Industry 4.0 Case Study

    Tier-1 automotive supplier eliminated rework warranty claims with MileSoft Torque Traceability + Andon

    Connecting 40+ DC torque controllers and 12 assembly stations to a single traceability + visual-management spine reduced critical-fastener rework to near-zero and cut downtime response from minutes to seconds.

    9 min read MileSoft Engineering TeamPublished 12 May 2026
    Client
    Tier-1 Manufacturers
    Industry
    Automotive Tier-1
    Geography
    India (Pune + Nasik plants)

    Outcomes

    Measurable results

    Headline metrics from the deployment.

    98%
    drop in critical-fastener warranty rework
    <15s
    andon mean-time-to-first-response
    11pp
    OEE improvement (line average)
    1 day
    IATF audit prep (down from 3 weeks)

    The Challenge

    What needed solving

    • Torque controller mix from Atlas Copco, Desoutter, Stanley, and Cleco — each writing logs in its own format. No single VIN-level traceability across the line.
    • When a critical-fastener rework arrived from the OEM, the team needed days of forensic log diving to figure out which station, which operator, which time-window.
    • Andon was a literal stack-light + paper escalation system. Mean time to first response (MTTR-FR) was 6–9 minutes.
    • IATF 16949 audits required exhaustive evidence of process control that existing systems couldn't produce in less than weeks of prep.

    Our Approach

    How we delivered

    • Deployed MileSoft Torque Traceability as the unified controller-to-MES bridge — every fastening event tagged with VIN, station, operator, controller ID, Cp/Cpk window.
    • Layered the Andon System on top: live downtime + escalation dashboards on every line, with PLC integration so machine faults page the right team in <10 seconds.
    • Bolted on Material Traceability for genealogy from raw lot → sub-assembly → finished VIN — closing the loop for IATF audits.
    • Phased rollout: Plant 1 in 8 weeks, Plant 2 in 6 weeks (lessons-learned compression).

    Stack

    Technical building blocks

    Atlas Copco / Desoutter / Stanley / Cleco controllers (Open Protocol + ToolsNet)Siemens + Allen-Bradley PLCs (OPC UA)On-prem MES with REST APIsMS SQL ServerActive Directory SSO

    "We used to argue with the OEM about whether a fastener was even ours. Now every joint has a digital pedigree — VIN, torque curve, operator, timestamp. Disputes evaporated."

    Plant Quality Head
    Tier-1 Manufacturers

    FAQ

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Common questions about this engagement and MileSoft's approach.

    Technical Research

    Want the engineering details behind these results?

    Read the full research paper — architecture, computational methods, governing standards, and worked numerical examples.

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