.
Each machine’s signals are mapped once (an OPC UA node, an MQTT topic or an HTTP post) and read on a cycle you set. States, counts and a quality flag come from the controller, and production is the difference between two readings of its own counter.
A plant is never one generation of equipment.
The press bought in 1998 and the machining centre delivered last year are both making parts today, and only one of them has an OPC UA server. VZIAM MES reads OPC UA, MQTT and HTTP itself; a Modbus, Siemens S7 or proprietary controller is read by a gateway on the line that translates its signals to MQTT. Which machine goes which way is settled during the assessment, machine by machine.
Four rules between the controller and the figures.
A figure is only as honest as the signal under it. These rules are why the signal can be trusted.
- 01
A machine counter is never reset.
VZIAM MES never sends a reset to a controller. Production is the current reading minus the previous one, and never less than zero.
- 02
A rollover is absorbed, not subtracted.
When a counter reads lower than before (it wrapped, or a sensor was replaced), the delta is held at zero and the reference moves to the new reading, so nothing already counted is taken back.
- 03
An unreliable value stays out of the figures.
Every value arrives with a quality flag. A reading flagged as a sensor error is ignored by the OEE calculation rather than averaged in.
- 04
Silence is not yet a stop.
A controller that goes quiet raises a pre-alert after 15 seconds and becomes a stop after 60, both set per machine. A lost connection marks the machine offline and raises a signal-loss alert instead of recording a breakdown.
From a controller address to a figure on the screen.
OPC UA, MQTT and HTTP, natively
OPC UA nodes are read on the dataset’s polling cycle, MQTT topics are subscribed to through the broker that ships with the server, and an edge device or a script can post readings over HTTP.
Everything else through a gateway
A Modbus, Siemens S7 or proprietary PLC is read by a gateway on the line (Node-RED or a DAS box) that publishes its signals over MQTT. Who supplies and maintains it is decided before go-live.
Datasets and tags
Tags are grouped into a dataset per machine or line, and each maps a controller address (an OPC UA NodeId or an MQTT topic) to a name the rest of the platform uses.
Formulas on tags
A tag can be a formula over others: convert a raw value to a unit, combine two sensors, compare against a threshold. A malformed formula keeps the last value and raises a configuration alert.
States from signals
Running, stopped, standby and offline are worked out from what the controller reports, not from a declaration, and every change of state is logged with its source.
Signal history
Values are stored when they move by more than a deadband you set, and long ranges come back as minimum, maximum and mean per interval, so a month of readings stays readable.
What acquisition commits to.
- Native protocols
- OPC UA · MQTT · HTTP push
- Through a gateway
- Modbus · Siemens S7 · proprietary
- Reading
- Per dataset, on the polling cycle you set
- Counters
- Deltas, never reset, rollover absorbed
- Signal quality
- Flag on every value
- Stop detection
- Pre-alert at 15 s, stop at 60 s, per machine
- Raw history
- Deadband filter, 90 days, then archived
Frequently asked questions.
Send the makes and models of your controllers and ask the engineers which way each one connects.
Book a callControllers with an OPC UA server, devices that publish MQTT, and anything that can post JSON over HTTP. A Modbus, Siemens S7 or proprietary PLC is read through a gateway that translates its signals to MQTT.
No. It never sends a reset. Production is the difference between two readings, and a counter that wraps or is replaced is absorbed without losing what was already counted.
The machine shows as offline and a signal-loss alert is raised. The gap is not recorded as a breakdown, and readings resume on the next cycle once the connection is back.
Each dataset is read on the polling cycle you set, and MQTT messages are taken as they are published. The server pushes the resulting figures to the cockpits and TV displays as they change.
Only for controllers that speak none of OPC UA, MQTT or HTTP. Node-RED or a DAS box translates their signals; whether we supply it or your automation team does is agreed during the assessment.
Plan the change before it reaches the line.
Request a demo and an engineer looks at how your production runs today, shows how the software would fit around it, and where a pilot on one line would start.
01Pick a time
Choose a slot in the calendar, and note what you make and what reads your machines today.
02Screen shared with an engineer
A video call with someone who builds the software, in English or French.
03What would connect
For each machine, its path: native (OPC UA, MQTT or HTTP push), through a gateway, or nothing to build.