Every press stroke, with its pressure, vibration and energy.
Hydraulic and power presses: exact stroke counts and die-change time, plus hydraulic pressure per stroke, oil level, vibration and kWh per stroke from connected sensors and an energy meter.
Presses are among the easiest machines on any floor to monitor accurately and among the least often monitored. A press stroke is an unambiguous, repeatable mechanical event, and counting strokes gives an exact output figure with no inference at all — which is more than can be said for several far more sophisticated machines.
The reason presses go unmeasured is not technical difficulty. It is that they usually have no controller anyone thought to connect.
Machine signals, an energy meter and sensors, on one timeline.
Every press can carry all three. Each stroke is recorded with the energy it took and the condition of the machine that made it.
What the machine is doing
- Strokes, exact, per die
- Strokes per minute against the rated rate
- Die changes as their own state
- Stops with reasons from the operator
What it costs to run
- kW, kWh, kVA and power factor, live
- Energy per stroke, per shift and per job
- Idle energy: power drawn while producing nothing
- Maximum demand and load profile
How healthy it is
- Condition sensors connected where they matter
- Per-machine baselines, not generic limits
- Alerts before a trend becomes a breakdown
- Readings stored against every stroke
Sensors typically connected on a press
An energy meter connection is available on every machine type we monitor. Sensors are chosen per machine at the pilot, and connected by the MachineWise team. See energy monitoring and condition monitoring.
Vibration, hydraulic pressure and oil level, on every press.
Stroke counts tell you how much a press made. Connected sensors tell you how the press is holding up while it makes it, and warn before a seal, a bearing or a low tank stops the line.
Bearings, flywheel and pump
- Crank, flywheel and main bearings on power presses
- Pump and motor on hydraulic presses
- Trend against each press's own baseline
- Warning weeks before a bearing seizes
Every stroke, its pressure
- Peak pressure recorded per stroke
- Strokes below forming pressure flagged
- Slow pressure loss exposes seal and valve wear
- Pressure stored against the part it formed
Hydraulic and lubrication oil
- Tank and sump level, continuously
- Alert below the minimum, before the pump suffers
- Gradual drop over days points to a leak
- Top-ups logged, consumption trended
| Signal | Source | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Stroke | Existing counter output, or a proximity switch at the ram | Exact output count, with no inference |
| Strokes per minute | Derived from stroke timing | Whether the press is running at its intended rate |
| Running versus stopped | Drive contactor, or stroke recency | Availability, with exact durations |
| Continuous versus single stroke | Mode selector contact | Distinguishes production running from setting and trial |
| Stop reason | Operator, at a kiosk | Die change, coil change, jam, breakdown, quality check |
Stroke counting is exact once debounce is configured for that press. Skipping debounce is the characteristic error here, and an inflated stroke count is not obviously wrong until it is compared against despatch.
Die changes
The dominant loss, and the one most responsive to preparation. Measured precisely, it becomes a SMED conversation with real numbers rather than an impression.
Coil and material changes
Frequent, predictable and rarely logged separately from die changes, which makes both harder to improve.
Jams and misfeeds
Short and frequent. Their rate is a better maintenance signal than their duration.
Running below rated rate
A press set to run slower than its capability, often for a reason nobody remembers. Only visible when strokes per minute are trended against the intended rate.
On most press shops the die change is the single largest availability loss and the one with the clearest improvement path. Measuring it properly means recording it as its own state with a start and an end, distinguishing internal work that requires the press stopped from external work that does not, and comparing the same die change across shifts and crews.
That comparison is where the value is. When the same changeover takes fifty minutes on one shift and eighty on another, the difference is method rather than machine, and it is addressable this month without capital. None of that is visible from a total downtime figure.
What does one stroke cost in electricity?
With an energy meter on the press, this is measured for every shift and job. Until then, estimate it here with your own numbers.
Values are pre-filled with a typical press. Replace them with yours; nothing you type is stored or sent.
Idle energy is usually the fastest saving: it needs a switch-off rule, not capital. The meter shows it per machine, per shift.
Two presses on a live dashboard this week.
A stroke counter and a contactor are usually all it takes. Two presses for thirty days will price your die-change loss precisely.
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