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Time Clock Hardware for Manufacturing Data Collection

  • 2 September 2022
  • 3 replies
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Userlevel 5
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Looking for a Time Clock device that is compatible with Acumatica for employees to clock-in/clock-out of manufacturing work orders. This is possible with the Acumatica APP with an android scanner such as the TC21. But it is not practical for a shop of 20+ production employees who are clocking in and out of production orders often. It requires the user to login to the application. It is clunk and time consuming.

 

We need the employee to be able to scan a badge and WO barcode to clock-in and out of work orders. This is nothing new to the manufacturing world.

 

https://www.acumatica.com/cloud-erp-software/manufacturing-management/manufacturing-data-collection/

 

Based on Acumatic-Automated-Data-Capture-ADC-Playbook.pdf it sounded like this would be no problem. But, we have yet to find anyone who can recommend a time clock that will work for this application. Summary from the Acumatica PDF:

 

TIME CAPTURE
Many time clock applications can be
configured to collect data for shop floor
labor reporting, and time entry for payroll and human
resources. Biometric technologies enhance time
capture by using fingerprints, facial recognition, or iris
scans to validate who is posting the transaction.
Acumatica Manufacturing Data Collection captures
clock-in and clock-out data for jobs.
PROS:
• You may already own them
• Moderate investment
• Easy to setup and to use
CONS:
• Some not compatible with ERP
• Biometrics can get costly
• May not work on mobile

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Best answer by nathantrauscht 25 October 2023, 17:20

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Userlevel 7
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@nathantrauscht it might be beneficial to set up a meeting with Product Management (me) for Manufacturing to understand why the current offering does not work for you. We are making some enhancements to Clock In/Clock Out with 22 R2 - but we are always looking to improve. 

If you are interested, send me an email. (or private message me and we can set up a call)

Userlevel 4
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I would be interested in what you came up with. We ended up creating our own time solution that then is a batch labor import the following day.  Not perfect but like you we just cant have employees on the floor constantly logging in and out.

Userlevel 5
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@cmoreland sorry a little late on my response - but we did create our own solution without needing major customizations other than reports and an inquiry screen for managers/supervisors.

Requirements:

  • PC Workstation with Monitor Display
    • We set it up as simple user with access only to a browser
    • Gave PW access to production supervisors to ensure the workstation is always available for shop employees to scan their badge and production tickets
  • Scanner
    • We are using a simple USB tethered symbol scanner
  • User Role for Clock Entry only
    • Created a user and user role with access only to the Clock Entry screen
  • Clock Entry Screen
    • Employees can scan their badge barcode
      • We used a brother printer to print the employee barcodes and stuck them to employee badges we are using for payroll (Paychex) not connected to Acumatica.
      • You’ll need the latest brother driver software to print barcodes
      • Simply copy past the employee ID and it will create a barcode
    • We modified the screen slightly by removing the “Current User” button for two reasons:
      • It will never be used - shop employees don’t need to be inconvenienced with need to remember a username and password. That’s why we made a “Clock Entry” user and role
      • If you remove this button, each scan will go the appropriate field for the next scan. With the button there, it would require them to use a mouse to select the next field, minor inconvenience
    • The user must click “Clock In” and “Clock Out” with a mouse
  • Production Ticket
    • We made a custom production ticket that only prints barcodes, no materials because our warehouse picks the materials. We found the materials list to be distracting for our shop employees.
    • We modified it to print the following barcodes:
      • Order Type
      • Production Number
      • Operations

Note: We also created a custom GI for Manager to see who is currently clocked in and on what production order, what operation, date, start time, etc.

 

I am happy to share the screen customization, custom production ticket rpx file and custom GI. But, it’s a good idea to consult your VAR if you don’t have someone internal who knows how to properly implement.

 

I hope you find this helpful until Acumatica can address and make labor collection more user friendly out of the box. It took a lot of thinking and some customization to make this work around efficient. But, we now have (4) clock entry work stations and they are working great.

 

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