This case study explains how Enztec, a New Zealand manufacturer of high-precision orthopaedic surgical instruments, replaced spreadsheet-based reporting with FourJaw real-time machine monitoring.
In doing so, Enztec lifted average CNC uptime from 45% to 58% (now regularly exceeding 60%), cut setup-related downtime from 27% to 15%, and rolled FourJaw out across every CNC machine in the factory in just three months, unlocking significant hidden capacity without adding machines or headcount.
Enztec is a leading medical equipment designer and manufacturer of orthopaedic instruments for hip, knee and spine procedures, based in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The business produces precision instruments for many of the world’s leading orthopaedic OEMs, alongside its own in-house designed product lines.
Enztec runs around 20 CNC machines across two shifts, and has grown strongly in recent years as global demand for its instruments has increased.
Lacked a clear view of factory performance
As Enztec grew, the leadership team needed a clearer view of factory performance: where output could be improved, and how existing assets could be used more effectively.
Manual data capture wasn't trusted
Before FourJaw, Enztec relied on spreadsheets to monitor machine utilisation and downtime. In theory, the data was useful, but in practice it wasn’t trusted enough to support confident decisions at a leadership level.
Inconsistent view of true production capacity
There was no consistent view of true capacity by machine, shift or product family, and it was difficult to separate real losses from reporting noise.
Initial analysis suggested utilisation across the factory was below 50%, including on core production assets. The Enztec team believed setup and inspection were major causes of lost time, but lacked the detail to quantify the issue or target improvement where it would have the biggest impact.
Lacked a solution that didn't undermine workforce culture
There was also an important cultural factor. With around 20 machines in scope, Enztec wanted a solution that would give leadership a true reflection of performance without creating the feeling of operator surveillance.
After evaluating a range of options, Enztec selected FourJaw's machine monitoring software for its ease of deployment and its fit with both the business’s operational goals and its team culture.
By replacing spreadsheet-based assumptions with real-time production data, Enztec established a trusted utilisation baseline, identified setup and inspection as the key causes of lost time, and built the confidence to improve performance across its CNC operations.
Crucially, FourJaw gave the team shared, machine-level facts to work from, not opinions, which changed the tone of every performance conversation on the shop floor and in the boardroom.
The rollout began with a pilot across five representative machines, including high-value assets such as pallet-loaded 5-axis machining centres.
FourJaw hardware was installed and calibrated quickly, and operators began using tablets at each machine to log downtime reasons with a simple two-click workflow. All of this happened within four weeks of the initial conversations.
This gave Enztec a more reliable way to:
Capture the causes of lost time, while also making live utilisation, uptime and shift performance visible directly on the shop floor.
Introduce automatic labelling for recurring events such as breaks and selected setup activities, reducing manual effort and improving consistency.
As the project progressed, the Enztec team used FourJaw to build dashboards focused on per-machine utilisation, downtime Pareto analysis, and shift-by-shift comparisons.
FourJaw data also began feeding into Enztec’s wider reporting environment, creating a stronger source of truth for capacity planning, costing and continuous improvement work.
More recently, Enztec has begun using FourJaw’s Planning feature to monitor machine utilisation during overtime shifts and lights-out periods, something that was previously very difficult to distinguish from normal running.
Following the successful pilot, Enztec deployed FourJaw across every CNC machine (lathes, mills and EDM wire-cut machines) within three months. FourJaw is now installed as part of every new machine commissioning at Enztec, such is the power of the insights it continues to deliver.
Within the first few weeks of deployment, Enztec moved from spreadsheet-based assumptions to a shared, trusted view of factory performance.
Clarity on where to focus improvements.
Enztec established an initial utilisation baseline of around 45%, giving leadership a clear starting point for improvement. From there, the data highlighted where performance was already strong, and where hidden capacity still existed.
Higher utilisation and uptime.
The best-performing machines quickly approached 80% utilisation. Later analysis showed key pallet-loaded centres such as Enztec’s Matsuura MX330 APC10 machines regularly reaching the high 80s to high 90s, including 97% in one week.
Average machine uptime across the factory has moved from 45% at installation to 58%, and Enztec is now regularly seeing utilisation above 60%.
Setup and inspection reduced as a share of downtime.
FourJaw helped the team identify setup and inspection as major contributors to lost production time. On key product families, these categories accounted for around 27% of recorded downtime.
After acting on FourJaw’s insight, average setup time now accounts for just 15% of downtime. This has given Enztec a much clearer picture of where SMED, off-machine preparation and inspection process changes have the greatest effect.
The Enztec team uses FourJaw's production dashboards to track machine performance across the entire factory. and uses the downtime insights to inform where they focus their continuous improvement initiatives.
Just as importantly, Enztec now has a trusted and practical way to talk about performance across the business. Instead of manual logs and inconsistent reporting, the team uses shared, machine-level data to understand capacity, prioritise improvement opportunities, and make better-informed operational decisions, helping them deliver reliably to their customers.
Reflecting on the impact, Laura Hill, COO at Enztec, says:
“FourJaw gave Enztec a trusted view of machine performance, helping the team move from assumption to action. We’ve seen uptime go from 45% at the time FourJaw was installed to an average of 58% since, and we are now regularly achieving more than 60%, which has had a massive impact on our production capacity, enabling us to deliver products to our customers faster.”
For Enztec, real-time machine monitoring is now a core part of how the business runs and improves its CNC operations.
It has helped the team move away from spreadsheet assumptions and gut feel, toward data-driven, transparent conversations about capacity, downtime and where to invest improvement effort next.
As Enztec continues to expand automation, unattended machining and overtime running, understanding exactly how each machine is performing, hour by hour and shift by shift, will remain just as important as adding new capacity.
FourJaw is proud to be a foundational part of that approach, and to continue supporting Enztec as the business scales.