Shopfloor Data Capture Software for Manufacturers
Collect and monitor the real-time status of jobs directly from the shopfloor. Our shopfloor data capture software simplifies the process of recording actual production times and provides live production visibility, helping to identify and unblock bottlenecks to keep jobs moving efficiently through the factory. This enables you to better control costs, increase throughput and improve delivery performance.
View the status of jobs in real time
Shop Floor Data Capture (SFDC) key features
- Live, up to the minute, status of all jobs
- Know which jobs are at risk of being late early on, so corrective action can be put in place to mitigate the risk (e.g. overtime, change process, sub-contract, extra shift, etc)
- Visibility throughout the factory, using the Job Boards
- Accurate job costing (actual versus planned)
- Flexible and easy to use SFDC. Operators log onto and off jobs using tablets, screens or PCs
- Accurate attendance records and operator timesheets
- Operators know if jobs are ready to be processed, by viewing the Job Boards, so no need for production plans, corridor meetings or “to do” lists
- Automatic traceability of which people and processes were employed on each job
- Allow your employees to take ownership of their processes and priorities
- Accurately assess the effectiveness of teams and individuals, so improvement activities can be prioritised
- Shop Floor Data Capture is an integral part of QuickWorks, so there is no need to synchronise with other systems
- Ability for an operator to work on more than one job and also more than one operator to work on one operation
What is a Shopfloor Data Capture System?
A Shop Floor Data Capture (SFDC) system is a business tool used to collect data from the shop floor, providing real-time insights into production activities. It allows manufacturing staff to observe job progress, collect the time spent on operations and identify any potential corrective actions that are required to keep jobs on track. As a result, by using a Shop Floor Data Capture system, businesses can reduce lead times, improve efficiencies, reduce costs, gain better control over their manufacturing processes and identify improvement opportunities.
The means of collecting data for Shop Floor Data Capture systems varies greatly, from manual timesheets through to sophisticated software solutions.
What is Shop Floor Data Capture Software?
Shop Floor Data Capture (SFDC) software is an automated way of collecting shop floor data. The key difference between manual systems and software solutions is the reaction time between completing a task and when the system is updated. Typically, with manual systems, timesheets are collected at the end of the day and progress is updated on a daily basis. Whereas, with integrated software solutions, the updates are live (i.e. as soon as a process or a quantity is completed, the system, and therefore the visibility, is updated immediately, which allows for a faster response to any issues that arise.
There are several types of Shop Floor Data Capture software, ranging from traditional bar code driven systems to more modern touch screen solutions. The key factors to consider for a small/medium sized manufacturers are the responsiveness (how quickly the system updated) and how visible the changes are to everyone, including the operators.
What is the best Shop Floor Data Capture software for my business?
The most appropriate Shop Floor Data Capture software for your business is the software that best accommodates the characteristics and dynamics of your business.
If your business has ever-changing demands and priorities, scheduling just adds a lot of work and very little value. A more appropriate approach would be to have a system that communicates job priorities directly to the shop floor teams and updates them instantly. So, live updates and visibility are key.
Depending on the business, you may wish to collect data at the individual or team level. The benefit of collecting data at the individual level is that it gives you full traceability (n.b. the implications on quality system management and job costing). The benefit of collecting at the team level, is that less hardware (e.g. tablets, handheld devices) is required.
Another factor to consider is whether the SFDC software is a bolt on or part of the overall MRP/ERP system. If the SFDC software is part of the overall system, you can avoid synchronisation issues and potential delays/errors.
How can QuickWorks help you improve your throughput and delivery performance?
QuickWorks has been designed specifically to help small/medium sized manufacturers to grow. Consequently, if you are a small/medium sized manufacturer, QuickWorks will help you to reduce your lead-times and improve your delivery performance, by giving you total visibility of all your jobs in real time.
At the high level, the live dashboard will enable you to see which jobs need to be raised, which need to be picked, which are in production, which are overdue and which are complete.
At the operational level, the Job Boards will give you visibility throughout the factory (including the offices) of the status of every job, while the Shop Floor Data Capture module captures activities in a live environment. Together, they keep the jobs moving, by providing everyone with the information in a timely fashion to unblock the day-to-day issues. By responding to issues early and communicating them instantly, there is a positive impact on both throughput and delivery performance.
How QuickWorks helps you run your manufacturing business
QuickWorks MRP provides all the functionality to run your day-to-day operations smoothly
Subcontract Management
Easily send and receive jobs for subcontract processing.
Quality Compliance
Provide complete traceability and produce certificates of conformity.
Accounts Integration
Integrate with Sage, Xero, QuickBooks and more
What people say about QuickWorks
"In 6 years, H2M has grown from 12 to 35 staff and now operate across two sites, manufacturing hard to make components. QuickWorks has helped us reduce errors, improve delivery performance and made it easy to communicate changes"
- Garry Calcott, H2M Engineering Ltd
Why has QuickWorks been developed?
QuickWorks has been developed by individuals who have over 30 years of experience working with small manufacturing businesses
"Without an effective manufacturing system many small businesses struggle to grow, as they find it impossible to migrate away from micro-management. Therefore, it is essential the system is not only easy to adopt, it must enable them to transfer task ownership and decision making."
- Tony Prouse, Co-Founder