Factory Flow AI

Add a real-time flow layer to your whole plant with Roboflow Vision AI for factory flow. Built for the plants where parts sit in a buffer for hours while the next station waits, forklifts cross the same aisle forty times a shift, and nobody can say where the day's lead time went until the value stream map is redrawn on paper months later. Roboflow watches the cameras you already have, tracks every bin, pallet, cart, forklift, and AGV as it moves between areas, and turns the plant floor into a live, timestamped record of how material flows.

WIP, buffers, and queues:

• Count bins, pallets, and parts in every buffer zone and line-side rack, and flag a buffer that runs empty or overfills.
• Measure dwell time for every pallet and cart in each queue, staging lane, and inspection hold.
• Detect starved and blocked stations as they happen, and trace them back to the buffer or delivery that caused them.

Forklifts, carts, and material movement:

• Track forklifts, tuggers, carts, and AGVs across camera views with object tracking, and map the routes they actually drive.
• Count loads crossing each doorway, aisle, and dock, and measure travel distance, empty trips, and wait time per delivery.
• Confirm line-side deliveries arrive on time and at the right station, and flag late or missed milk runs.

Flow analytics and integration:

• Build heatmaps of traffic and congestion to plan layout changes, aisle rules, and rack moves.
• Keep a live value stream map with WIP, queue time, and lead time for each area, by shift and product.
• Send flow events to MES, PLCs, and dashboards to trigger a material call or andon before a station runs dry.

Bring intelligence to every aisle, buffer, and dock today. Stop parts from waiting, forklifts from wandering, and stations from running dry.

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Frequently asked questions

What is factory flow AI?

Factory flow AI uses cameras across the plant and computer vision models to track how parts, WIP, and material move between areas: bins and pallets in each buffer, carts and pallets waiting in queues, and forklifts, tuggers, and AGVs moving loads from receiving to the line to shipping. It measures WIP, dwell time, travel, and congestion continuously, so operations teams can find where flow stalls and raise throughput across the whole plant.

How is it different from cycle time and OEE monitoring?

They look at different parts of the same problem. Cycle time monitoring measures what happens inside a station, and OEE monitoring measures how well each machine runs. Factory flow covers what happens between them: how long parts wait, how material gets from one area to the next, and which delivery left a station starved. Together they show the full picture, from one cycle to the whole plant.

Does it work with the cameras we already have?

Yes. Most plants start with the security and overview cameras already mounted over aisles, docks, and staging areas, and add cameras only where coverage is missing. Models run on an edge device in the plant, faces can be blurred before any frame is stored, and reports group results by area and shift.

Can it connect to our MES, PLCs, and dashboards?

Yes. Roboflow runs on-prem and fully air-gapped, and sends buffer levels, dwell times, and movement events over OPC UA, MQTT, or REST to your MES, warehouse systems, and dashboards. PLC integration lets a low buffer trigger a material call or andon on the spot.

Roboflow serves as the flow tracking engine, and your operations and engineering teams own the zones, targets, and improvements.

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