Remote monitoring for machine builders and equipment fleets
Know what your machines are doing after they ship.
NightForeman turns the data logs your machines' HMIs already write into one portal: which installation is running, which has stopped sending data, which alarms occurred and what they mean, and what each run consumed. No hardware on site. Nothing connects into the site.
- In useon a machine builder's equipment in the United States
- 0devices installed on site
- 0inbound connections into the site's control network
For machine builders and fleet owners with machines at customer sites across North America and Europe.
IN USE · A MACHINE BUILDER'S EQUIPMENT · UNITED STATES · REFERENCES MAY BE AVAILABLE UNDER NDA
The problem
Why machine builders lose sight of equipment after handover
You engineered it, built it, shipped it. From that day on, everything you learn about it arrives by phone, usually as a complaint.
Warranty claims you cannot disprove
A machine fails after months of overload the operator never mentions. Without an operating record, you can't tell misuse from a factory defect, so you pay.
Downtime damages your reputation
When your machine stops a customer's process, the customer blames your machine, not their process. You hear about it last, after the customer has already lost a shift.
Service revenue you are missing
Your customers would pay for uptime. Without visibility into the fleet, you can only sell repairs and scheduled checkups, not the monitoring they actually want.
The portal
A fleet monitoring portal for every machine you have shipped
Every installation in one place, written for the people who run the machines: what happened, in plain words, with the numbers behind it.
Alarms in plain language
Every alarm and state change of every installation, with its duration and a link to the charts around it.
Consumption per site day
Volumes processed, water, chemicals, energy and running hours, counted per site day (00:00–24:00, local time) and ready to export.
Every run, analyzed
A run is a period of continuous operation, with no break longer than 5 min. For each run: energy and chemicals per volume processed, stops and peak loads, and what stands out compared with the installation's typical values.
- Installation status. Which installation is running, which has stopped sending data, and since when.
- Data delivery. Missing files, delays and a wrong HMI clock, per installation and per data stream.
- Charts. Overlay series, zoom in, and hover over a moment to see the values on all charts at that moment.
- Your customers can log in too. Each one sees only its own installations.
- Sign-in with Google. Your company account; no new password to manage.
- Units as each site logs them, metric or US; in English, German and Polish; light and dark themes; on a phone or a control-room screen.
How it works
From HMI data logs to remote monitoring, with no extra hardware
No new sensors, no box in the cabinet, no changes to the machine.
The HMI sends its log
Many HMIs (operator panels) can e-mail their data logs on a schedule. The site sends that e-mail to us, and that is the only connection there is. In use today with Weintek HMIs that log in the EasyBuilder Pro SQLite format. For any other HMI, send us one exported log, and within one working day we tell you whether we can read it.
We map every channel
Each value in the log is tied to the real equipment at that site, so an unused channel that reads zero is not mistaken for a stopped motor, and a pump with a new tag name keeps its history.
You open the portal
Installation status, alarms, consumption and runs for every installation, as soon as the next log arrives. If an installation stops sending data, the portal says so.
Remote monitoring for machine builders and fleet owners
Ship the machine. Keep the relationship.
The same record serves your service team, your warranty team and your engineers.
Evidence, not arguments
An operating history of every machine: alarms, overloads, stops, how heavily it was loaded and how long it ran. Settle misuse-versus-defect disputes with data.
Monitoring you can sell
Give your customers their own login to their own installations, and turn one-time machine sales into a monitored fleet under a service contract.
Field data back into R&D
See how your machines are actually run across sites: which components work at their limits, what each run consumes, which setpoints are changed and which values drift.
Know where your units stand
Which unit ran, for how long, how much it processed, and whether it was overloaded. A basis for usage-based billing and for the conversation when a unit comes back.
Built for OT security
Remote monitoring, not remote access: no VPN, no inbound connections
The buyer's controls engineer will look at NightForeman the way they look at a device on their network. Here is what they will find.
- Outbound only.The site's HMI sends its log by e-mail. Nothing connects into the control network: no VPN, no remote access, no open port at the site.
- Read-only, no new passwords.Every user has view-only access: no machine setting or data can be changed through the portal, and there is no path back to any machine. Sign-in is with a verified company Google account.
- Each customer sees only its own data.Enforced by the database itself, with a separate role per customer, not only by the application. At NightForeman, only our support administrator can see it, and only to support you.
- Backed up and monitored.Nightly encrypted backups to a second location, with a tested restore. An outside monitor warns us when processing stops, and administrative commands are logged.
- Incoming files are checked.Originals are kept unaltered; a log that does not match the installation's configuration is rejected instead of being loaded with values in the wrong columns.
- Hosted in the EU, or in the US on request.Chosen per customer; a data processing agreement (GDPR) on request.
- Your data stays yours.Export to CSV at any time; at the end of a pilot, you keep the data or have it deleted.
Mapped to IEC 62443-3-3, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and CISA guidance for OT environments. Not certified, and we say so.
Request the security overview For your IT and OT security review: the architecture, the IEC 62443 mapping, and what we have not done yet.
What's next
Roadmap: notifications, rules and anomaly detection
Predictive maintenance needs a clean, continuous operating record of every machine, mapped to the real equipment. The portal builds it from the first day. Each next stage is added on top, in the order customers ask for, and none is claimed before it works.
- Available now
The portal
Installation status, charts, alarms, consumption, runs and data delivery for every installation.
- Next
Notifications
An e-mail when an installation stops sending data or a critical alarm occurs, without opening the portal.
- Planned
Your own rules
Thresholds, ranges and durations you set yourself; notifications by SMS, Telegram, Slack or Teams; escalation when nobody reacts.
- Early access
Anomaly detection
A model learns each machine's normal behavior and points out slow drifts that fixed thresholds miss, such as a pump that needs more current for the same flow. Operators confirm each finding. Offered on selected installations, separately from the paid pilot.
- RecordAvailable nowEvery run, alarm, state and counter, kept as one operating history.
- DetectEarly accessDrifts and changes in behavior, confirmed by operators as a real problem or a normal change.
- PredictGoalConfirmed findings matched with maintenance records become early warnings of which component needs attention.
Each step builds on the one before. We won't sell predictions we cannot prove.
Questions
FAQ: remote monitoring for machine builders
Do we have to install hardware?
No. If your HMI can e-mail its data logs, nothing is installed on site. The site only sends the e-mail the HMI is configured to send.
Which HMIs does it work with?
Today the portal reads the logs of Weintek HMIs that log in the EasyBuilder Pro SQLite format, sent by e-mail; that is what is in use today. For any other HMI, send us one exported log, and within one working day we tell you whether we can read it.
Our HMIs cannot e-mail their logs. Can we still use NightForeman?
It depends. Today the portal reads logs that arrive by e-mail. Tell us the PLC and HMI make and model, and how the HMI can get its log out (e-mail, upload to a server, USB stick), and we will tell you honestly whether we can support it.
Does anything connect into the site's control network?
No. There is no VPN, no remote access and no open port at the site. Data only leaves the site; nothing comes in.
Is this remote access to the PLC or HMI?
No. NightForeman only reads the log your HMI already e-mails. It does not connect to the machine, there is no VPN or open port, and nothing can be changed through the portal. If you need to change a program remotely, you need a separate remote access tool; NightForeman can run alongside it.
Does it predict failures?
No. Predictive maintenance is the direction NightForeman is working toward, and we won't claim it before it is proven on your machines. The portal builds the operating record it needs from day one, and anomaly detection, which flags changes in behavior for operators to confirm, is offered as early access on selected installations, separately from the paid pilot.
Does it send notifications?
Not yet. Today the portal shows installation status, installations that stopped sending data, and alarms when you open it. E-mail notifications when an installation stops sending data or a critical alarm occurs are the next stage on the roadmap.
How current is the data?
As current as your HMI's e-mail schedule: each log appears in the portal shortly after it arrives, so an hourly log gives you an hourly picture. NightForeman gives you an overview of the fleet; it is not a real-time control-room view.
Where is our data stored, and who can see it?
In the EU, or in the US on request; a data processing agreement (GDPR) is signed on request. Your team sees your installations, and each customer you give a login sees only its own. At NightForeman, only our support administrator can see your data, and only to support you. Customers are kept apart by the database itself, not only by the application.
Is it certified?
No. It is mapped to IEC 62443-3-3, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and CISA guidance for OT environments: our security overview goes requirement by requirement, together with what we have not done yet. We claim no certification and no security level.
Will you fill in our security questionnaire?
Yes, before the pilot starts, together with your NDA. Ask for our security overview first: it usually answers most of the questionnaire.
Do we need Google accounts?
At the moment, sign-in requires a company Google account. If your company uses Microsoft 365, tell us in your first e-mail.
How is this different from SCADA, a data historian or an IIoT platform?
Those connect into the site's control network and need hardware and integration work at every site. NightForeman reads the log your HMI already e-mails, with no connection into the site. It is for machine builders and fleet owners who can't, or don't want to, reach into every customer's network.
What happens after the pilot?
There is no obligation to continue. You can stop, extend the pilot, or move to an ongoing subscription; either way, you keep the data or have it deleted.
Paid pilot
Start with one installation.
A fixed-scope paid pilot on the machines you choose. Here is what happens.
- BEFOREYour NDA, our security overview, and your security questionnaire answered, before the pilot starts.
- DAY 1Your controls engineer sets the HMI to e-mail its log on a schedule and sends us one sample and the tag list. No site visit, no downtime.
- WEEKS 1–2Your installation is mapped; first charts, alarms and consumption appear in the portal.
- DAY 30We review the first findings with your team.
- DAY 60A written report of what the data showed: utilization, alarms, consumption and data quality. You keep the data.
- AFTERNo obligation to continue: stop, extend, or move to a subscription.
Anomaly detection is not part of the paid pilot. It can be added as early access on installations with a few months of history.
Tell us how many machines, which PLC and HMI, whether the HMI can e-mail its logs, and whether your company uses Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Price on request after a short call.
Not ready for a pilot? Send us one log from your HMI, and within five working days of our confirmation you get a one-page report of what it shows.
NO HARDWARE · NO PRODUCTION STOP · OUTBOUND ONLY OR WRITE DIRECTLY: hello@nightforeman.com