When you track direct labor time by hand, things slow down…a lot. You encounter the following challenges:

• Daily balancing takes much longer than it should.
• Scheduling issues cause machinists to stand around because they don’t know what to work on next.
• Inventory problems cause unwanted downtime.
• Operators waste time tracking down correct revisions of routers, drawings or BOMs before they start a job.

So where do you begin to control your labor costs?

Tracking labor time electronically is a good start. It allows machinists to log on and off jobs and job sequences without leaving their workstations. It eliminates lost time sheets and employees clocking in for each other.

But most importantly, it tracks direct labor time down to the minute for every job that passes through your shop floor.

For more detail on exactly how you can control labor costs, read my “Get Labor Costs Under Control With ERP” whitepaper.

It’s time to stop saying “I can’t control my labor costs.” I’m here to help.

Bob Geiss is a senior consultant with Global Shop Solutions. He has implemented ERP software at hundreds of manufacturers throughout his career and is a recognized industry expert in scheduling.