Manufacturing businesses are facing more challenges than ever before. Unpredictable downtime, lengthy cleanups, extended changeovers, and changing production schedules lead to variable labor productivity, expensive overtime, and poor labor utilization.
All of these challenges erode narrow manufacturing profit margins. While every business understands that the key to facing these challenges is the collection and analysis of labor data, manual data collection efforts are slow, cumbersome, and often incomplete.
What a Digital Factory Labor Tracker Does
A digital factory labor tracker makes sure that decision-makers have all of the data they need, right when they need it, to take the right actions regarding labor schedules and assignments. The right digital labor tracker cost-effectively collects and analyzes critical labor data and allows employers to enjoy more efficient performance tracking and production scheduling. It helps manage absenteeism and regulatory compliance.
The data collected is integrated with other critical solutions, such as:
OEE Tracker
Scheduler
Digital Logbook
Labor Tracker
A digital factory labor track provides you with real-time visibility over labor activities linked to production data, and it allows you to accurately forecast future labor needs so that you can make more efficient labor utilization allocations. It helps ease planning challenges due to volatile labor and performance issues.
Microsoft Azure IoT Cloud
The best digital factory labor tracker has a proven track record and is cloud-based so that you can access the data from anywhere. The Microsoft IoT Cloud platform makes it easy to integrate a digital factory labor tracker into the rest of your systems.
RFID card readers allow for simple, automated check-in and check-out of different areas of your factory. Data from production lines, machine utilization, and labor tracking can be seen in real-time via an intuitive dashboard.
With the click of a button, you can see what is currently happening on the factory floor, view historical labor utilization data, and see a forecast for future labor utilization needs.
AI-powered line and staff assignments can be generated based on the labor tracking data. Erratic labor performance issues can be eased with easy to understand data-driven, goal-oriented performance standards.
Unlike many digital factory solutions, you start seeing a return on your investment in a digital factory labor tracker built on the Microsoft Azure IoT Cloud platform within a few weeks. You will see reduced labor hours and increased production, leading to stronger profits. You will also see a reduced need for overtime and better labor utilization.
Digitized time-sheets also lower administrative costs and decrease instances of time fraud.
Built to Handle a Post-Pandemic World
While a digital factory labor tracker is useful in the best of times, manufacturing companies will find this tool essential in a post-pandemic world. We still do not know how long factories will be affected by the issues caused by COVID-19. You need to be prepared for a semi-permanent change to labor conditions, and for any future pandemics.
A digital factory labor tracker helps you stay agile and helps keep your workers safe. You can:
Manage contract tracing
Monitor worker compliance with social-distancing measures
Schedule different areas of your factory at different times of the day to decrease the number of people under one roof at a time
You cannot afford to stay shut down or run at a limited capacity because you lack the right tools to keep your workers safe and to meet new health and labor regulations. A digital factory labor tracker allows you to remain competitive, comply with ever-changing health and labor regulations, and maximize the productivity of your workforce—all while keeping your people as safe as possible.
