Discrete manufacturing
Lines, cells, and machines producing countable units: parts, assemblies, packaged goods. Counter signals from machines drive most measurement, and the day is defined by orders, changeovers, and unplanned stops. Frontlink connects to the machines you already have and turns counts and states into schedules, OEE, and clean confirmations back to your ERP.
What defines this environment
Counter-driven machines
Output is countable and most machines already expose counts or pulses. That makes automatic OEE and progress tracking cheap to switch on.
Changeover-heavy schedules
Sequence matters. Format and product changes eat capacity, so the plan must weigh changeover time, not just due dates.
Order-based execution
Work arrives as shop orders from ERP. The gap sits between confirmations in the office and what actually happens at the line.
Shift teams on the floor
Operators, team leads, and technicians need answers at the line, on a tablet, not in an ERP client.
Where Frontlink makes the difference
Finite-capacity planning
Drag-and-drop scheduling with changeover and constraint rules keeps sequence decisions explicit instead of buried in a spreadsheet.
OEE without manual logging
Counters detect running, idle, and down automatically; operators only add the reason. Availability, performance, and quality losses become visible per line and shift.
Live progress versus plan
Every order shows actual counts against the schedule in real time, so a slipping line is visible hours before the end of the shift.
Digital handovers and instructions
Checklists, work instructions, and shift handovers live where the work happens, versioned and searchable.
Problems we solve in this environment
Each problem links to a deep dive: who feels it, why ERP alone doesn't fix it, and how Frontlink does.
Downtime happens, but nobody knows why
Stops are frequent, but without structured reason codes tied to machine events, the top causes stay invisible.
No real-time view of what's running and whether you're on track
Management asks 'Are we on track?' and nobody trusts the answer until the shift is over.
Changeovers and line clearance are unmanaged
Changeovers take too long and nobody can prove the line was cleared properly.
Spreadsheet scheduling can't keep up with reality
The plan changes constantly. Excel and whiteboards collapse under rush orders, constraint rules, and finite capacity.
Scrap reasons are unknown and yield loss isn't actionable
Scrap is accepted as 'normal' because nobody can tie it to specific causes, machines, or conditions.
Shift handover is informal and knowledge is lost
Night shift leaves surprises. Day shift repeats the same mistakes. Nothing is documented.
See it on your own lines
Book a demo and walk through your machines, your constraints, and what going live in weeks looks like.