QR machine record: what belongs behind the code on the machine

The code on the plate contains a plain web address and nothing else. Any phone camera opens it; the operator installs no app, creates no account and needs no VPN into the plant.

The address belongs to one machine — one serial number — not to a product family or a download area. That is the difference from a QR code in a brochure: whoever scans it never has to say which machine they mean.

This guide is about how the record is built. How its history grows over the life of a machine — service visits, parts, fault reports, a worked example on a hydraulic unit — is covered in QR code service history.

Two rules keep such a record usable. Released means the manufacturer has decided what is shown: a draft or an internal note does not appear at the machine. And content has a language: the page shows what exists in the language of the phone and otherwise falls back to what is available, instead of mixing two languages in one list.

• At final assembly, next to the nameplate. The plate leaves the factory with the machine.
• For machines already in the field, plates are printed afterwards and attached on site.
• The material matters. Paper is for dry indoor spots only; a production environment calls for weatherproof film labels or a plate made by a sign maker.
• Print at actual size and test one page on plain paper before using the label sheet.
• A printed code cannot be edited. If a code is replaced, the old plate stops working and a new one has to be attached.

• No access to machine control. A machine record describes the machine; it reads no PLC, writes no setpoint and opens no path into the production network.
• No live data. No sensor values, no machine states and no alarms read from the controller. What the record shows has been entered or released by people.
• No procedure beyond its release level. A technician-only procedure is listed with its title, but its steps stay locked for operators.
• No account for the operator. A scan that asks for a login defeats its purpose.

• One code per machine. The QR code is created when the machine is saved, and it encodes a web address and nothing else.
• Content per machine type. Documents, troubleshooting, spare-part links and maintenance plans are maintained once per machine type, and every machine of that type inherits them. Documents can also belong to one individual machine.
• Release levels. Operator topics are open to everyone who scans; technician procedures open with a revocable service code.
• Visibility per item. Only content set to public appears at the QR code, and each service entry in the history is either public or internal.
• Plates from the workspace. Three plate sizes for standard label sheets, printed from the browser, plus a list for a sign maker with the link each code must contain. The codes use high error correction, so a smudged plate still scans.
• Fault report. The quiet second option on every screen; it reaches the service inbox by email or signed webhook with the machine attached.
• Only active machines resolve. The plate of an inactive machine shows a notice that the code is not active.
• Never machine control. Servotag Pro reads no PLC, writes no setpoint and opens no path into the production network.

Fictional example from the demo workspace: Packline Systems is an invented machine builder, Nordfeld Foods an invented customer.

At Nordfeld Foods in Bremen, the plate on a PackPro FX400 from Packline Systems opens the record of serial number FX400-02841: troubleshooting first, with documentation, spare parts and the fault report alongside.