Timesheet Software for Manufacturing Projects
Published: 14/11/2022
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We want to address project managers and business owners of manufacturing companies. Your back office processes need updating. Sooner or later, you’ll be left with no choice but to innovate. In this detailed article, we will help you take the first steps in the right direction by showcasing the benefits of timesheet software.
Process automation is steadily transforming the world. Living in the digital age, compounded by a global pandemic, everything appears to be heading towards digitisation. This is hardly surprising - entrusting machines with manual labour frees up considerable time for humans to focus on tasks that require their judgement. If anything, the manufacturing industry should be well aware of this.
Unfortunately, the situation is quite the opposite. Digital transformation progresses very slowly in the manufacturing sector, and there are many reasons for this. From a shortage of digital skills to inflexibility towards innovation, many digitisation projects fail. With high costs and low success rates, they present an unappealing prospect. As a result, most companies hesitate to even attempt such initiatives, fearing failure.
However, this mindset is very harmful to both businesses and the world. The truth is, we heavily depend on the good performance of manufacturing companies to maintain our current lifestyles and support further progress as a modern society. That's why it’s important for them to let go of the past and move forward with today's advancements instead of resisting them. In this article, we aim to open a path for manufacturers to take that first step by replacing traditional time tracking solutions with digital timesheets.
Despite being the driving force behind creating the era of the industrial world we know today, the manufacturing industry has long lost its title as the innovator. If anything, it seems an industry that has shaped history is now frozen in time. Although the equipment used has evolved to meet the demands of modern production, other aspects are very slow to adapt to today’s environment.
Always focused on machinery, the manufacturing sector has not prioritised digitisation - and the industry’s current rigid state is a direct result of this. Just as it once drove major changes in labour standards, the industry now falls short because of a lack of flexibility in adopting digitisation.
Simply put, a human alone cannot meet today's production demands. Most manufacturing machinery was created for the same reason, and while it continues to do its job, it’s the human element that causes delays once again. The issue is that although manual labour is easily managed, increasing demand volumes are now straining humans, slowing processes and increasing the likelihood of errors.
With it becoming a bigger problem each day, the industry has finally prepared itself to face the change. However, there remains a clear uncertainty about how to start the transition now that the sector is significantly behind. A good starting point could be a simple yet effective solution: timesheet software. Now, let us elaborate.
Digital transformation is not just a buzzword - it’s a necessary step that every business must take to grow, advance, and stay competitive. The manufacturing sector is no exception. While its name suggests that the transformation primarily involves internal processes by implementing digital solutions, it’s essential to recognise that it starts and entirely depends on your team’s mindset. Success in this journey only comes when you understand why you are initiating it, the benefits it offers, and the fact that it is not a one-off task but an ongoing process.
Time is money, and you don’t want to lose either. The formula for success is relatively simple - you need to know where your time is going and its value. With that insight, you can start reducing costs by speeding up processes. Unfortunately, it’s more complicated in practice than in theory. Tracking time seems simple at first glance. How so? Well, think about it - how often do employees forget to fill in their timesheets? How frequently are they not submitted on time or need corrections? How long does it take to spot and fix a mistake like a single wrongly typed digit in Excel? You see the point.
So here’s the main obstacle: you might not be tracking your time effectively, and this shows in your cash flow and decision-making skills. Luckily, the solution is simple: you should replace Excel spreadsheets and paper timesheets with timesheet software. It reduces manual input, automates submission calculations, and allows you to create custom rules suited to your payroll needs. In short, it will track your time in the way you need, gathering valuable data. Using this, you’ll gain a clearer understanding of how your time should be allocated.
Once you identify which processes consume the most time, you can start examining them in more detail. An in-depth analysis is likely to reveal areas that can be automated, enabling you to reassign workers from specific parts of the process. Instead of wasting their time and effort on repetitive tasks focused on maintenance rather than progress, you will be able to allocate assignments that are more valuable to their skills. Such an approach will not only save you time and money but also boost your team’s performance and, in the long run, promote your company’s growth.
An important note is that the more you do it, the better you become. Using timesheet software when analysing manufacturing projects will produce detailed reports that not only determine whether your new approach was successful but also identify potential new opportunities for further optimisation. In other words, you will ultimately never stop improving as long as you keep experimenting with automation. For an industry like manufacturing, which can be rigid and resistant to innovation, this provides an easy way to keep pace with digitisation.
Just as you programme machines, you can programme human-centric processes. Of course, we don’t mean you will be able to alter your staff’s behaviour or performance through technology - but you can certainly speed up their work. Timesheet software does more than just record time, especially if it’s a feature-rich solution like Timesheet Portal. Our platform greatly reduces the number of steps needed when processing submitted timesheets from the moment they arrive. We empower our users to build complex yet quick approval processes that start with receiving an email notification of a new submission. All they need to do then is approve or reject the timesheet, both with just a click right from their inbox. Additionally, especially when rejecting, you can add a note to explain your decision, encouraging the submitter to correct their error rather than doing it yourself.
Additionally, you can create workflows for processes like expense claims, which many manufacturing businesses seem to find challenging. Our platform enables bulk upload of receipts, converts physical copies into digital versions, and is accessible across all devices on the go. Combine it with the approval workflow, and you'll no longer have to dread calculating expenses. The same principle applies to holiday requests, contractor invoices, and many other processes. In other words, a timesheet software, while primarily aimed at time tracking, actually makes the data you enter usable in multiple areas of your business.
As mentioned earlier, digital transformation never truly ends. This means that as you optimise it along the way, you’ll discover new data that will feed into further improvements. Overall, your goal is to keep moving forward - and if you continue to progress, you’re on the right track. So, let’s identify which specific processes you should prioritise early on to make them the foundation of your future success.
Most manufacturing companies have both shift and salaried workers. This might lead you to believe that timesheet software is only relevant for the former, as they are the ones who need to fill in timesheets. However, this is not entirely correct - we have already discussed its role in expense, holiday, and contractor management, all of which are processes handled by back-office employees. Salaried workers tend to have simpler payment processing, since they receive a fixed salary, with occasional deductions for travel or office expenses. It’s more complicated with hourly workers, as their rates can vary based on numerous factors: expertise, location, task, day of the week, time of day, and others. Additionally, depending on the contract, they are often entitled to receive compensation for overtime.
Unlike paper timesheets that place a significant workload on your accounting department when trying to calculate all these details, or Excel spreadsheets that are both slow and prone to errors, timesheet software is ready for the task. For example, at Timesheet Portal, you can create different templates based on various criteria, and the usual rules for calculating a specific rate will be applied automatically. Additionally, if you connect your accounting packages with the platform via integrations, these calculated timesheets will be exported directly into them with just a click. As you can see, this offers a more intuitive approach that reduces human errors and the time needed for manual calculations.
Believe it or not, timesheets can be an excellent tool to boost your productivity. As previously discussed, they help you discover less efficient processes, creating an opportunity to address them - but that’s not all. Time-tracking software can also be utilised as a collaboration platform. Although you and your team won’t be able to use it as a messenger, it will still serve as a great communication channel. Simply put, by granting your teams visibility of one another’s progress, you will enable them to quickly identify which areas are falling behind, lacking resources, or requiring support. This will allow you, as a project manager, to adopt a more hands-off approach.
A fun fact to note is that research shows multitasking without tracking your time results in a 45% drop in productivity. Several factors contribute to this: external distractions, lack of accountability, and 44% of employees are even prone to… interrupting themselves! You won’t see this reflected on paper timesheets nor will it be something an Excel file can record; however, these issues can be effectively captured by timesheet software. The sensitivity and level of detail will largely depend on the solution and its capacity. For instance, at Timesheet Portal we make it difficult to falsify timesheets and nearly impossible to engage in practices like buddy punching and time theft. An added bonus is that your approvers will no longer need to spend hours correcting submitted timesheets — employees will need to rectify and resubmit any rejected ones.
Finally, what’s the point of gathering data if you cannot analyse it? In our age of data overload, it’s not enough just to understand the data; it also needs to be filtered and segmented. Given the sheer volume of data captured every second, doing this manually is almost impossible. Think about it - it typically takes 2-3 days to clean data for a specific period. Another 2-3 days are usually spent preparing a comprehensible report. By the time you finish analysing, a new wave of data has already arrived, requiring the same amount of processing time. In other words, you’ll never make real progress because you’ll always be behind and building up a backlog, despite your efforts. Reporting is no longer something humans can effectively do.
This is why software solutions nowadays include their own reporting tools. Cloud-based SaaS platforms typically greet you with a dashboard when you log in, highlighting the key metrics. While it’s not a one-size-fits-all feature, most digital solutions allow you to customise the dashboard so that the highlights you see are the ones that matter to you. You can access more detailed data analysis, presented in visual and easy-to-understand formats, by requesting the software to generate a report. Since all the data has already been collected by the solution, this process only takes seconds. If the tool is integrated with others, the depth of the report increases accordingly, now containing data from multiple sources. At Timesheet Portal, we even let you create your own report templates—there’s no limit to how many you can have.
Having reached this point in the article, you have most likely recognised the importance of digital transformation and how timesheet software can significantly impact your manufacturing projects. You may have even proactively researched the available options. If not, let us inform you that the market is highly saturated, and it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the numerous solutions on offer. Nonetheless, your industry being quite niche will work in your favour here.
Manufacturing as a market is quite specific, and exploring solutions specialising in it can help you narrow down your options. However, don’t restrict yourself to only considering specialists. Some vendors, like Timesheet Portal, are designed to serve a broad range of sectors. Our Project solution can be applied across various industries, including manufacturing. In fact, we have extensive experience in the sector and are therefore well-versed in its unique needs, equipping our software with features to enhance your operations. From time and resource management to detailed expense procedures and comprehensive reporting, we are ready to guide you into the new era of manufacturing.
The manufacturing sector is definitely lagging in digitisation. While some argue it’s a sector that depends on process automation and couldn’t operate without it, they are referring to on-site activities. The back office, however, lacks innovation. And because the industry is quite niche, there aren’t many solutions tailored for it; those that exist are often just as outdated.
But the truth is, you don’t particularly need a massive tech stack to run a manufacturing business. Instead of trying to load it with as many tools, focus on simpler yet more multifunctional solutions. For example - timesheet software. A single tool can easily cover and streamline multiple aspects of manufacturing projects, from pay & bill to attendance and holiday management.
Manufacturing is a vital foundation of our progress as humankind, and as society evolves, it must develop alongside us. Neglecting this will lead to an increasing inability to meet current demands, which could cause catastrophe. The time to enact change is now, and you are in a position to lead it. Make your life easier, improve your team’s performance, and create a brighter future.
Unsure where to begin? Timesheet Portal is a good place.