Designed and deployed a full Tier 2 Production Data Management System from scratch — PLC integration, real-time custom dashboards, ERP and MES configuration, predictive analytics, and mobile access. Delivered in 3–4 weeks with 6 months of ongoing support.
A North American industrial manufacturer was operating without real-time production visibility. Downtime was discovered after the fact. Throughput was tracked manually in spreadsheets — when it was tracked at all. Management and operators had no shared picture of what was actually happening on the floor.
The gap wasn't motivation — it was infrastructure. The PLCs were there. The data existed. There was no system to capture it, contextualize it, and put it in front of the people who needed it in real time.
Nextep was engaged to build that system from scratch — purpose-built for the shop floor, not adapted from a corporate IT template.
Production data systems fail for one of two reasons: they're too generic to reflect how the operation actually runs, or they're too complex for operators to use without constant IT support. Nextep builds neither.
Every system we deploy starts with the floor — what does an operator need to see to make a better decision right now? What does a supervisor need to see at the shift change? What does management need to see to identify systemic patterns? Those three questions drive every design decision.
Then we build toward the data source — PLC integration, ERP connection, MES configuration — working backward from what the end user needs, not forward from what the system makes easy to export.
The system went from kickoff to live production data on the floor in 3–4 weeks. Not a pilot — full deployment across the production environment. Operators had real-time dashboards. Management had shift-level reporting. Predictive analytics were identifying developing issues within the first month of operation. Six months of ongoing support ensured the system embedded into daily operations and continued delivering value.
Generic production data platforms are built for the median customer — which means they're slightly wrong for almost everyone. They have fields your operation doesn't use, missing fields your operation needs, and reports that don't match how your supervisors actually think about the data.
Nextep builds systems that reflect how your operation actually runs — your equipment, your product mix, your shift structure, your KPIs. The result is a system operators actually use, not one they work around. That's the difference between a dashboard that changes behavior and one that collects dust.