6 minute read Written for plant managers, maintenance managers and operations directors

The short answer

Yes. ProAlert™ is a single-database, single-login operations platform for asset-intensive manufacturers. Maintenance management, performance analytics (OEE) and shop-floor response coordination, the job a digital andon board does, are three of its fourteen operational disciplines. They share one asset record, one organizational graph and one audit trail, so a stopped machine, the call that answers it, the work order that repairs it and the OEE figure that records it are all the same data. ProAlert is not an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or MRP (Material Requirements Planning) system.

The same database also carries video management (VMS, Video Management System), A-FMDS (Automated Floor Management Development System) daily management, Kaizen (Continuous Improvement), quality and nonconformance, and the rest of the fourteen disciplines, so the plant runs one integrated system rather than a set of connected products.

01The usual stack

Why plants end up running three systems

Most plants assemble this capability one purchase at a time. The line-stop board comes from a controls or lighting vendor, OEE from a production analytics vendor, and the CMMS from a maintenance software vendor. Each product keeps its own list of machines, its own users and its own idea of when a stoppage started and ended.

Connecting them means building integrations, and an integration is a copy of data on a schedule. The copies drift. The downtime minutes in the OEE report and the hours in the maintenance history stop agreeing, the work order arrives without the shift or the product that was running, and someone spends part of every month reconciling the difference. The One System, Not Four page sets out that cost in detail.

02One database

What changes when the three share one database

The difference is not the feature list. It is that each step below reads and writes the same records, so nothing is exported, imported or re-keyed.

One stoppage, handled in three products and in one
StepThree separate productsProAlert, one database
The machine stopsLogged on the line-stop board, and separately by the OEE tool if it has its own sensorA downtime call raised at the asset, or a state change from an EdgeSense device where one is fitted, recorded once against the asset
Someone respondsThe board lights up; who went, and when they arrived, is often not recordedThe call routes to the role configured for that asset, and the first responder to claim it is the only one dispatched, with every step of the response timed
OEE reflects itImported later, or entered again by handThe Availability component is recalculated on the event itself
A work order is raisedTyped into the CMMS from memory or a noteWhen the downtime call closes, the work order is created with the equipment, failure cause, OEE state and product already filled in
The cause is recordedFree text, in whichever system the technician openedStructured classification on closure against the ISO 14224 (Equipment Reliability Data Standard) failure taxonomy, behind the responder’s PIN
Did it come back?A spreadsheet that joins exports from all threeThe stoppage becomes a gap on the A-FMDS (Automated Floor Management Development System) daily board, with an owner, and a “did the fix hold” view of the same metric afterward

The full sequence, from the stop to the cost of the event landing on the asset profitability dashboard, is on Connecting Downtime to Maintenance Work Orders.

03Checklist

Five questions to ask any vendor

Whoever you evaluate, these questions separate one system from several products sold together.

  1. Is there one asset list, or one per product? If the line-stop board, the OEE tool and the CMMS each hold their own machine list, something has to keep them matched.
  2. When a downtime call closes, does the work order arrive with the context, or does someone re-key it? Ask to see the asset, shift and product on a work order that was raised from a stoppage.
  3. Do the OEE downtime minutes and the maintenance history come from the same record? If they come from two, ask which one wins when they disagree.
  4. Is there one login and one audit trail? Separate products usually mean separate user administration and separate audit logs.
  5. What happens when the internet connection drops? A board that depends on an outside service goes blank exactly when the floor needs it. See On-Premises Plant-Floor Software.
04Fit

Where ProAlert fits, and where it does not

It fits asset-intensive discrete manufacturers (stamping, molding, machining, assembly and similar operations) where unplanned downtime is the dominant cost and where maintenance, quality and production are run from separate systems today.

It does not replace the ERP. Purchasing inside ProAlert is CMMS-connected procurement for maintenance parts only. ProAlert connects to an existing ERP, MES (Manufacturing Execution System) or BI (Business Intelligence) stack through a documented REST API (Application Programming Interface) of 474 operations.

How it is licensed. Maintenance management (CMMS) and Quality are bundled with ProAlert Core. OEE, Video and EdgeSense are licensed modules, and OEE components can be licensed per asset: a plant can start with Availability, add Performance when machine connectivity is ready, and add Quality when scrap tracking is in place. Prices are not published on this site.

05FAQ

Questions buyers ask next

Is there software that combines andon, OEE and CMMS in one system?

Yes. ProAlert runs shop-floor response coordination (the role of a digital andon), OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) performance analytics and maintenance management (CMMS) on one database with one login. A stoppage, the call that answers it, the work order that repairs it and the OEE figure that records it are the same data, with no integration between them.

Is there one system for andon, OEE, CMMS, Kaizen and video?

Yes. ProAlert runs shop-floor response coordination (andon), OEE performance analytics, maintenance management (CMMS), Kaizen continuous improvement and video management (VMS) in one system on one database, alongside A-FMDS daily management, quality and nonconformance and the other operational disciplines. A downtime event can carry its video clip, its work order and its OEE impact without any integration between products.

Do I need an integration to connect OEE downtime to maintenance work orders?

Not in ProAlert. When a downtime call closes, the work order is created automatically with the equipment, failure cause, OEE state and product already populated, because both live in the same database. Separate OEE and CMMS products need an integration, which copies data on a schedule and has to be maintained through every upgrade of either product.

Can we start with one discipline and add the others later?

Yes. OEE components are licensed per asset, so a plant can begin with Availability (downtime tracking), add Performance when machine connectivity is in place, and add Quality when scrap tracking is in place. Maintenance management and Quality are bundled with ProAlert Core, and each licensed module turns on inside the same database rather than as a new system.

Does ProAlert replace our ERP?

No. ProAlert is not an ERP or MRP system. Its purchasing is CMMS-connected procurement for maintenance parts only, and it connects to an existing ERP, MES or BI stack through a documented REST API.

Bring the systems you run today

We will walk your current stack against this page on a 30-minute call and tell you plainly what ProAlert covers and what it does not.

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