Shop floor management that connects the job card to the order.
Work orders, routings, work centres, job cards and NCRs in one place — so the floor works from the plan, and the office sees what the floor did.
In short
Shop floor management software organises and records the work on the factory floor: work orders that say what to make, routings with setup and run times at each work centre, job cards that record what was done, and non-conformance reports for defects. In CRE8Rx ERP the work order carries its sales order, so floor progress is order progress.
| Covers | Work orders, routings, work centres, job cards, NCRs |
|---|---|
| Routing times | Setup, operation and teardown per operation |
| Job cards | Updated in the system, printable as PDF |
| Linked to | Sales order and project |
| Runs on | Cloud — browser and phone, nothing to install |
The shop floor is where a factory's promises are kept or broken, and it is usually the part of the business with the least information flowing out of it. Work is handed out on paper, progress is reported verbally at the evening meeting, and a defect is fixed and forgotten without anyone writing down why it happened.
That makes the floor hard to manage from outside. The planner does not know which job is actually running, the sales team cannot tell the customer anything precise, and the same defect comes back next month because the cause was never recorded.
Shop floor management software gives the floor a structure the office can see. Work orders say what to make; routings say how, at which work centre and in how long; job cards record what was done; and non-conformance reports capture what went wrong and what is being done so it does not happen again.
What you get
Work orders
What to make, how many, by when and for which sales order or project — with priority, scheduled start and end, and a Release step before work begins.
Routings
The operations a product goes through, each with its work centre, setup time, operation time and teardown time, work instructions and a quality check flag.
Work centres
Machines, lines and work centre groups defined once and used by every routing, so capacity questions have a common reference.
Job cards
The shop-floor record of each job, updated as work moves, with a printable PDF for the operator who works from paper.
Production stages
Stages that show how far each job has progressed through the floor, so the planner can see where work is waiting.
Non-conformance reports
Every defect logged as an NCR with severity, root cause, corrective action and preventive action, so the same problem is fixed once.
Paper job cards vs shop floor software
| Paper job cards | Shop floor software | |
|---|---|---|
| What to make next | Supervisor's list | Released work orders by priority |
| Operation times | In the supervisor's head | Setup and run time on the routing |
| Progress | Reported at the evening meeting | Job cards and stages in the system |
| Defects | Fixed and forgotten | NCR with root cause and action |
A work order, through the floor
- 1A sales order for 40 brackets is approved; the planner creates a work order against it with a priority and scheduled dates.
- 2The routing sets the operations — laser cutting, bending, welding, powder coating — each at its work centre with setup and run times.
- 3The work order is released and its job cards are printed for the cutting and bending operators.
- 4At welding, six brackets fail the check; an NCR records the cause (fixture worn) and the corrective action (fixture replaced).
- 5The job cards are completed, and the project's Production bar shows the order ready for dispatch.
Why the shop floor goes dark
Most factories plan reasonably well and then lose sight of the plan the moment work is handed to the floor. Paper job cards come back at the end of the week, if they come back; a breakdown or a rework is known to the supervisor but not to the planner; and the evening meeting is where the day's real progress is reconstructed from memory.
None of that is a discipline problem. It is a structure problem: the floor has no record to update that the office can also read.
Work orders, routings and job cards
A work order states what to make for which order. Its routing breaks the job into operations at specific work centres, each with a setup, operation and teardown time, so the plan has realistic durations in it rather than a single guess. Job cards are where those operations are carried out and recorded — and the same job card can be printed for an operator who works from paper.
Because the work order carries its sales order or project, the floor's progress is the order's progress: the customer's question 'where is my job?' has an answer.
Defects that are fixed once
A defect fixed without a record is a defect waiting to come back. A non-conformance report records how serious it was, the root cause and the corrective and preventive actions — which is what lean and ISO 9001 both ask for, and what turns a repeat problem into a closed one.
Starting small: what to put on the system first
Shop floor software does not have to go live on every machine at once, and it usually works better when it does not. The first step is the work order itself: every job the floor makes is released as a work order against its sales order, so the list of what is being made, for whom and by when exists in one place. That alone answers most of the questions sales and the owner ask every day.
The second step is routings for the products or job types you make most often, with realistic setup and run times at each work centre, and job cards for those jobs — printed for the operators where that suits the floor better. The third step is recording defects as NCRs with their cause. Each step is useful on its own, and each one makes the next one easier, which is why a factory can begin in a single section and widen it once the supervisors trust it.
Questions people ask.
What is shop floor management software?
Software that organises and records the work done on the factory floor — work orders, routings, work centres, job cards and defects — so the plan and the actual progress are in one place that the office can see.
What is the difference between a work order and a job card?
A work order says what to make, how many and by when. A job card is the shop-floor record of the work done on it — who did which operation and how it went.
Can routings include setup and run times?
Yes. Each operation in a routing has its work centre, setup time, operation time and teardown time, with work instructions and a flag for a quality check.
Can job cards be printed?
Yes. A job card can be downloaded as a PDF, so operators who work from paper get the same information the system holds.
How are defects recorded?
As non-conformance reports, each with a severity, root cause, corrective action and preventive action.
Is shop floor management linked to the sales order?
Yes. A work order can carry its sales order reference and project, so production progress shows against the customer's order.
Do we need a computer at every machine?
No. Job cards can be printed for operators, and supervisors update work orders and job cards from a PC or a phone browser, so the floor can start without terminals at each machine.
Related parts of the system
Tell us what you make.
The useful version of a demo uses your own item list and last month's orders, not ours.
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