Capture
Read machine-level signals from the existing Siemens hardware without touching control logic.
/01 · What we heard
The ERP is working. The missing layer is underneath it.
Ally Nutra has an ERP covering inventory, production line management, PO generation, invoicing, and quoting, with an AI layer doing real work across the business. The gap is the equipment data that never reaches that software layer.
If you do not track it, you cannot optimize it.
Currently inside the PLCs
- Run state and cycle rates
- Alarms and unplanned stops
- Changeover time
- Production events that are collected and then discarded
/02 · Objectives
Measure production reality and put it where the team already works.
Baseline
Establish measured availability, performance, and quality so improvement can be quantified.
Find losses
Surface bottlenecks, recurring faults, and changeover losses early enough to act.
Connect to ERP
Show planned versus actual, yield per batch, and true line capacity in the existing ERP.
Structure for AI
Leave the production data queryable so Ally Nutra's existing AI layer can reason over it.
/03 · Data path
Read at the edge. Normalize centrally. Use it in both directions.
Nothing we install writes to a PLC. Acquisition remains read-only, buffered locally, and tied back to the work order, product, batch, and shift.
Siemens PLCs
S7-1200 / S7-1500
Edge gateway
OPC UA collector
Time-series
Historian + API
ERP
Work orders + batches
RunIdleFaultStarvedBlockedGoodReject
Raw controller addresses become business events. That is what turns a stopped line into a specific, actionable loss tied to a product, batch, sequence, and shift.
/04 · Shape of the engagement
Prove the full data path on one line before scaling.
The first commitment produces a working result, not a document, and creates a real basis for scoping the rest of the plant.
Pilot line and baseline
Site survey, documented tag dictionary, edge gateway commissioned on one representative line, live operations dashboard, and a measured OEE baseline across a two-week observation window.
Plant rollout and ERP integration
Extend acquisition across remaining lines and packaging equipment, connect the ERP in both directions, capture downtime reasons, add alerting, and provide role-based views.
Optimization layer
Analyze constraints across the full process, detect cycle degradation and fault precursors, and expose the production dataset to the existing AI assistant.
/05 · Pilot deliverables
A baseline Ally Nutra keeps, whether or not the rollout continues.
Site survey
Working session with Ally Nutra's automation engineers to validate controller models and network access.
Tag dictionary
A documented translation from controller addresses to usable production events.
Edge acquisition
A read-only OPC UA gateway on one line with local buffering for network interruptions.
Live operations view
Dashboard access to run state, alarms, cycle behavior, and downtime patterns.
Measured baseline
Availability, performance, and quality observed across a two-week window.
Reusable architecture
The dictionary, architecture, and baseline remain with Ally Nutra as the foundation for plant-wide scoping.
~40
Engineers · entirely onshore in CanadaBuilt by the people you work with.
Webisoft is a Montreal-based custom software and AI firm.
Dover is a short flight, which makes on-site commissioning practical when troubleshooting requires hands on the equipment.
Related work includes a materials recovery operation that tracks each unit through multiple physical stations with automated scanning and inventory control.
/07 · What we need
Inputs for a responsible pilot scope.
- 01Mutual NDA in place, as discussed.
- 02Ally Nutra's scope document for controller and network validation.
- 03Time with an automation engineer familiar with the Siemens configuration.
- 04The number of lines in play, and how much of the floor is Siemens versus older or unmanaged equipment.
- 05One representative pilot line, ideally one where losses are already suspected.
/08 · Next step
Validate the inputs. Select the pilot line. Scope the working result.
Commercial scope, schedule, and investment can be established after the controller models, network access, line count, and representative pilot line are confirmed.
Continue technical scoping