Install Linesense yourself
Go live on your first machine in an afternoon. The kit arrives configured for your plant, setup is guided from your phone, and an engineer checks every count with you on a video call.
What's in the box
Six parts, chosen for the machines you tell us about and set up for your plant before the kit ships. No programming, and nothing in your machine is modified.
- Edge device
- Isolated inputs for sensors and machine signals. Connects over Ethernet or Wi-Fi, and keeps a local data buffer so readings are held during internet outages and sent when the link returns.
- Product sensor
- Counts finished product as it passes. The type is chosen for your product, for example one made for clear bottles.
- Current clamp
- A split-core clamp that closes around one motor conductor without disconnecting it. It shows when the machine runs and idles, and how much load it draws.
- Bracket and cable
- A mounting bracket to hold the sensor where you need it, and the cable that connects it to the edge device.
- Power supply
- Runs the edge device from a mains socket.
- Setup card
- A printed card with a scan code. Scan it with your phone to open setup and name the machine.
- Optional add-ons
- An operator tablet at the line, set up to open straight into the stop-reason screen. A floor screen kit for a live board in the hall. A controller gateway for machines whose controller we can read directly.
Four steps, about an hour per machine
Nothing here changes how the machine runs. We only read signals.
Clip on the sensor
Mount it on its bracket where finished product passes, after the last machine step.
Clamp the motor cable
Close the split-core clamp around one phase of the machine's main motor. It tells us when the machine runs.
Power up and connect
Plug in the edge device and join it to your network by Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi. It starts recording straight away.
Scan and name the machine
Scan the code on the setup card with your phone and give the machine its name. It appears live on your dashboard.
Then we check the first counts with you on a video call. We compare what Linesense counted with what you count by hand, and we don't move on until they agree.
Before you start
Three things to have ready, and a clear line between what your team can do and what needs an electrician.
A standard mains socket within reach of where the edge device will sit.
The device only makes outbound connections, so there are no inbound firewall rules to open. Your IT team can read the details on the security page.
The first machine takes longer because you are learning the steps. The second is quicker.
Your team can do this
- Mount the sensor on its bracket beside a conveyor or machine outfeed
- Plug in the power supply and the edge device
- Join the device to Ethernet or Wi-Fi
- Scan the setup card and name the machine
Needs a qualified electrician
- Anything inside a control panel or motor terminal box
- Fitting the clamp where the motor conductors are only reachable inside a panel
- Reading a machine's stack light or controller outputs, which means connecting to its wiring
- Any work on validated equipment, which should also go through your change control
Choosing where to sense
We always check what the machine already knows first, and add a sensor only where one is needed. Tell us your machine types when you order and we configure the kit for them.
Cartons or cases on a conveyorPhotoelectric sensor
Mount the sensor beside the belt, after the last machine step and after any reject station, so it counts only good product.
If cartons arrive in clusters rather than evenly spaced, tell us. That needs a different method.
BottlesSensor made for clear objects
Put it at the outfeed, where bottles pass one at a time. Clear PET and glass need a sensor made for transparent objects, because an ordinary one can look straight through them.
Machines with a repeating cycleSensor on a shaft or cam
Blister packers, wrappers and presses make a set number of units each cycle. One sensor on a part that turns once per cycle counts cycles, and cycles times units per cycle gives the count.
Machines with a stack lightOptical pickup or the light's wires
The colour that lights up already tells you whether the machine runs and why it stopped. A small optical pickup fixed over each lamp reads it with no wiring at all. Where that isn't practical, your electrician connects to the light's wiring instead.
Machines with a PLCNo sensor needed
We read the count, run state and alarms straight from the controller. Ask your automation person or the machine supplier for read access. Linesense works with OPC-UA, Modbus, Siemens S7 and EtherNet/IP.
On every machine, the current clamp adds run state from the motor, so you still see when it runs and idles even where the product count is hard to reach.
Whole lines and tricky machines start with a survey
Before anything ships, your line is planned by an engineer from your own photos. You get a plan for every machine, so install day has no surprises.
- Map your line in the appPut your machines in order, mark the one you think holds the line back, and add the products and their rated speeds.
- Photograph each machineNameplate, stop light, infeed and outfeed, control panel and any PLC label, with the setup card in the frame so we can measure from the photos.
- Get your install planFor every machine: what we read, where each part mounts, who does each step, and which parts are in your kit.
- Install and prove itTest mode checks every signal, then a 30 to 60 minute count check against the machine's own counter. An engineer signs off before the line goes live.
You don't need a sensor on every machine. A line needs run state on each machine, a count at the bottleneck and at the end of the line, and rejects where they're removed.
Every machine gets the right method
The survey puts each machine in one of four groups. The group decides who does the work, so nobody is asked to do something they shouldn't.
| Method | What it involves | Typical machines | Who installs | What we provide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clip-on | Sensors on clamps and brackets outside the machine. Nothing wired into it. | Conveyors with cartons or bottles, machines with a visible stop light | Your maintenance team | Mounting guide for each machine, short videos, test mode |
| Electrician | A panel or terminal box is opened: a current clamp on one conductor, or the stop light's wires read through relays. | Older machines without a controller, looms, presses | Your qualified electrician, machine isolated | A wiring sheet for each machine and a pre-wired, labelled harness |
| Controller | Count, run state and alarms read from the PLC or SCADA. Read-only: nothing in the program changes. | Modern fillers, blister and cartoning lines, injection moulders | Your automation engineer or machine supplier, with us on a call | A gateway set up in advance, a tag list template and a remote session |
| Custom | A position that needs a made-to-fit mount or a special environment. | Tablets in a chute, clear vials at high speed, hot or washdown areas | A local partner or our engineer, sometimes your team with custom parts | Brackets designed from your photos and shipped with the kit, or a visit quoted up front |
A mounting set in every kit
- Rods and cross clamps that reach any angle
- Clamps for standard conveyor side rails
- Band clamps for round guards and pipes
- Adjustable brackets for standard round sensors
- A setup card with a printed ruler and gap gauge
Custom mounts made from your photos
- Designed from your photos and two or three measurements
- Printed in engineering plastic or cut from sheet metal
- Shipped with your kit, each with a part number for reorders
- Spotted at survey time, never on install day
You're not on your own after install
Our engineers work with your team remotely, from the first count to the first shift report.
We compare Linesense's counts with your own register, together on video.
Your shift times, breaks and targets, entered together so reports match how you run.
The stop reasons your operators actually use, in their own language.
A call with supervisors and operators on the live screen and the reason tablet.
Kits for plants abroad ship pre-configured, so the machines are named and the device is ready to connect on arrival.
Install it yourself, or have us do it
Every option uses the same survey, install plan and count check. What changes is who holds the tools.
Self-install
Your team mounts and connects. We review your survey, write the plan and commission every machine with you on a video call.
Assisted
Your technicians do the mounting, and our engineer or a certified partner is on site for install day and the count check.
Done for you
We survey on site, mount, wire, commission and train your operators. One team accountable from survey to sign-off.
Priority support
A resident engineer
Buy the kit or rent it
The software is a monthly subscription per line or per machine. Choose how you want the hardware.
Buy the kit
- You own the hardware from day one
- Pay for the kit once, then the subscription for each machine
- Suits plants that prefer to own their equipment
Rent the kit
- No large up-front hardware cost
- The hardware stays with Linesense, and rental sits alongside the subscription
- Suits plants that want to start with a few machines
We quote in your currency after we know your machines. Prices depend on how many machines you monitor and which sensors they need, so we give you one clear number rather than a list.
Questions about self-install
What if our machine has a PLC?
Even better. We read the count, run state and alarms from the controller, with no sensor on the machine. Your automation person or the machine supplier gives us read access, and nothing in the machine program changes.
Can we add machines later?
Yes. Each machine has its own kit and its own subscription, so you can start with the machines that matter most and add more when you're ready. The second machine goes faster than the first.
What if the count is wrong?
We compare the first counts with your own on the video call, and fixing any difference comes before anything else. Usually it is the sensor position, and moving it solves it. We keep comparing in the first days until the numbers agree.
Do we need our IT team?
Only if you want them. The device needs Ethernet or Wi-Fi and makes outbound connections only, so there are no inbound firewall rules to open. If your policy needs a review, the security page has what they will ask.
What if the internet drops?
The edge device keeps recording and holds its data buffer locally. When the connection returns it sends everything, so the history is complete.
Is installation safe?
Sensors are mounted with the machine stopped and locked out, following your own safety procedure. Anything inside a panel is for a qualified electrician. Linesense only reads signals and never changes how the machine runs.
Our line needs special mounting. Can we still install it ourselves?
Usually yes. The survey spots those positions early, and we design and ship custom brackets with the kit. Where a position needs specialist work, we tell you before you order and arrange a partner or an engineer visit.
We'd rather not install it ourselves. Can you?
Yes. We can be on site for install day while your technicians mount the parts, or do the whole installation for you, from the site survey to operator training. Plants that want someone on hand afterwards can add priority support or a resident engineer.
What if we can't get access to the PLC?
Then we use outside signals instead: the stop light, a current clamp and a count sensor. You still get run state, stops and counts. We decide this at survey time, not on install day.
Get a kit configured for your machines
Tell us what you run and we'll show you what goes in the box and how the first afternoon works.