CIMCO MDC-Max collects machine data, tracks production events, calculates OEE, and makes all that visible through dashboards, reports, and real-time status screens.
What it does not do by default is share that data with the rest of your business.
Your ERP knows what jobs are scheduled. MDC-Max knows what jobs actually ran, how long each one took, what the machine was doing between operations, and whether the output matched the plan.
Without a connection between the two systems, those two pictures of your operation never meet, and decisions get made on the scheduled version of reality instead of the actual one.
CIMCO MDC-Max has multiple integration paths that allow production data to flow outward to ERP, MES, and business intelligence systems, and inward from those systems to enrich what MDC-Max tracks. The mechanism is called Extern IO, and it is the feature that moves MDC-Max from a standalone monitoring tool to a data layer that connects your shop floor to your business systems.
Here is what changes when ERP integration is added to a CIMCO MDC-Max installation:
1. Production Events Trigger Real-Time ERP Updates
Without integration, updating an ERP with actual production data is a manual step.
An operator enters completed quantities at the end of a shift, a supervisor logs machine downtime after the fact, or someone reconciles the schedule against what actually ran once a day.
The ERP’s picture of the floor is always hours behind reality, and the gap between scheduled and actual is filled by whoever is doing the reconciliation, with whatever accuracy that implies.
With Extern IO configured, MDC-Max can send data to an ERP automatically the moment a production event occurs.
A job completion message from the machine triggers an Extern IO configuration that fires an HTTP POST to the ERP’s API, or writes a record to a shared SQL database, or drops a structured XML file to a monitored directory.
The ERP receives the update in real time: job completed, quantity produced, actual cycle time, machine ID, operator. No manual entry, no end-of-shift reconciliation, no lag.
The trigger is any MDC message event. Job complete, part count increment, shift change, alarm cleared, a custom DPRNT output from the machine control: any of these can initiate an outbound communication to an external system through a configured Extern IO rule.
2. ERP Job Data Flows Into MDC-Max for Accurate Tracking
The integration is bidirectional. CIMCO MDC-Max’s Extern IO INPUT type, configured as a Lookup, retrieves data from an external host and makes it available inside MDC-Max as message variables.
When a new job starts on a machine, MDC-Max can query the ERP for the planned quantity, the expected cycle time, the job number, and the work order reference, and store those values as variables used in OEE calculations, Real-time DB Table columns, and operator screen displays.
This closes the loop on one of the most common gaps in MDC-Max deployments: OEE performance calculations that rely on manually entered ideal cycle times.
When the expected cycle time for a job comes directly from the ERP work order rather than a static value configured in MDC-Max, the performance metric reflects the actual production plan rather than a fixed estimate that may not match current conditions. The ERP becomes the source of truth for what should happen.
CIMCO MDC-Max becomes the source of truth for what actually happened.
3. Web API Opens MDC-Max Data to Any Connected System
Beyond Extern IO, CIMCO MDC-Max 2026 includes a REST Web API that exposes runtime data over standard HTTP and WebSocket protocols.
An ERP, MES, or business intelligence platform with HTTP client capability can query live machine status, retrieve OEE metrics, pull log data, subscribe to real-time machine events, and access operator screen data without any file exchange or database sharing arrangement.
The Web API supports both request/response queries for on-demand data retrieval and WebSocket subscriptions for continuous real-time updates, which means a connected system can receive machine status changes as they happen rather than polling on a schedule.
For shops building custom dashboards, integrating MDC data into an existing ERP portal, or feeding machine data into a plant-wide BI platform, the Web API is the most direct and flexible integration path available. It is disabled by default in MDC-Max and needs to be enabled explicitly in the DNC server setup dialog before use.
4. Command Line Tool Automates Scheduled Data Exports
For ERP systems that consume data through file imports rather than API calls, CIMCO MDC-Max’s command line tool provides a scheduled export path that requires no custom development.
The MDCMaxCMD utility can generate any configured MDC-Max table or report as XML, Excel, or CSV on a schedule driven by Windows Task Scheduler, and can email the output to a list of recipients automatically.
A practical example: an ERP system that expects a daily production summary file in XML format can receive one every morning at 6:00 AM, generated from a configured MDC-Max table, formatted to the required structure using MDC-Max’s table configuration, and placed in a monitored directory or attached to an automated email.
The configuration is entirely within MDC-Max and the Task Scheduler. No middleware, no custom script, no third-party connector required.
5. ODBC Gives BI Tools Direct Database Access
For shops that use Power BI, Tableau, Excel, or similar tools to build management reporting, CIMCO MDC-Max’s underlying MySQL database is accessible directly via ODBC.
Any production data stored in the MDC schema, including custom Real-time DB Tables configured to capture job, operator, and cycle data, can be queried directly from any ODBC-compatible reporting tool.
This is the path of least resistance for shops that already have a BI platform in place and want to pull MDC-Max data into existing dashboards alongside ERP and financial data.
The machine data that MDC-Max collects becomes one source among many in a unified reporting environment, without requiring any changes to how MDC-Max is configured or how it operates.
When it Makes the Most Sense
ERP integration with MDC-Max delivers the most value in shops where production reporting is currently a manual reconciliation step, where OEE calculations are based on estimated rather than planned cycle times, or where the business needs a real-time picture of shop floor performance inside the systems management already uses for decision making.
The more a shop relies on accurate, timely production data for scheduling, quoting, and capacity planning, the more the gap between MDC-Max and the ERP costs in delayed decisions and manual effort.
The right integration path depends on what the ERP supports.
Most modern ERP systems with REST APIs connect cleanly through Extern IO’s HTTP interface. Older systems that consume flat files connect through the flat file or FTP flat file host type.
Direct SQL database connections are available for systems that share a network. The Web API serves shops building custom integrations or connecting to BI platforms.
All four paths are available within CIMCO MDC-Max without additional middleware.
Have Questions? We’ve Got Answers!
Visit our CIMCO MDC-Max product page to learn more.
Or contact us to discuss what an ERP integration looks like for your specific systems and shop floor setup.
Let us help you with your shopfloor needs.
