Image forming operation monitoring systems and methods

An image forming operation monitoring system comprising:

• an image forming apparatus configured to execute an operation in response to receiving instructions to execute the operation;
• an external sensor circuit comprising one or more sensors and a processor, wherein the one or more sensors are configured to detect a status of a first operational parameter of the image forming apparatus indicative of the image forming apparatus executing the operation and detect a status of a second operational parameter of the image forming apparatus indicative of the image forming apparatus executing an intervening operation, and wherein the processor is configured to send notifications of the status of the first operational parameter and the second operational parameter;
• and
• a host computing device, wherein the host computing device is configured to generate, in response to receiving the notifications of the status of the first and second operational parameters, a plurality of timestamps indicative of when the image forming apparatus executed the operation and when the image forming apparatus executed the intervening operation, wherein the host computing device is further configured to generate a log file, wherein data of the log file comprises the plurality of timestamps, and is indicative of how quickly the image forming apparatus executed the operation.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by at least one processor, cause an image forming operation monitoring system to perform steps comprising:

• receiving, by an image forming apparatus, instructions to execute an operation of the image forming apparatus;
• executing, in response to receiving the instructions, by the image forming apparatus, the operation;
• detecting, by an external sensor circuit, a status of a first operational parameter of the image forming apparatus indicative of the image forming apparatus executing the operation;
• detecting, by the external sensor circuit, a status of a second operational parameter of the image forming apparatus indicative of the image forming apparatus executing an intervening operation;
• sending, by the external sensor circuit, notifications of the status of the first operational parameter and the second operational parameter to a host computing device;
• generating, in response to receiving the notifications of the status of the first and second operational parameters, by the host computing device, a plurality of timestamps indicative of when the image forming apparatus executed the operation and when the image forming apparatus executed the intervening operation;
• determining, based on the plurality of timestamps, an execution time of the operation;
• and
• evaluating a performance level of the image forming apparatus by comparing the execution time of the operation to an expected operation execution time.