Commercially available tool condition monitoring (TCM) systems are used to detect tool breakage, collision, wear and missing tool states for machine tools. The automation of manufacturing operations, combined with the demand for increasing throughput, means that these systems are often applied in circumstances that are very different from those for which the underlying system technology was developed. These increasing demands are rapidly exposing the weaknesses of existing strategies and systems. Although extensive laboratory research has been carried out, investigation of the current deployment situation indicates that a significant gap exists between the strategies found to be successful in industry and those developed in research institutes. There is a reluctance to implement some advances resulting from research, principally due to the failure of the laboratory work to account for some of the process and system conditions occurring in the real manufacturing environment. One of the main problems encountered by TCM systems in the industrial environment is the variation in process conditions resulting from inconsistencies in tool quality, workpiece properties, operator intervention, etc. In order to facilitate the progression of the laboratory systems to the factory environment a greater understanding of the factors that influence on the TCM system in the manufacturing environment is required. Here, a case study is used as the basis for the identification and quantification of the process and system conditions occurring in manufacturing. Analysis of the data from this study highlights difficulties for commercial monitoring systems and present strategies.