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Basic Barcode Setup for Mfg, Scanning on the Shop Floor

This video shows how to set up barcode scanning for manufacturing on the shop floor. (scroll down for video)

It is so easy to begin tracking time for employees on the shop floor. Just slap a barcode scanner in their hands and ask them to scan their work orders and tasks. Now that is a hundred and ten percent easier than filling out paper timesheets and yelling job status across the floor. Just scan and go.

Wait… what do employees scan?

Try scanning in this order:

  1. Scan your employee badge
  2. Scan the work order
  3. Scan the task you’re working on

That’s it! A timer will start, and you can begin your work. When you finish your task, scan these things:

  1. Scan your employee badge again
  2. Scan the word STOP

No the timer stops. You have just communicated the following things to your boss:

  1. When you started work
  2. How long you worked
  3. What job you worked on
  4. What task you worked on
  5. What client the work was for
  6. What department the work was done in
  7. What phase of the job was worked on
  8. How many times the job was touched
  9. How many tasks it took for the job
  10. The total hours accumulated on the job
  11. The percentage of completion for the job
  12. When the job is likely to be done
  13. And about a dozen other things you don’t readily think of

See how valuable this is? Just a few scans communicate a huge amount of information. Watch the video and give it a try.

 

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Task Management and Resource Allocation

Use the technique in this video to know when your human and material resources are available for use. Actually, the video shows a bar graph of resource requirements for your projects. In other words… headcount. (how many employees you need for all your jobs)

Watch the vid, and then scroll down for more.

Resource requirements bar chart

In the video, you see a bar chart with numbers above each bar. They represent employees required to perform your jobs.

Gantt chart

You also see tasks being dragged around. That area is known as a Gantt chart. Actually, it’s an interactive Gantt chart, because you can browse over it, and click and drag.

 

Resource scheduling

That’s just a fancy term for employee planning. But project managers use the term “resource” because you may be planning more than just employees. You might be planning when to use trucks… or heavy equipment… or specialized tools. You can’t call those employees, so you need a generic term. That’s where the word “resource” comes from.

 

Task management

Again… another fancy term that just means telling your employees what to do. Setting out a basic  set of tasks for each job means you can assign them to people, and then see how many people are required for all your jobs. That’s what this resource requirements bar chart is all about. You can look out into the future and see how many people you need for all your jobs and tasks.

 

Why is this valuable to you?

Because your projects may get so numerous that you forget a few. Forgetting a project is not a big deal unless you book a few others in their place. Now you’re double-booking, and when it comes time to do the forgotten ones (that you now remember) the new ones are taking the same time slot. Oops!

A tool like this helps you to remember when you scheduled your jobs.