Shop Floor Data Capture – Page 4

Shop Floor Data Capture is the Canary in the Coal Mine for modern Businesses

As a production company, making sure you stay on top of your produce and waste numbers is an essential process if you wish to remain in business. Any drop within your production numbers could become critical as less stock means less money. That is why it is crucial for any company who produces a product to implement a shop floor data capture system.

In the days before OSHA safety standards, coal miners would bring canaries down into the mines with them, the little yellow birds would tweet happily in their cages, raising the spirits of the miners as they toiled away beneath the mountains. The birds, being so tiny, would also die if exposed to dangerous, invisible gases, which gave miners a warning to get out before they met a similar fate.

Shop floor data capture is kind of like that, if it was for manufacturers.

Shop Floor Data Capture: A Better Canary?

Let’s say that you run a printing company, and you have your machines set to produce 500 magazines an hour in order to meet your client’s needs (it’s just an example, you could easily use this with any product on the market). What you don’t know is that your presses are only putting out 450 an hour because of an easy-to-fix problem that’s hard to detect. You don’t realise your production is falling behind until you’re almost at the deadline and your numbers aren’t adding up. Shop floor data capture is a way to prevent this sudden, last-minute realisation

How Does It Work?

Shop floor data capture is fairly simple: you attach sensors to your production machinery, and those sensors capture the raw numbers in real-time. Those numbers are then provided directly to you, and if there’s a deviation from what you need to have, you find out in minutes or hours instead of days or weeks. The system is smooth, and it uses wireless communication to make certain you know what’s going on at the shop floor level so you can side-step any nasty surprises.

Put another way, no metaphorical methane is going to sneak up on you and your workers while you’re toiling in the mine. For more information on shop floor data capture, and how it can help your business, simply contact us today!

Capture of Data from the Shop Floor

Our Ceequel system works as one big database which monitors your employees performances by using information collected straight from the shop floor through the shop floor data capture system. Information about each individual employee’s time spent on each task is transferred in real time between both employee and manager.

The Ceequel system is a big data solution to the monitoring of employee performance using data captured directly from the shop floor. The system shares information about the time spent in each shop floor station between central management and each employee. The overview screen locates each employee’s current position in real-time and accumulates the data so that the sum of each employee’s activities can be plotted over time. All the information gathered is kept out of the influence of the employees and the managers. It is an all secure accounting record that will always reflect exact times and durations that have legal standing.

The software is based on Microsoft’s SQL Server technology, integrated with existing systems running in Windows. It can display a roster of information such as skills availability and manning levels summated in real-time for making shift change and absence planning decisions. This is a state-of-the-art development in the science of industrial management.

Exact performance information that feeds back directly to the employee has always been at the core of employee supervision. Many performance and absentee issues have always stemmed from what employees perceive as bias or inaccurate feedback from supervisors.

Surveys show that the vast majority (88%) of employee turnover issues stem from disagreements with supervisors or other matters of the work environment or culture. Nearly half (43%) of employees do not feel valued by their employers and most (71%) of employees describe themselves as “not engaged” or “disengaged” from their jobs.

Employees often cannot visualise their individual contributions to the goals of the company. Active real-time feedback can help employees confirm their contributions while giving supervisors more precise information about the effectiveness of each employee. Exact information can help managers make needed supervisory or training decisions. Big data solutions applied to employee record-keeping on the shop floor have vastly improved industrial processes in a wide range of applications.

Elf Productivity Limited owns and develops the Ceequel system code. We can help you by customising a system for your settings. Please contact us for more information.

Why You Need Shop Floor Data Capture Capabilities In Your Business

When a problem occurs all businesses should be able to respond and if necessary change. This is even more crucial for businesses within the production industry as one small change could potentially spell the end for their company. Having a shop floor data capture system in place would provide your business with the information needed in order to stop this process from ever happening.

Every business needs to be able to respond and change when it becomes clear that there’s a problem. For businesses who want to get the edge on their competition, while keeping their clients happy and production up, it’s important to invest in shop floor data capture.

What Is Shop Floor Data Capture?

Shop floor data capture is when you set up machines that can instantly record your production numbers and beam them wirelessly to you. As an example: say you were a candle manufacturer, you have seven machines going at once and they’re set to produce 200 candles each day; one machine is malfunctioning, and it’s only producing 180 candles. Sure, that 20 candles might not seem like much on the first day, but after a week that’s 140 pieces of lost product. If you only evaluate production numbers once a month then the problem will already have grown pretty big.

Now say you had shop floor data capture set up, these devices would keep an accurate count of the number of candles being produced, and they’d send an update to you to let you know there was a problem with the production numbers, that way, you would know the source immediately, and you could investigate it as soon as you saw the numbers slipping.

Elf Productivity Ltd. Is Here To Help

While there are a lot of different options on the market for shop floor data capture, Elf Productivity Ltd. has streamlined the process and made it as easy as possible to get results. Our software suite gives business owners all the numbers they need, and they’re updated regularly to ensure that no problem goes undetected for long. Not only that but this software is designed for ease of use, ensuring that all you have to do is plug-and-play.

For more information on how Elf Productivity Ltd. can help your business, or about shop floor data capture in general, simply contact us today!

What Shop Floor Data Capture Can Do For Your Business

As a manufacture making sure your machines are working to the best of their ability is crucial. If one of your machines encounters a problem during the production process your end numbers are likely to drop. In the short run this is unlikely going to hurt your business but over an extensive period of time your available product number will of significantly dropped along with your profit.

Imagine for a moment that you’re a manufacturer: you make dice, and the machines that put out your product can produce 5,000 dice per hour when they’re going full-bore. However, due to altered settings or small hiccoughs in the machinery, you produce 100 fewer dice every 2 hours. That might not be a big deal during any particular day, but over the course of a week, or a month, that takes a significant bite out of your available product and your profits.

Now imagine that you only check your numbers once a week, that’s a lot of lost energy and product you could have avoided if you’d used shop floor data capture.

What Is Shop Floor Data Capture?

Shop floor data capture is a process that keeps track of your output, and which gives you all of your numbers quickly and efficiently. Computer programs track efficiency, tally up the numbers, and send them to you over a wireless connection. Not only that, but these programs can alert you when a problem is detected. This means you find out immediately if there’s a drop in productivity, and you can examine the data over time to see what areas are causing problems.

Find Problems Quickly, Fix Them Fast

Anything that impacts your bottom line has ripple effects. If you can find the source of a flawed product, a slow assembly line, or any other issue, then you will be able to get more done quicker. Since you can’t be everywhere observing everything, Shop Floor Data Capture acts as your eyes and ears, notifying you when there’s a problem. All you need to do is to set up data capture devices, and to install a software suite that will conglomerate that data for you in a single place. Once you have that data, what you choose to do with it is up to you.

For more about shop floor data capture and how ELF Productivity Ltd can help, simply contact us today!

Take Advantage of Shop Floor Data Capture

Production companies can have any number of employees and machines working at any one time making it increasingly difficult for them to monitor time and energy. Meaning business are often unable to determine if employees are slacking or if machines are lagging behind. Fitting a shop floor data capture system in to your business will provide you with the opportunity to track each individual employees actions within each section of the production process as well as monitor machine production and waste numbers.

The Art of Chaos

Production is a stressful part of a business, especially having to monitor employees and efficiency of machinery. This responsibility is challenging while still maintaining a cost-effective production process. The amount of machines and employees are at times overwhelming. With each employee working in various parts of the process, it is often though to determine where there is potential to maximise time and energy. That is, unless you have the right software.

Monitoring All Angles

The unique ID swipe system that Ceequel® uses allows the seamless tracking of both individuals and groups: creating real-time result comparison on duration, efficiency, and productivity; giving the opportunity to recognise specific areas that need attention, in order to reach optimal employee efficiency. You can compare the detailed time records for production and employee attendance, for accurate individual productivity data. Our software even calculates performance based pay, then transfers this data to payroll for seamless accounting. These results are then used tweak the process, amplifying individual and group productivity.

Tracking Machinery

This software isn’t just for employees though, it also maintains the capacity to monitor machines as well, even using calculations to convert employee labour and machine usage into a monetary value which can then track machine down time, allowing you to locate areas to maximise efficiency, helping you monitor your production growth and discover needs for new equipment, ultimately increasing your productivity by process maximisation.

Contact us to learn more about how your company can take advantage of Shop Floor Data Capture and maximise your potential!

Data Capture on the Shop Floor

The numerous different types of software available for business departments has drastically grown over the years and now includes Time and Attendance systems. Ceequel Time and Attendance eliminates the need to record information using pieces of paper and storing them within filing cabinets. The system gathers accurate clocking information in real time, thus saving both time and money.

Big data software has developed from accounting, sales, marketing, and manufacturing project management to now include Shop Floor Data Capture systems. Ceequel® Time and Attendance software works with your corporate Microsoft SQL Server technology to seamlessly handle many of the tasks previously handled with piles of paper forms and painful hand calculation by the human resources department. The system will gather information and make calculations in close to real-time using data from continuous input. Gone is the punch clock, replaced by RFID information systems and easy-to-read ATM type terminals at work stations.

The employee can clock in at terminals located anywhere in the facility, once the employee clocks in, the reading cannot be modified, so you always have the assurance that the records are complete and accurate. Bradford Factor scores are continuously calculated for a running period to aid in the supervision of employees. Automatic adjustments can be made for disabled employees in compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act.

Virtual terminals simulate conventional clock-in systems, using a convenient graphical interface. They run on Windows-based equipment. Since they are software based, they are very flexible allowing users to monitor themselves, getting updates in real-time regarding their hours and other noted features of their performance. Security features allow modifications only by authorised personnel.

The system output identifies employees with photographs, it even designs photo-identification cards and badges. The Human Resources Department receives continuous updating of attendance, hours worked, overtime, calculation of flexi-time to be allotted, and holiday allowances that take account of length of service.

The system also handles shift patterns and outputs graphical shift rosters and rotations. An auditory notification to mark shift changes can be programmed into the system. Data capture provides aids in labour planning, records absences and manages absence allowances. The system simplifies supervision by recognising exceptional bookings-in, recognising when clocking activities are outside of normal, no clockings, or patterns of missed clockings, more or fewer hours than expected, patterns of lateness, or unplanned attendance.

Elf Productivity LTD. supplies and adapts time management and attendance software and terminals to meet your needs. Please contact us for more information.

Shop Floor Data Capture Saves You Time And Money!

Modern day technology now makes it possible for businesses to record and transmit employee data in real time making it easier for managers to make accurate decisions quickly. A shop floor data system has the ability to do the above and much more.

One of the most important things business owners can have is information, and the fresher that information is, the better. Thanks to modern information technology it’s possible to record and transmit business data in real-time, which means that it’s possible for businesses to make decisions more quickly and accurately than they could before. This process is often referred to as shop floor data capture.

What Is Shop Floor Data Capture?

Shop floor data capture is, in short, the process of capturing data as projects and events are unfolding in real-time. Whether it’s recording the hours that employees spend on certain tasks, or compiling the number of units produced by a given machine, all of that information is recorded and transmitted instantly. It allows business owners to get a good look at what’s happening on the floor, and they can make decisions and implement policies quickly to make sure problems are swiftly corrected.

Examples often work best to explain how this process works, so let’s take a hypothetical situation: there’s a manufacturer with five machines that all make wire ties. In the past the numbers would be tallied at the end of the day, compiled in a computer, and then printed out at the end of the week. So if there was an error in the third machine that was subtle, and which could only be detected in its slightly reduced output (which has become a largely reduced output by the end of a week) then it will take up to seven days to notice it. A shop floor data capture program would point out those numbers quickly though, and the problem could be brought to management’s attention by the end of the first day. This saves time, and more importantly money that would have been lost due to wasted energy and a depleted product.

Just One More Feature Elf Productivity Ltd. Offers

At Elf Productivity Ltd. it’s out goal to give businesses the best possible tools to get the job done. Our software suites are designed to be simple, organic, easy-to-learn, and to provide clients with all of the features they need to keep productivity up, waste down, and to serve their customers better. We offer shop floor data capture, but we also provide features like employee self-service, automated time clocks, and dozens of other helpful tools that will make sure your business never misses a step.

For more information about how Elf Productivity Ltd. software can help your business simply contact us today!

Performance-Based Incentives need Hard Data to Work

Paying employees bonuses for hard work is a system that has come under scrutiny for many years now. People believe that if employees are aware that they will be getting paid more money if they work harder, then they are more likely to do so. However the truth behind this is much more complex as there are many potential issues with performance based pay.

Performance-based pay has come under a lot of scrutiny in recent years. There appears to be a basic logic in tying pay or incentives to performance – if you promise rewards for hard work, people will work harder – the truth is much more complex.

The Real Story Behind Performance-Based Pay

There are many potential issues with performance-based pay. True high-achievers are often driven by motivations other than money, and offering money for achievement can actually decrease a person’s internal motivation to work hard and well. But on the other hand, good employees expect to be paid fairly for their work, and rewarding employees with raises or bonuses is a common way to acknowledge and show appreciation for them.

Given these contradictory facts, is there a right way to use performance-based pay?

Performance-Based Pay That Matters

A key to creating a performance-based pay system that actually works is to make sure that the system for giving rewards is fair and transparent. Many employees have become disgruntled by a perception (true or otherwise) that one employee is rewarded because he or she is liked better by management, not because of actual performance. Other employees become unmotivated because management sets production goals that are out of touch with reality.

In order to work, performance-based pay systems need to be absolutely fair and administered according to clear guidelines: here’s where using hard data on performance can help.

Shop Floor Data Reveals True Performance

Our Shop Floor Data Capture system can provide the data needed to make a performance-based pay system work. Data captured by the system doesn’t depend on a manager’s perceptions of employee performance. It provides a true picture of productivity. This makes assigning performance-based raises or bonuses more fair and transparent.

Also, capturing shop floor data gives management a clear picture of what is actually being produced in a given time period. Setting a realistic goal with a clear reward for meeting it is a proven way to increase motivation for both individuals and teams. Using real shop floor data can help management set realistic goals based on past performance.

If your organisation uses performance-based pay and incentives, you need to have hard data backing up your rewards, or your incentive system could do more harm than good. For more information about the benefits of shop floor data capture, please contact us.

Razor-Thin Margins demand Shop Floor Data Capture

A business’s biggest expense is the paying of employee wages and tracking these hours should not become the second biggest. That is why it is crucial for businesses with multiple shops to implement an efficient shop floor data capture system, specifically designed to effortlessly record hours worked meaning less time is spent processing information about individual employee wages, saving you both time and money.

Do you know what the biggest expense is for most businesses? Wages and compensation. Don’t let the costs of tracking employee hours become the second highest! When you have a shop that requires employees to clock in and out, the only way to keep costs down is through an efficient method of Shop Floor Data Capture.

A good program designed to effortlessly log and store hours an employee has worked translates to less time processing payroll, and an immense cost-saving to you. These programs provide comprehensive coverage of the following:

Shifts and Roster Scheduling
Holiday & Absence Management
Payroll and Exceptions Reporting
Calculations

Profit margins in retail and manufacturing can be slim enough. The technologies you need to keep the production line moving shouldn’t have to compete with payroll. Endless data entry, editing, and payroll complications can keep you from seeing the revenues you deserve.

Don’t you want to know the performance of your employees in real-time? A great Shop Floor Data Capture program delivers near-instantaneous reports on:

No Clockings
Missed Clockings
Hours More than Expected
Hours Less than Normal
Late Clockings
Unplanned Attendance

With Ceequel® Time and Attendance software, you’re able to sift through to the pertinent details you need to keep your production moving smoothly. Employees are an essential part of your business plan and you can now manage them effortlessly and spot any gaps in coverage due to vacation, holiday, or any other event that brings one of your employees off the line.

There are many advanced features that Shop Floor Data Capture adds onto this versatile software suite to enable you to capture your shop floor data in real-time. Don’t hesitate – contact us today so we can identify your business’ needs and keep you on your track to success.

Accurate Shop Floor Data enables Targeted Training

Having accurate information about your employees productivity levels through every task can be massively beneficial when it comes to implementing training days or development programs. Knowing who needs what, help saves your business time and money. Without an accurate system in place, management will often only have a rough idea of where the slowest parts of the manufacturing processes are and often have no idea how to improve it.

Shop Floor Data Capture gives companies the most accurate data possible for measuring productivity across all workers, as well as productivity of individual workers. As well as knowing what’s getting done, and by whom, smart companies can use real-time data from their shop floors to create targeted training and development programs for increased worker productivity and flexibility.

Identifying Key Points for Improvement

Without an accurate data capture system, management may only have a fuzzy sense of where the slowest parts of manufacturing happen. With a good data capture system on the shop floor, any issues with productivity quickly become clear, which enables management to take direct action; for example, if the data captured by the system shows that all new employees tend to take the longest period of time to come up to speed on one particular task, or in using one work station, that’s a clear bottleneck to focus on for overall performance improvement. Maybe more training, or a new training program, would help employees gain proficiency faster. Perhaps a mentoring system which pairs a new employee with an experienced one to learn that task would be beneficial, enabling experienced workers to demonstrate any “tips and tricks” which speed up the process.

Individual Evaluation and Improvement

As well as making improvements in overall productivity, a good data capture system is beneficial for evaluating and training individual employees. Individual worker data can be used by managers during performance reviews, to acknowledge where workers excel and find the places where they most need improvement. Using this kind of data can help managers train and mentor workers to reach their best personal levels of achievement.

Good training is necessary for good productivity. Using real time shop floor data to enable targeted training can help managers design and refine the most effective training systems to get workers up to speed fast and working at their best.

For more information about how shop floor data could work for your business, contact us!