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Cavemen don’t use barcode time tracking software

It is a known fact that cavemen do not use barcode time tracking software. They have good dredlock hair but no manufacturing metrics. They have superb cave drawings but no real KPI’s to speak of. Honestly, it’s just not their thing.

Cavemen pick lice from their coworkers hair; that is how they count and measure time.

“I picked 238 lice today”

“Ha! 372 lice, here!”

“Counting lice works. It’s the way we’ve always done it.”

You can’t really argue with that logic. It works, and that’s that. It is what it is. Barcoding work orders is not even a remote possibility with cavemen. They don’t think in terms of employee hours, work order status, and continual improvement. They don’t even have a WIP screen on their cave walls. And if they did, what would it say? “796 lice this week”? It would definitely not show all the jobs in progress on the shop floor, and predict ship dates. Nope. Lice picks is all. Okay, cool. Carry on…

 

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MFG productivity experts, shop floor software

We are barcode time tracking experts! Did you know that? Of course you did!

There are dozens of things you can scan in Standard Time® to aid in project tracking, work order tracking, inventory, expenses, employee tracking, and of course… good old time tracking.

Scroll below the video for a few.

What to know a few things you can scan with a simple barcode scanner? Here are a few to start:

  1. Username (the employee doing the work)
  2. Project or work order (so you know what job you’re on)
  3. Task (so you know what stage or step is currently in progress)
  4. Qty (so you know how many items are being processed)
  5. QtyPassed (the items that passed QA)
  6. Speed (another raw value that leads to OEE KPI calculations)
  7. Inventory or BOM (scan the whole BOM to deduct every item from inventory)
  8. Expense template (log the use of certain consumables with just one barcode scan)

Google “Standard Time time tracking” to download and start. It will not disappoint.  🙂

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Drag and Drop Calendar Project Management

If you’re running a manufacturing shop… and you got employees… and you got work orders… and you got tasks… and you got schedules… then you probably need a calendar to put them on. And likely more.

Well, that’s Standard Time®

It’s a manufacturer’s project management tool, otherwise knows as ERP/MRP. In other words, it’s for managing jobs and employees at the same time.

This little video demonstrates one way to simplify that management. Take a look!

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Rename Custom Database Columns

Here’s an advanced video for you technical project management types. Consider renaming your custom database fields with “pretty names” for use in SQL scripts and reporting.

True, this video is not for everyone. It’s just for those hardcode reporting and scripting techies. This video shows how to rename database fields you are using in your reports and SQL scripts. The “big ugly” database column names you get by default for your custom fields can be renamed to make things easier for IT folks creating reports and writing scripts. Here’s how to rename them

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Custom Fields In Reports

Manufacturing reports include everything from employee activity to detailed KPI’s. How do you customize these reports in Standard Time® for your purposes? With custom fields. These fields may contain the results of barcode scans, automated input, or manual entry. However the data arrives, they are included on reports using this method.

Watch the video and try it yourself!

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Track Shop Floor Work Orders With Tablets

Most small to medium-sized shops do not have a simple tablet-based system to check work order status. Status is often communicated verbally, electronically by text and email, and in staff meetings. But rarely is it communicated the way Standard Time® does it. So how does ST do it?

(scroll down below the video)

Standard Time presents work order status like they do at the airport. All your flights at the airport are displayed on a big-screen. Each flight has its own line, and those lines are sorted alphabetically so you can quickly scan the list and find your flight.

What if there was such a system for your work orders?

Scan the list… find the work order you’re interested in… and instantly see its status. That’s exactly what Standard Time does for you.

 

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Manufacturing Productivity

Scoutwest has manufacturing productivity experts on  staff. We’re the folks that run @barcodetime on twitter, ScoutwestInc, and Mfg Projects on YouTube. Have you seen us? Seen the videos? Clicked the link? Then you’ve seen stdtime.com and Standard Time®.

What exactly do we do, you ask? (scroll down below the video for the answer)

What do we do at Scoutwest?

We develop manufacturing project management apps. That’s all! Just that!

There are a bunch of dashboards and apps surrounding Standard Time®. This is a grass-roots tool for collecting time on the shop floor and managing work orders and manufacturing projects. Grab a barcode scanner and give it a try. You will be surprised that nobody thought of this sooner.

What? Track time with a barcode scanner?

Sure, why not? It’s actually the easiest way to capture time on the shop floor without tethering users to a terminal, or to a paper timesheet. Once those scans start rolling in you will be amazed. Everything will change. You will instantly become inspired to change things and improve manufacturing efficiency.

 

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Standard Time® Graphical Timesheet

Here’s a quick video showing how to use the graphical timesheet in Standard Time®. Sometimes you just want a quick way to drag and drop timesheet hours. Yes, this is the same system that lets you scan barcodes to track time, but you can also enter time manually or into a graphical timesheet.

Consider taking a look at this alternative way of entering employee hours. Not only are you using drag-and-drop for timesheet entry, but you are also viewing the relative positions of each entry. That’s sometimes far better than just numbers.

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Tablets on the Mfg Shop Floor

How do you collect time and materials on the shop floor?

  1. A work order sheet, filled in by hand?
  2. Verbal communication with shop floor supervisors?
  3. Not collected or documented?

Why not consider using tablets and barcode scanners?

 

The video above is just a reminder to look into Standard Time®. We’ve been successful in automating job shops, bespoke, built to order shops with just a simple scanner and tablet. The cost is low, and the value is high. Many shops have completely changed processes based on what they’ve found from this simple collection process. Just scan a few labels, and you’re collecting a huge amount of actionable information.

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Use barcodes for task status on the shop floor

How do you know the status of tasks in production? For example: you’ve sent a work order off to CNC cut and want to know when it will be complete. Actually… has it even been started yet? Is the operator on a another job? Or on break? Will he get to it today? If so, when? And when will it be ready for burnishing and welding?

That’s why you use barcodes for task status. Scroll down below the video for a little discussion on barcoding on the shop floor.

Back to our CNC example above…

The CNC operator scan work order and task names to communicate his work status. That information goes into a “Work In Progress” system like Standard Time®. You can now see what job and task he’s on at any time. In fact everybody on the shop floor can see it. Just look up on the WIP big-screen and it’s right there.

Have you tried Standard Time? It really is a wonder. And a pleasure to use.

Find us on Google!  “standard time barcoding“