Onboarding & Support

plus10 tools are available for the following devices and operating systems:

• Android smartphones via Google Playstore
• iOS smartphones or iPods via App Store
• Apple Watch (watchOS) via App Store
• Web browser

The app can either be downloaded to individual devices or managed centrally via a Mobile Device Management (MDM) system.

plus10 collects the data directly from all integrated machine controllers (PLC, NC), robot controllers (RC), etc. of a production machine or from all controllers integrated in a production line. To do this, we use our plus10 DataCollector to acquire high frequency data from all PLCs, NC and/or RC involved. So far we can collect high frequency machine data with different manufacturer specific PLC protocols and we are continuously adding more controllers. Find out more about the controllers we support here or ask us about compatibility with your specific controller type.

If you already have a powerful IT infrastructure installed in your factory, we also offer the connection to your middleware.

Basically plus10 collects and processes all data of the machine control (PLC) of the production machines or the production line in high frequency. The high sampling rate (we are talking about milliseconds) is necessary to detect and assign the causes of problems and not only their consequences. In some cases the RC and NC data of e.g. handling robots are additionally required. In the standard case, no additional sensors or cameras need to be installed.

The plus10 software tools offer bidirectional interfaces, either by sharing a database or through native protocols with adjacent IT systems. For example, we can continuously exchange calculated KPIs on performance and root causes and update your planned, actual, and target figures in real time and objectively. Your production planning and control become significantly more precise thanks to feedback from Darwin, Hopper, and Shannon®.

We currently support various PLC/NC types. Find out here about the controllers we support or ask us about compatibility with your MES/ERP system.

No, that is not a problem. You will find here all machine controls that are currently compatible.

Your PLCs are not yet listed? Contact us to clarify the introduction of new interfaces with our software development.

The plus10 costs are divided into two packages: the one-time onboarding, which includes the initial installation, configuration and go-live. After that, there is an annual license fee for our software services. The annual license includes updates and standard support. Both depend on the number and type of integrated machine controls and the complexity of the production machines or production line.

Our annual license fee includes standard support and software updates to the latest version of the ordered software service(s). With a plus10 software license for Darwin, Hopper, or Shannon®, we guarantee you the latest, most efficient, and most user-friendly version of our optimization software. We provide support worldwide for production facilities where our software tools are installed. We bill on an hourly basis for customized support.

This depends on the type of machine control system (PLC) and the existing IT infrastructure. If there is connectivity to all PLCs and you provide the computing infrastructure (either as a local virtual machine or as a dedicated server), the installation and configuration can be performed remotely. In this case, training for operating personnel on Shannon®, Hopper, or Darwin will still be conducted on-site, but can be virtualized as video training.

All plus10 software tools are designed to manage the high level of complexity in production during multi-shift operations.

Depending on your needs, you can select an appropriate plus10 tool to address your specific production problems:

• Shannon® helps you resolve malfunctions and technical failures, thereby optimizing technical availability.
• Darwin continuously detects performance optimization potential during operation - either in interlinked and automated process chains or for at least 6 identical individual machines. These machines or production lines can also be located in different plants around the world.
• Hopper lowers your scrap rate in combination with cycle time. This means Hopper helps to reduce high scrap rates or conformity costs and thus optimizes quality.

A local virtual machine for the plus10 DataCollector—Linux is preferred, but Windows is also an option: 

• 8 CPU cores 
• 16 GB of RAM 
• 100 GB of hard drive storage—no local data storage; preprocessing takes place in RAM, and data is transmitted in encrypted form 
• Outgoing data traffic via port 443 to the plus10 backend 
• Network access restricted to the addresses of the machine network 
• VPN access to the virtual machine for installation, configuration, and support 

For the network switch, we recommend a managed Gigabit device that is configured and managed by your IT department.  

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Two key user roles that can each be filled by a single person: 

• Organizational key user, based in production: understands the challenges and the people in the department; discusses the reports daily at first and then weekly; and tracks usage and benefits. 
• Technical key user from control engineering or electrical maintenance: responsible for configuration, creating new events, and importing changes from updated PLC projects. 

In the range of one to two person-days. The majority of this time is spent on coordination to ensure that the implementation complies with your internal standards. 

Yes. For many years, we have been providing GMP-compliant software for pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing, including assembly lines for autoinjectors and insulin pens spanning multiple cleanrooms, as well as filling and packaging lines.

An annual license is automatically renewed unless canceled in writing; cancellation is possible up to three months before expiration, after which the license expires as scheduled. Switching to a different product line during the term is possible and straightforward—however, cancellation always requires written notice. In the meantime, you can continue to use an existing DataCollector license, for example, to test control imports.

Especially during the ramp-up of new plants, our tools ensure that solution knowledge is quickly shared across all levels and that everyone learns from one another, while also supporting technical fine-tuning as long as the commissioning team is still on site. Depending on the plant, a combination of Shannon®, Darwin, and/or Hopper is used for this purpose. Based on customer projects, we have observed a reduction of approximately 20% in the technical ramp-up time required to meet qualification criteria (PQ) or to complete the FAT through SAT phases.

In general, this applies to all fully automated production facilities or lines, regardless of the industry—provided that a behavioral model can be learned from the control data.

You can integrate plus10 tools right from the factory and benefit from faster startup and handoffs, a noticeable reduction in the workload on your first-level support team thanks to automatic on-site solution suggestions, and automatic, objective documentation of the causes of malfunctions and solutions. The result: Your systems operate more productively and consistently in multi-shift operation than competing machines—a measurable selling point.

Depending on the role within the end customer’s organization, different tools are used: Shannon® supports operating personnel during stoppages and malfunctions; Darwin helps your industrial engineering, optimization, and operational excellence teams, as well as maintenance, to identify bottlenecks and performance losses; and Hopper assists setup and quality assurance teams in reducing scrap.

We only process the data that comes from your machine, either locally at your site or on a cloud-based infrastructure hosted in your application that includes encrypted traffic. For more information on IT security and data protection, please feel free to contact us.

We enter into clear data protection agreements with all our customers—from small and medium-sized businesses to large corporations. The customer retains full ownership of the data, as well as control over it. Security levels and data protection requirements are reviewed jointly in advance and aligned with existing internal policies to ensure that our security measures are equivalent to or exceed those standards. 

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The plus10 software tools are flexible in terms of IT infrastructure. Data acquisition and preprocessing run continuously on-premises, e.g., on an industrial edge device or a virtual machine within the machine control network. For the next processing step, plus10 adapts to your preferred solution: We can provide a cloud environment for our software tools, or they can run on a virtual machine on-premises in your existing in-house data center. Both options are possible, and we have experience with both.

Shannon®, Hopper, and Darwin are available as Software-as-a-Service and are hosted on Microsoft Azure as part of the plus10 subscription. In addition, our software can be deployed in a customer-specific cloud infrastructure or as an on-premises solution.

No. The connection is established via Ethernet and a virtual machine provided by your IT department. The firewall specifically allows the IP addresses of the respective machine controllers to communicate via a defined protocol. From an IT security perspective, this allows access to be restricted very precisely. Initially, someone is needed to set up the virtual machine and configure the firewall rules. 

Yes. In this case, both components run locally: the machine-side DataCollector—for example, on an industrial edge device—for communication, preprocessing, and encryption, as well as the backend in your own data center. This means that no data leaves your IT infrastructure.

By integrating with your company's user directories—for example, via LDAP or MS365 SSO—rather than using separate logins and passwords. This enhances IT security, eliminates the need for duplicate user management, and is generally required by IT security departments anyway.

The requirements for IT access are discussed in detail as part of the standard IT documentation. Optional aspects can also be taken into account, such as the integration of single sign-on (SSO) for user-friendly and secure user authentication or specific requirements regarding data retention periods (retention policies). These points are coordinated with the client’s IT department and documented. 

All plus10 software tools can only be used on fully automated production machines or production/assembly lines, as automatic data input from each process step is required. Operating personnel typically perform logistical and support tasks, such as loading or unloading materials, as well as conducting statistical process controls and troubleshooting in the event of problems.

The knowledge and experience of employees in maintenance, operations, and process engineering are collected “on the fly” as needed via smartphone, smartwatch, or tablet to link their expert knowledge to new solutions for specific problems. In this way, solutions can be suggested when the corresponding issue arises. Operators can use their smartphones or smartwatches to add text, annotated images, or short videos to the solution.

Yes. We only make sure that no control system is in operation at the very moment the connection is first established—that is, during a break, an unplanned stoppage, or on the weekend. About one minute of downtime is sufficient.

No. No software is installed on the system, and no PLC or HMI projects are modified. Shannon® monitors only the existing modules in the PLC and HMI projects, which are typically available during electrical maintenance. Therefore, no programming work by the system manufacturer is required.

Not the absolute OEE or availability, but rather the difference between shifts as a measure of variation—that is the most easily measurable lever. In addition, the relative change in the mean time to recovery (MTTR) is a suitable metric. In a pilot project with a deliberately limited data set, the MTTR was approximately 13 percent lower in a before-and-after comparison. We deliberately report relative changes and do not promise absolute OEE increases.

The systems complement each other. Traditional OEE tools are unable to detect short stoppages lasting less than a minute—or, on some lines, less than two minutes. It is precisely these short stoppages—such as when a robot must move twice to grasp a part—that cause idle cycles and cycle time fluctuations. Shannon® makes them visible and traceable. Another benefit: causes of downtime and solutions are automatically documented, rather than having to be manually recorded for each stoppage using drop-down lists or free-text fields.

Licensing is based on an annual subscription for each connected controller—that is, for each PLC or endpoint. The price depends on the number and types of connected controllers. The license includes a specified number of user accounts and concurrent sessions. Separately available are: 

• The DataCollector license per machine network on which the tool licenses are based
• Onboarding and Configuration as a One-Time Service
• Training Courses
Hourly support, billed per company and valid globally—one contract covers all locations and instances

We’ll map your programming standards to our importer once and train a key user at your company, who will then configure Shannon® independently—ideally using a specific system as a reference. It makes sense to start with an initial joint customer project, during which we’ll tailor the implementation specifically to your programming style. 

These are often confused because the terms are used in different contexts. Predictive Maintenance refers to the technical availability of the machine— Darwin and Shannon® are the right tools for this. Hopper is quality-oriented, i.e., Predictive Quality. We make this decision based on your OEE breakdown: Where are your biggest losses today? For automated assembly and manufacturing lines, starting with Shannon® usually offers the greatest leverage; however, the decisive factor is what most significantly impacts your production during multi-shift operations.

Yes. Trends can be identified and analyzed from the collected asset data, and these have proven effective in practice as a pragmatic approach to predictive maintenance—without the effort required by traditional condition monitoring projects.

The same as for Shannon®: a local virtual machine for the DataCollector, outbound data traffic via port 443 to the plus10 backend, targeted firewall rules allowing access to the control addresses, user management via LDAP, and the option to operate as Software-as-a-Service within the EU or entirely on-premises.

The high-frequency raw signals (e.g., step chain signals) are stored for three months. This allows users to go back to any point in time within the last three months in the plus10 SignalViewer—for example, to analyze in detail a malfunction that occurred during the last night shift the following day.

The machine's internal control system essentially keeps the shot weight constant. In addition, Hopper responds to environmental influences and changes in the raw material within the specified parameter windows and addresses complex defect patterns such as optical defects (e.g., burn marks or streaks), dimensional accuracy, warpage, and black spots.

Machine-integrated dynamic/learning functions typically rely exclusively on the control data from the respective machine. Hopper not only uses high-frequency machine data from all connected machines (not just a single one), but also contextual information such as the raw material properties of the respective batch and environmental conditions. This enables Hopper to perform transfer learning: Since the software is compatible with different machine types and manufacturers in injection molding, data can be combined and compared across the entire machine fleet.

Machine-integrated functions in injection molding machines are limited to the transition point and the holding pressure phase. Hopper, on the other hand, provides optimized profiles for the plasticizing, injection, and holding pressure phases—so it not only shifts the transition point but also optimizes the entire process sequence. A recommendation can include up to 70 parameters—significantly more than with machine-integrated functions, which aim for consistent weight or volume from shot to shot. Hopper ensures minimal process changes and avoids “fluctuations” within the permissible process window.

Machine-integrated dynamic functions are designed to maintain a constant shot weight or volume despite fluctuations in viscosity or density—both of which are difficult to control. Hopper optimizes the combination of cycle time and scrap rate (good-part yield per hour as the optimization target), taking into account various causes of scrap such as dimensional deviations, surface defects, flow lines, and mechanical properties.

Machine-integrated functions intervene during the current cycle. Hopper, on the other hand, does not intervene until the current cycle is complete—that is, no earlier than the next cycle.

Machine-integrated functions prevent in-process scrap during production that results from fluctuations in shot weight.

Hopper:

• Faster tool changes thanks to recommendations for “Shot 1” that are already tailored to the current raw material batch and environmental conditions—no manual readjustment is necessary
• Prevention of in-process scrap caused by process fluctuations or changes in boundary conditions (climate/dryer/material batch)
• Compliance check to verify that parts were produced within validated parameter windows

The hopper increases the yield of good parts produced per hour, for example in elastomer and thermoplastic injection molding, as well as when processing difficult-to-process materials, such as those with high recycled content. 

Hopper provides a parameter suggestion for the very first cycle following a tool or material change (“Cycle 0”), which is automatically tailored to the current raw material batch and environmental conditions. Manual, experience-based setup—which, depending on the material and the team’s routine, can currently take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours—is largely eliminated. This not only shortens setup time but, more importantly, keeps it consistently and reliably short, regardless of the individual’s experience.

Hopper typically learns for 6–8 weeks using live data from the running plant (“Silent Mode”) without disrupting the process through explicit test sequences (DoE). From the go-live date onward, the quality of the recommendations continues to improve as the system continuously learns.

Licensing is provided as an annual subscription per connected injection molding machine, including the necessary cloud computing power, storage, and support. Separate from this are the one-time configuration—which includes, among other things, the integration of various data sources—as well as one-time IT costs, depending on your existing IT infrastructure. The initial configuration and training are carried out in collaboration with an internally selected key user. All subsequent configurations can typically be performed independently by the key user.