Live Data Collection & Reporting
Real Time Truth.
Real Time Payback.
From energy usage to live employee and job tracking, our integrated sensors and terminals capture it all. Stop relying on flawed assumptions or historic hearsay. Expose hidden inefficiencies, and make split-second decisions that drive immediate profitability.
OUTPUTIQ Manufacturing › WIP › Floor View Ask AI DR OUTPUTIQ› Manufacturing › WIP › Floor ViewAsk AIDROUTPUTIQ› Production › Works Order BookingsAsk AIDROUTPUTIQ› Production › Works Order Bookings › CaptureAsk AIDROUTPUTIQ› Field Service › FS-DEMO-0003Ask AIDROperator reports spindle temperature alarm on CNC-14 during a finishing run. Machine stopped automatically; low coolant flow suspected.
OUTPUTIQ› Sales › CRM DashboardAsk AIDREnd the manual data grind
Stop running around after your own data.
You lose hours every week chasing updates, filling in paperwork and putting reports together by hand. Output IQ kills the busywork. Mobile scanners, OCR, automated workflows and live data feeds capture information right at the source and feed it straight into the system, so what you are looking at is what is happening.
True time cost of admin
For each person, as a working year, 1,070 hours are lost0 of 52 weeks lost
Half a working year is lost per person moving data and information around businesses, most of it out of date by the time it arrives, and often too late for the decision it was needed for.
And this is normal.
Survey after survey finds the same pattern, in factory after factory and office after office. It has been this way for years. Each block below is 100 businesses, and the lit dots are how many.
OFS, Same Factory Different Reality, 2026 Distributive Trades Benchmark, 2026 Ricoh UK admin burden research, 2026
Output IQ was built for exactly this. Capture it once, at source, in the moment it happens, and every number downstream is right without anybody typing it twice.
How it works
Captured once. Connected to everything.
Whether it comes from a mobile scanner, a machine sensor or an EDI feed, information is captured at source, once. It is immediately anchored to Output IQ, cutting front line admin and double entry whilst powering live costing, alerts, dashboards and reports you can trust.
No matter the source, we have a way of capturing it. From OCR to sensors to EDI, everything feeds into one system, fully connected, without anybody typing it in.
- 01CaptureWhatever the source, there is a route in for it. A scan, a reading, a document, a feed.
- 02ReferenceAllocated to the job, order or account it belongs to, so the whole story sits in one place.
- 03StoreHeld once and held safely, indexed so alerts and reports can reach it instantly.
- 04AlertSet what matters to your business, and the people who can act on it get told.
- 05ReportScheduled and sent on their own, so nobody loses a day a month building them by hand.
Capture it once, and the alerts, the costing and the reports come for free.
Book a demoHow we capture data
Data captured at source. Not a keyboard in sight.
We match the capture method to the environment. On the shop floor and in the warehouse that means sensors, tablets and scanners. In the office, OCR, EDI and RPA handle the heavy lifting. We eliminate non value add admin so your team can focus purely on the work that matters.
Machine and utility sensors
Track energy, vibration, temperature and flow instantly. Live equipment data feeds straight into your system, removing admin, guesswork and physical meter reading. Most units clip straight on, and you never have to deal with complex PLC integration.
Tablets and terminals
Book on, log downtime, raise support tickets and log sales prospects in seconds. Mount them locally or take them on the road. Designed by operators to be useful, they work with heavy work gloves and queue data automatically if you lose connectivity.
Handheld scanners
Handle picking, stock transfers and live stock counts effortlessly. Use handhelds or phones for barcode scanning, deploy RFID for bulk capture and print labels instantly. Everything you need to manage your inventory, right in the palm of your hand.
Our back office data capture tools
- OCRExtracts data from documents so nobody needs to key them in.
- RPAA virtual worker on the server that takes on repetitive tasks.
- EDISupplier and customer feeds moving straight between systems.
- APIDirect data connections to your other systems, tools and websites.
From booking works orders and raising issues on the shop floor, to dispatching goods and dealing with customers or suppliers, we have a range of tools that keep everything connected and moving. More on shop floor data capture →
What Output IQ gives you
Actionable intelligence. Real time decisions.
Capturing data is only half the job. Output IQ instantly translates every raw input into live tracking dashboards, automated reports and triggered alerts. Powered by AI analytics, it handles everything between information arriving and your team taking action.
Real time visibility, instant action.
Never wait on yesterday's numbers. Our live dashboards keep your entire team in the loop, helping you spot problems instantly, uncover performance opportunities and take action immediately.
AI that acts, not just answers.
Our AI is built into the system and the process, not bolted on the side of it, allowing it to do the work rather than advise you on it. It efficiently plans tomorrow’s production, forecasts from what your machines actually ran, and flags the orders that will miss deadlines. That is true intelligence.
Automated alerting.
Stay informed and react in real time, with automated alerting across the entire system. Configurable settings let you set your own alerts, stopping problems at the source.
Scheduled reports.
Scheduled to send, no admin needed, keeping everyone up to date and focused on value add activities.
Trends and performance.
Track how people, machines, equipment, lines and shifts trend over time. Compare week on week, spot who is drifting and who is improving, drive engagement, and act on the pattern rather than the day.
Tailored to your business.
Bespoke reports, small applications and system changes, specific to the way you work, plus API and ODBC access to your own data. Turned around quickly, and without the price tag that usually comes with the word bespoke.
See how Output IQ can transform your business.
Operator first design
Most systems fail on the shop floor. This one was built on it.
Most manufacturing software is designed for managers to read, not for operators to use, which is why staff quietly revert to paper when a system slows them down. Output IQ was built by people who have actually been in and run production and distribution environments before.
Built for the shop floor and the boardroom by people who have actually run both.
Fully supported, and a partnership that pays.
Built for every role
The same truth, in everyone’s hands.
Data capture does not stop at the machine or the warehouse. From one tap bookings on the shop floor to OCR and automated reporting in the office, every input delivers the exact answers each team needs in real time, empowering decisions and improving your bottom line.
Operators
All the upside, less admin, more engagement.
- Everything they need in one place
- Flag issues outside their control
- Available on a wide range of hardware
- Live feedback on performance and scrap
- They can see which job is next
- Call for help and track the response
- Scanning rather than typing
- Far less admin, paper and confusion
Supervisors
Total control, act in real time.
- Track targets and performance live
- See bottlenecks as they happen
- Alerts for breakdowns and downtime
- Tailored management of every operator
- Zero manual entry and no waiting around
Production management
Total visibility, zero guesswork.
- Real time OEE, output and scrap
- Alerts set to what matters most
- Track trends by machine and shift
- Plan using true measured times
- Reports generate and send automatically
Planning
Efficient planning, improved delivery.
- Measured set and run times per operation
- Catch schedule clashes before production
- See the knock on before the customer
- Firm dates you can stand behind
- Reclaim hours of manual admin
Quality
Proof and traceability, built right in.
- Log scrap with clear root causes
- Trace batches by person, machine, process
- On screen checks replace paper logs
- Instant alerts when scrap runs high
- Automatic audit evidence as you build
Stores and despatch
Total stock accuracy, verified despatch.
- Barcode and RFID on every move
- Print labels right as you pack
- Live stock numbers you can trust
- Flag shortages before orders leave
- Logged trace of every shipped order
Owners and directors
An empowered and aligned workforce.
- Staff adding value, not crunching numbers
- True cost and margin by job
- Reclaim thousands of admin hours
- Real truths, not hiding behind averages
- React in real time, not weeks later
Data collection changes how every department works.
Part of the platform
Captured once. Powered everywhere.
Data collection is not a bolt on you have to feed, it is integral to Output IQ. Every tap, scan and sensor reading writes directly to the same core system, so your ERP, your machines and your team are always powered from the exact same numbers.
Data in practice
Less admin.
Better decisions.
More empowerment.
Metal fabrication
Before Output IQ we had people in the office inputting data, building reports and fixing data issues. Our production and warehouse teams had similar offline work, amounting to a full time head per day. Since installing Output IQ most of that has gone, and accuracy has improved so much that managers and supervisors now make decisions rather than dispute data.
Capture questions
What people ask before they capture anything.
What is shop floor data capture?
Recording what actually happens in production as it happens, rather than writing it on paper and typing it up later. Jobs started and finished, quantities good and scrap, downtime and its reason, stock moved. Output IQ captures it at the point it occurs, from the person or the machine doing it.
What can it capture data from?
Machine and utility sensors, touchscreen terminals and tablets on the floor, handheld barcode scanners and RFID, and a mobile app. In the office it takes documents by OCR, moves data between systems by RPA, and accepts EDI and API feeds from customers and suppliers. If it is part of how the business runs, it can be an input.
What hardware does it run on?
A wall mounted kiosk, a tablet at the bench, a touchscreen terminal by the machine, or a phone. The screens are built for gloves and grime, with targets big enough to hit without taking anything off. You can mix them, and most sites do.
Does it work with barcode scanners and RFID?
Yes. Barcode scanning covers goods in, picks, stock moves, job bookings and despatch. RFID covers the same where scanning each item individually is not practical. Both write to the same record as everything else, so stock and job data stay in step.
Can it print labels?
Yes. Label printing happens at the point of pack or the point of production rather than in a batch afterwards, so what is on the box matches what the system thinks is in it.
What happens if the network goes down?
Bookings queue on the device and go in when the connection returns. Nobody stands waiting and nobody reverts to paper for the afternoon. This matters more than most demonstrations admit, because shop floor wifi is rarely as good as the office assumes.
Can operators clock in and clock out on it?
Yes, on the same device they book work on. That means attendance and job time come from one place rather than two systems that disagree at the end of the week.
What about the paperwork that arrives in the office?
Supplier invoices, delivery notes and customer orders can be read by OCR and posted without anyone typing them. Repetitive movement between systems can be handled by RPA. The office side of data collection is usually the larger cost and the one people forget to count.
Do we have to replace our ERP?
No. Output IQ can capture on the floor and feed what you already run. It also has a full ERP if you want one, but that is a separate decision. Plenty of sites start with capture and reporting because that is where the pain is.
Will it work with the other systems we use?
Yes, through API and ODBC access to your own data, plus EDI where customers demand it. You can also pull the data into whatever reporting tool you already pay for, rather than being locked into ours.
Our machines are old. Can you still monitor them?
Usually. Sensors read current, run signals, cycle counts and utility usage without needing the machine to be modern or connected. A machine from the eighties can still tell you when it is running and when it has stopped.
How long does it take to get live?
Weeks, not the year an ERP replacement takes. Capture and reporting can go live on one area first so you get a return while the rest is set up, rather than waiting for a big bang date that slips.
Will the shop floor actually use it?
That is the right question, and the honest answer is that they use it when it saves them time rather than costing them time. Their own jobs are one tap away, drawings and instructions are on the same screen, and a problem is reported without walking off to find anyone.
How much training do people need?
Minutes for an operator, because the screen only shows the job in front of them and the buttons are the actions they already take. Supervisors and office users take longer, and that is covered by onboarding rather than left to you.
How do we stop bad data going in?
Bookings can go through supervisor review before they commit, quantities validate against the works order, and a booking against the wrong job is caught rather than discovered at month end. Nothing is unfixable afterwards either.
Are the live dashboards actually live?
Yes. A booking on the floor appears in the numbers immediately. There is no nightly batch and no refresh to press, so a figure on screen is current at the moment you look at it.
Can we get alerts when something goes wrong?
Yes. Alerts can be set on downtime, scrap rate, a job falling behind target, stock hitting a threshold, or a sensor reading drifting out of tolerance. They go to whoever needs them, on whichever channel they actually read.
Can reports send themselves?
Yes. Scheduled reports go out on a timetable to the people who need them, in the format they need them. That removes the person who currently spends their Monday building the same report by hand.
Can we still export to a spreadsheet?
Whenever you want. The point is not to ban spreadsheets, it is to stop the business running on one that was correct last Tuesday. Export, API and ODBC are all available.
Who owns the data?
You do. It is your data, you can extract all of it at any time, and nothing about the commercial arrangement depends on making that difficult.
Still unsure? For straight answers, not a sales pitch. Book a demo