Introduction
In every production hall, regardless of the industry, failures pose a real threat to continuity of work. Although they cannot be completely eliminated, their impact on productivity can be significantly reduced provided that the incident reporting process is properly managed. In practice, the problem is rarely the failure itself, but more often the time that elapses between its occurrence and the action taken by the appropriate persons.
The traditional model of reporting failures is time-consuming and inefficient
Many production plants still use a manual method of reporting failures, which is not suited to the realities of modern production. The process usually looks like this:
- The operator notices a technical problem or disruption in the process.
- They look for the person in charge, usually the shift leader or supervisor.
- They report the failure verbally or on paper – often without providing full context.
- The leader forwards the report – by phone or email – to the maintenance department.
- Technicians receive the information late and often incomplete.
- The production team waits for a response, not knowing whether the failure has already been reported or when intervention can be expected.
Each stage delays the response. Communication is manual and involves many people, which increases the risk of errors, misunderstandings, or the report being completely overlooked.
During this time, the line is down and the company incurs real costs – not only in terms of downtime, but also in terms of unused human resources and delayed orders. In addition, the lack of a digital trail makes it impossible to analyze the situation later and draw conclusions for the future.
Digital fault reporting is a real operational advantage
AndonCloud enables quick and intuitive reporting of problems directly from the operator panel:
- by selecting the appropriate fault category,
- without the need to manually describe the event,
- with automatic forwarding of information to the appropriate department in accordance with established rules.
Additionally, the selected status can be linked to an emergency procedure that automatically:
- creates a work order for the maintenance department,
- provides a step-by-step description of the required service actions for a given workstation.
This way, technicians do not waste time entering data into the system and searching for documentation. They know immediately what to do and where.
This approach significantly reduces delays resulting from manual information flow, and the entire intervention process is digitally recorded and assigned to a specific user. In this way, the organization gains consistent, comparable data on production events and better control over their course.
Measurable benefits for organizations
Companies that have implemented a digital failure reporting model see a number of operational and strategic benefits:
- Shorter response times – in many cases reduced by up to 70% (according to AndonCloud customer operational data).
- Greater transparency – each report has its own digital footprint, which eliminates ambiguity and allows for better resource management.
- Reliable data for analysis – the history of failures, their frequency, and duration form the basis for operational decisions.
- Prevention planning capability – based on recurring report patterns, schedules for inspections and preventive actions can be created.
- Fewer errors – reducing the number of intermediaries reduces the risk of misrepresentation and misunderstandings.
A digital model is not only a faster response – it is a real change in operational culture that promotes better work organization, transparency, and continuous process improvement.
Summary
Failures are an inherent part of production, but their impact on results can be significantly reduced with an efficient reporting system and quick feedback to the relevant teams. The AndonCloud operator panel is designed to enable failure reporting in the shortest possible time, usually within seconds, without paper documents, phone calls, or the need to find supervisors.
