A project management blog for manufacturing and engineering
What if manufacturers had barcodes in 1944? Production would have doubled!
But alas, barcodes were not invented until 1974, thirty years later.
Well at least you have them. So what are you waiting for? Put them to use on the shop floor and double your production. We’ll show you how.
Employees can use barcodes to track their time and materials used. Just scan employee names and then job numbers. A timer will start, and will know how much time this employee took, and how long this job took. Wow! Yeah! Just two scans get you all that!
If you haven’t tried barcodes on the shop floor for production, you should. A few scans will collect enough information for employee time cards, process improvement and manufacturing metrics. We hope the little video below will inspire you to give barcodes a try.
Download Standard Time and start scanning today!
Did you know that employee manufacturing time can be tracked using barcodes? A few scans will start a timer, and a few scans will stop it again. Now you’ve collected some pretty valuable information you can use to improve the manufacturing process. What can you collect? (scroll down below the video for some ideas)
Things manufacturing metrics you can collect with barcodes:
Find “Standard Time®” on Google, and download a copy to begin collecting mfg data with barcodes. It’s a good product you’ll like.
How do you track employee time on the shop floor? Here are some popular solutions available on Amazon or other retail outlets:
With these leading solutions in place, you should not even consider barcode time tracking solutions. Don’t even think the words “Standard Time®” or you could be fired. Don’t rock the boat… don’t change… everything will be fine… your shop will remain just as competitive as it was in 1988. Cuz, really… Standard Time shop floor software is just a passing fad. It’ll never catch on. See ya in the 90’s! 🙂
Which kind of barcode scanner should I buy? Which scanners work with Standard Time? How do you connect a barcode scanner to a computer? Can you use barcode scanners with a Windows tablet?
All these questions are answered in the short video below. Scroll down below the video for more…
Turns out, any barcode scanner works with Standard Time. Just plug it in and begin scanning. Actually, barcode scanners work exactly like keyboards. They connect to USB ports like keyboards and send text like keyboards. That enables them to connect to Standard Time like a keyboard and can start and stop a timer, plus scan inventory, materials and expenses. All this is many times faster than keyboards, and much more reliable.
You can print barcode labels with any word processor or spreadsheet. Just choose a barcode font like IDAutomation. Include an * asterisk before and after every label, and you’re ready to scan.
For about $150 you have a simple barcode scanning station for manufacturing shop floor use. Scan time and materials into Standard Time.
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“
Use barcodes on the shop floor. They are a great way to update your mfg processes. Just a few barcodes on work orders will give you a wealth of new information. For instance, you can learn the status of every work order in the shop. Where it is now, who worked on it last, and the estimated completion. You’ll get all that just by scanning barcodes.
Download Standard Time® and give it a try.
Use barcodes to track time during manufacturing.
CNC operators track time with barcode on manufacturing jobs. Here’s how they do it: (Watch the little video below, and then visit for more details)
All that information become valuable to the manufacturing process. And it’s all collected with barcodes. No keyboards. No fat fingers. No mistakes. Real data, collected in realtime.