Case Study Modernizing Shop Floor Operations with Microsoft Power Platform
How we replaced manual paper workflows with custom Microsoft Power Apps, automating downtime tracking and real-time production monitoring for global plants.
The Client
Driving shop floor digitalization for global manufacturing plants.
Intelegencia supports a large portfolio of global manufacturing clients across sectors including beverage, building materials, textiles, and industrial products. These organizations operate multi-location plants worldwide with multiple production lines, machines, kiosks, and display interfaces used by operators to manage complex manufacturing processes.
In large-scale manufacturing, operational efficiency depends on minimizing unplanned equipment downtime. When a machine on a high-speed production line faults or a product jam occurs, every minute of delay translates into lost output and increased operational costs. Capturing the root cause of these disruptions immediately is key to continuous improvement.
However, many plants run without a formal Manufacturing Execution System (MES) due to the cost and complexity of custom software deployment. Instead, operators rely on paper logs to record machine states and downtime, introducing administrative latency and inaccuracies.
The Challenge
The limitations of paper logs and siloed shop floor data.
The manufacturers in our portfolio faced challenges in capturing and analyzing shop floor data. Operators had to interact with complex legacy interfaces that were not designed for quick data entry. Without a modern system, tracking unplanned downtime and its root causes was a slow, manual process.
At the end of a shift, operators compiled paper logs of line halts, maintenance tickets, and output. These records were manually transcribed into spreadsheet reports, introducing data errors. By the time plant managers reviewed the data, the opportunity to resolve recurring issues had passed.
Complex, outdated terminal systems made machine tracking difficult for operators.
Lack of a structured MES prevented accurate classification of downtime causes.
Legacy workflows relied on paper records, creating data transcription delays.
Production line issues were only analyzed retrospectively, preventing real-time response.
What our audit found
Identifying the root causes of downtime reporting latency.
We evaluated the client plants' reporting workflows. The analysis showed that transcribing paper logs into weekly reports delayed operational visibility by up to seven days. This delay made it difficult to identify recurring root causes, such as material defects or component wear.
Furthermore, because operators lacked a mobile or web-based interface, they could not report issues from the production line. A walk to a central office was required to log details, adding administrative friction.
Downtime classification was inconsistent, hindering root cause analysis.
Reporting delays prevented timely intervention on recurring line faults.
Lack of mobile-friendly interfaces limited data entry on the shop floor.
Manual record-keeping consumed valuable shift hours for operators.
The Solution
How we turned it around.
Developing User-Centric Data Entry Apps with Power Apps
We built custom, user-friendly mobile and kiosk applications using Microsoft Power Apps. These applications allow operators to log production line states, select standardized downtime reasons, and report issues directly from the factory floor. Because the apps run on shared kiosks and personal devices alike, operators could capture events the moment they happened, replacing the paper logs and end-of-shift data entry that had left managers working from stale information.
What we shipped
- Designed touch-optimized interfaces for factory kiosks and tablets.
- Standardized downtime categories (e.g., raw material delay, mechanical fault).
- Connected applications to local scanners to automate part entry.
- Enabled offline data caching for areas with limited wireless connectivity.
Rebuilding Workflows and Automating Data Sync with Power Automate
Using Microsoft Power Automate, we established automated workflows that sync data logged in the Power Apps with Azure SQL databases, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft 365. This integration ensures that maintenance alerts are routed to engineers in real time. The same flows reconcile production and downtime records across systems automatically, so the shop floor, maintenance teams, and back-office reporting all draw from a single, continuously updated source instead of disconnected spreadsheets.
What we shipped
- Automated email and SMS notifications for critical equipment faults.
- Streamlined data synchronization between factory apps and Dynamics 365.
- Programmed business rules to validate logs prior to database storage.
- Designed system workflows to coordinate multi-plant data ingestion.
Building Real-Time Power BI Downtime Analytics
We developed interactive Power BI dashboards that ingest data from the shop floor apps. These reports provide plant managers with real-time visibility into OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), line downtime trends, and root cause distributions. With the underlying data now standardized at the point of capture, managers could drill from a plant-level OEE figure down to the specific line and downtime reason behind it, turning what had been after-the-fact guesswork into decisions they could act on the same shift.
What we shipped
- Built real-time OEE dashboards for multi-location plants.
- Configured visual reports to analyze downtime by shift, line, and machine.
- Enabled drill-down capabilities to pinpoint specific failure points.
- Shared automated PDF reports with plant managers.
The Numbers
Outcomes we can talk about.
The deployment of custom Power Apps modernized operations across our clients' global manufacturing plants. By replacing paper logs with touch-screen applications, operators record production data and downtime classifications in real time.
With automated workflows syncing data to Dynamics 365, maintenance teams respond faster to line disruptions. Real-time notifications alert engineers to mechanical faults, reducing response latency.
Plant managers now rely on Power BI dashboards to analyze root causes. The standardized digital framework allows organizations to roll out identical reporting applications across multiple global facilities, establishing consistent operational metrics.
Note on Metrics: Due to the proprietary nature of our clients' production metrics and the diversity of manufacturing sectors represented, quantitative efficiency and financial data were restricted from public release. Project success was validated by the deployment of the Power Platform apps, 100% adoption of the digital logs across pilot plants, and the reduction of manual record-keeping overhead.
What We Built
What's Next
Implementing predictive maintenance with IoT and Azure AI.
The next phase of the digital roadmap involves connecting IoT sensors on critical machinery directly to the Azure database. By combining real-time sensor telemetry with the downtime history captured in our Power Apps, we will build predictive models to alert teams before equipment failure occurs.
Frequently Asked Questions
About This Project
The questions teams usually ask when they want to run a similar engagement.
Yes, using Azure API Management and custom gateways, we connect the Power Apps to legacy databases and OPC server infrastructures.
The Real Numbers
Need real numbers? Let's talk.
We kept the names off the page. The story is real, the outcomes are real, and we're always happy to walk a serious team through the rest of it.
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