From alert to action: faster factory-floor response for CNH
Bringing real-time factory-floor alerts and guided workflows into Microsoft Teams for CNH, a global leader in agricultural and construction equipment, to speed up response, standardize resolution, and improve quality across plants.
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the scenario
On a modern assembly line, a small defect left unaddressed quickly turns into a costly one. When a quality issue is flagged but the right engineer doesn't see it for twenty minutes, several more units can move down the line with the same problem, each one headed for an offline repair bay.
The challenge
Every minute counts on the production line
CNH, a global manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, faced this risk every day. Across its nine North American production sites, quality defects, missing parts, and conveyor stoppages generated hundreds of alerts per shift. Responses relied on radios, texts, and manual follow-ups, and the same issue was often handled differently from one shift or plant to the next. CNH needed a standardized digital process that connected every alert to the right person, without heavy internal IT effort.
The solution
Factory-floor intelligence, right where teams already work
Rather than introduce yet another tool, the project brought factory-floor events into Microsoft Teams, the collaboration hub CNH's workforce already used every day.
IGear provided SQUEAKS, its manufacturing platform that captures real-time events from machines, systems, and people on the production floor.
Concept Reply collaborated on the implementation, embedding SQUEAKS into Teams to have alerts, workflows, and team comms live in one place.
Each event, from a fluid leak to a torque failure or a line stoppage, is now routed to the right responder with full context and step-by-step guidance. Because the solution runs in a familiar environment, onboarding is simpler and adoption stays high, laying the foundation for expansion to more plants and future AI capabilities.
Turning alerts into action
The integration addressed four core areas of factory-floor response:
Targeted alerting
Events from machines, automation systems, and frontline workers are captured in real time and sent directly to the responsible person in Teams, instead of being broadcast over radios or texts.
Guided workflows
Responders claim ownership and follow step-by-step instructions for each event type, so the same instructions for each event type, so the same issue is resolved the same way on every shift and at every plant.
Automatic escalation
If an event isn't resolved within a defined window, it escalates automatically to the next level, ensuring nothing stays open or slips through the cracks.
Real-time collaboration
Teams can attach photos, update status, and work together in one shared space, giving everyone from operators to plant managers immediate visibility.
The result
A faster, more connected operation
Know sooner. Act faster. Build better.
Concept Reply is an AI and IoT (AIoT) technology software development company within the Reply network. Its experts specialise in providing end-to-end business transformation solutions for the automotive, manufacturing, and smart infrastructure sectors. The company delivers software innovations to customers throughout the entire value chain, from AIoT strategy definition to implementation, rollout, and operations.
IGear, LLC develops software and provides solutions that help industrial organizations improve the way information moves and teams respond across their operations. Its platform connects operational data from machines, systems, applications and people, helping organizations make performance more visible, support better decisions and coordinate responses to operational events. IGear’s solutions include CONNECT, which supports the integration and flow of operational information, and SQUEAKS®, which helps coordinate workflows and response. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, IGear works with manufacturers and other industrial organizations to support operational performance and continuous improvement.
CNH Industrial is a global equipment, technology and services company focused on agriculture and construction. Guided by its purpose to serve and advance the people who feed and build a growing world, the company develops machinery, technology and services designed to help farmers and construction professionals work more effectively. Its portfolio includes internationally recognized brands with long histories in their respective industries. CNH provides these brands with strategic direction, research and development capabilities, and investment to support continued innovation and serve customers around the world.