Busy all year, and the margin still went somewhere
The machines ran two shifts. The order book was full. Yet the year end numbers came back thinner than expected. When you ask which jobs lost money, nobody can say for certain. There is a feeling that the aluminium housings for one customer are a nightmare, and that the stainless shafts always take longer than they should, but no numbers to back it up.
The quote said four minutes a part and an hour to set. The job card, if it was filled in, says the job took most of Thursday.
Why actual times never reach the estimator
Times are recorded, sometimes, but in a form nobody can use. Operators write start and finish on the job card at the end of a shift, or not at all. Setup, prove out and tool changes are lumped together. Interruptions to fix another machine are not logged. The card goes in a tray, and the estimator never sees it.
- Setup and running time are not separated.
- Times are recorded after the fact, from memory.
- Jobs split across machines or shifts lose track of the total.
- Scrapped and remade parts are not counted against the job.
- The quote and the job card are never put side by side.
What not knowing costs
You keep quoting losers at the same price, because the next quote starts from the last one. You also turn away work you are good at, because the price you think you need is higher than it really is. Without the numbers, conversations with a customer about a price rise are based on a feeling, which is a weak position to negotiate from.
The time capture and comparison we build
- Each job traveller carries a barcode. Operators scan it at the machine to start setup, again to start running, and again at the end or when they break off.
- Where your machines can report cycle start and stop, through MTConnect, OPC UA or a simple signal from the controller, we read actual run time from the machine rather than asking the operator.
- Parts made, scrapped and reworked are entered at the end of each run.
- Times are totalled per job across machines, shifts and operators.
- A report shows each job with quoted setup, quoted cycle, actual setup, actual cycle and the difference, in your own rates.
- When the same part number is quoted again, the estimator sees the history of actual times next to the draft.
| Captured | How |
|---|---|
| Setup start and end | Operator scan |
| Cycle run time | Machine signal where available, scan otherwise |
| Interruptions | Scan out with a reason |
| Good, scrap and rework counts | Operator entry at end of run |
| Quoted times | Pulled from the quote or MRP |
We keep the operator's part short. A system that needs typing at the machine stops being used by the second week.
What you can see afterwards
Every job has a quoted and an actual. You can sort by customer, material or machine and see where the gaps are, and whether they come from setup, cycle or scrap. The next quote for that part starts from what really happened. Price conversations with customers can point to real run times.
Does this sound like your shop?
- Nobody can say which customer's work is least profitable.
- Job cards come back blank or rounded to the nearest hour.
- Repeat parts are quoted from the last quote, not the last job.
- You suspect setups take far longer than quoted.
- Scrap is remade without being counted against the job.