Production floor systems for manufacturers and processors
In most factories the line knows exactly what went wrong; the office finds out on Monday. Stoppages are scribbled in a book, each shift remembers the cause differently, and the figure that reaches management has already been rounded and softened. We use the cameras, readers and systems you already run in Msasa, Southerton, Bulawayo or wherever you produce, so output, stoppages, materials and people are recorded as they happen.
Stoppages with a reason attached, while the reason is still true
A camera watching a line counts cycles and times a stop without sensors being fitted to the machine. When a stop passes the length your team agrees is worth recording, the supervisor is prompted on a phone to pick a reason from your own list — changeover, no material, blockage, breakdown, no power — and it is fixed to a timestamped clip. Recurring causes stop hiding inside one figure called downtime.
Load shedding, generator time and the shift report
Plants here lose production to utility interruption and to everything else, and the two get blended in one column. We read changeover and generator state alongside line activity, so a stop caused by power is logged as power and the restart delay after it stands on its own. The handover report then writes itself — output by line, stoppage minutes by cause, power events, quality holds — and reaches WhatsApp before the incoming shift starts.
Traceability and pack quality on the line you already run
For a miller, food processor, plastics converter or packaging plant, the painful questions come after the goods have left: which batch, which shift, which intake, and can you show it. We tie batch codes to the intake record, the run, the crew on shift and images from the line, so a complaint is answered from a record rather than a search through files. A camera at the packing end catches the crooked label or unreadable date code that tired eyes stop seeing.
Raw material in, finished goods out, and the gap between them
Yield loss is rarely one large theft; it is many small unrecorded movements. We record intake at the receiving bay, follow pallets, bins and moulds with Bluetooth Low Energy tags — small battery-powered tags fixed to an item — and watch the finished goods store on the cameras already there. Movements that do not reconcile with your stock system are raised the same day, with the footage attached.
Safety, access and a workforce that changes with the order book
Face or card readers give a live list of who is in the plant, casuals and contractors included, and stop someone whose induction or medical has lapsed at the gate rather than beside a machine. Existing cameras can flag a restricted area entered, missing hairnets or hard hats, and forklifts crossing walkways. After an incident, footage, access records and shift data are already together for your safety file, your insurer and an NSSA inspection.
What it covers
No rip and replace
We work with the IP cameras, gate hardware, scanners and scales you own. New equipment is proposed only where the existing kit cannot see what you need.
Runs when the link is down
Detection and rules run on a small industrial computer in the plant, so a fibre cut stops neither recording nor alerting. Records reconcile when connectivity returns.
Paperwork handled once
Goods received vouchers, supplier invoices and orders arriving by WhatsApp are read and posted to the system you use, so a clerk approves rather than retypes.
Attendance that reaches payroll
Plant readers produce the hours and payroll receives them under agreed rules, instead of a supervisor's list typed in at month end.
Exceptions stay with people
The system flags, evidences and escalates. A batch hold or a supplier claim is decided by your managers, with the evidence in front of them.
Your data, your environment
Production, staff and biometric data sit in your environment or a dedicated tenant, with role-based access and a retention period agreed in writing.
How it works
Site assessment
We walk the floor with your production, maintenance and finance people during a normal shift, agree the one bottleneck worth attacking first, and list the hardware and systems already in place.
Integration
We connect cameras, gate hardware, stock and payroll systems and any machine data available. Through this phase the system observes and reports only; it may not hold, divert or act.
Rules and guardrails
Stoppage categories, hold rules, access rights, escalation paths and payroll logic are agreed, then tested against real footage and historical records until the alerts earn a supervisor's attention.
Go live and optimise
The system takes the workflow and we review weekly at first, tuning thresholds, camera positions and reporting. A first system is typically running in about four to six weeks.
Questions buyers ask
Our machines are old and have no digital output. Can you still monitor them?
Usually yes. Vision on an existing camera counts product and times a stop without touching the machine, which suits a plant whose equipment spans several decades and brands. Where a machine does expose data, we read that as well.
Will staff see this as surveillance?
That depends on how it is introduced, and we will say so plainly at the assessment. The systems that last are aimed at the process — why the line stopped, where material went — with the people element limited to attendance, access and safety rules explained to the workforce beforehand.
Do we need to replace our stock or accounting system first?
No. We integrate through whatever it offers — an interface, a database view or a scheduled file exchange — so movements, hours and invoices reach the ledger you already keep.
What happens during a long power outage?
On generator the system runs like any other plant load, and it logs the changeover so utility interruption stays separate from mechanical downtime. If everything goes dark, recording resumes on restoration and the gap is shown as a gap, never filled with an estimate.
We have several plants. Does each one need its own installation?
Each site needs its own hardware and tuning, because layouts and camera positions differ. Reporting, rules and accounts are shared, so a group manager can compare sites, and the second plant is normally quicker to bring up than the first.
Book a platform briefing
Fifteen minutes with an engineer who will ask about your worst line, not your budget. Tell us where the shift report and the stock count disagree, and we will say what your existing cameras and systems can already see. sales@eigenstatesystems.com or WhatsApp +263 77 636 6999.