Answers

Legacy Vorne systems

What software works with a Vorne XL 800?

An XL 800 keeps its own production data on the board and serves it over your network, so software can read it without replacing anything. OEE IntelliSuite collects from V1 and V2 boards side by side, which is what lets an XL 800 report next to newer hardware instead of on its own.
What happens to my Vorne V1 data when I move to V2?

Data Converter rewrites V1 production records into the V2 schema as they arrive, so converted V1 lines report beside V2 lines on one timeline. It reads your V1 records and writes V2 equivalents rather than moving them, it runs while your existing system keeps running, and there is a free trial.
What replaces OEE Alert when you move to Vorne XL V2 boards?

OEE Alert is a Deb-Tech Systems intranet application that watches Vorne XL v1 devices and lets people comment on events. On V2 boards that moves to OEE Pulse, hosted for you or inside your own network: threshold and state-event alert rules, delivered by email, SMS, Teams, Slack or Discord. Data Converter brings the old comments across as V2 notes.
What replaces OEE Studio for reporting on Vorne XL data?

OEE Studio is a Deb-Tech Systems reporting tool for Vorne XL v1 systems, covering OEE trends, shift reports and top losses. On V2 boards that reporting moves to OEE Explorer, which covers OEE, TEEP, Availability, Performance and Quality down to reason codes and reject reasons, with V1 history in the same charts once Data Converter has run.

Alerting

Can we get production alerts without sending our data to a cloud?

Yes. OEE IntelliSuite can be installed on a server inside your plant network, and the production database then stays there. In-app banners and email through an internal relay never leave the building at all. On hosted mail, SMS, Teams, Slack or Discord, what leaves is the text of one alert and where it is sent.

Custom work

What kind of custom software gets built around Vorne XL?

Most of it falls into five categories: pulling jobs from an ERP, pushing production data into a business system, operator screens the boards do not cover, turning downtime events into CMMS work orders, and displays built for a process your plant runs its own way. It starts from data you already collect.
Can we get custom reports out of our Vorne XL data?

Yes. Custom reporting work usually takes one of four shapes: a number the standard dashboards do not calculate, a printable document paginated by device or plant, the same report sliced by hierarchy, or a report delivered on a schedule. All of it is built on the production records your boards already write.

AI

What can AI actually do with my Vorne XL data?

You ask a production question in plain language and get an answer built from your own records: OEE by line last week, the machines with the most downtime this month, what a shift really did. Advisor writes a read-only query against your production database, runs it, and shows the query behind every number.

Comparisons

How does OEE IntelliSuite compare to MachineMetrics?

MachineMetrics is a cloud platform that reads CNC controls through an Edge device, and its own documentation says that Edge needs internet access to reach the MachineMetrics cloud. OEE IntelliSuite can install on a server inside your plant and reads the Vorne XL boards you already own. Where the data has to live usually decides this one.
How does OEE IntelliSuite compare to Evocon?

Evocon is cloud OEE software that publishes its prices per machine per month and stores data on AWS, by its own account. OEE IntelliSuite can run on a server in your plant and reads Vorne XL boards, V1 and V2. Evocon sells a fast standard rollout; we fit the plant with hardware and rules it already has.
How does OEE IntelliSuite compare to Datanomix?

Datanomix monitors CNC machines with no operator input: it reads part numbers, cycle times and machine state off the control and reports setups, downtime and OEE on its own. OEE IntelliSuite reads Vorne XL boards and asks the floor for reasons, jobs and labor. The real question is whether operator context is worth the operator time it costs.

Choosing a system

What should you look for when choosing OEE software?

Test six things: what it can read from your machines, where the data lives, what an operator has to do, what you get out if you leave, who maintains it, and what year two costs. Ask each as a question with a specific answer, and treat a vague answer as the answer.
What should you look for in software to run alongside Vorne XL?

Your boards already count parts, time states and hold reason codes, so a software layer is worth buying for what they do not record: jobs, people, history across a firmware generation, and reporting you can change yourself. Check board compatibility down to the firmware version, where the database sits, and how it is licensed.
What should you look for in a downtime tracking system?

The number that decides whether a downtime system works is how much of your stopped time ends up with no reason on it. Ask how a stop is detected, who codes it and when, what happens when nobody does, and how a wrong reason gets corrected later. Everything else follows from those.
What are the alternatives to MachineMetrics?

The five worth comparing are Datanomix, Evocon, Factbird, Shoplogix and OEE IntelliSuite. Datanomix names overlapping CNC controls. Evocon publishes its prices. Factbird publishes the fastest rollout claim on the list. Shoplogix publishes the longest module list. OEE IntelliSuite is the software half of a Vorne XL and XL Bolt-On Data Collector stack, for plants already running the boards.
What are the alternatives to Evocon?

The five worth comparing are Factbird, Worximity, MachineMetrics, Shoplogix and OEE IntelliSuite. They differ on where the data lives, what hardware they expect, and whether they publish prices. Evocon and OEE IntelliSuite are the two publishing figures; ours runs on Vorne XL boards through the XL Bolt-On Data Collector, and what you already run decides most of it.
What are the alternatives to Shoplogix?

The five worth comparing are QAD Redzone, Factbird, Worximity, Evocon and OEE IntelliSuite. The real question is scope: how much of the plant one vendor covers. QAD Redzone publishes workforce and training modules, Factbird and Worximity publish monitoring and OEE, Evocon publishes prices, and OEE IntelliSuite sits on a Vorne XL and XL Bolt-On Data Collector stack.

Shorter questions, and the other products

Each page above takes one question and works through it. The questions that only need a paragraph are grouped by topic on the FAQ, and if you are weighing this against another product, the comparisons go through each one row by row from that vendor's own published material.