Corrugated manufacturer add a shop floor reporting system to enhance job costing.

Allegro's client was using a market-specific software package to route jobs. The client wanted to be able to feed this information into their new Symix system, obtain detailed production and waste statistics, and track costs and production variances.

Allegro was contracted to participate in the design, development, and implementation of this new system. We developed prototypes and plans for adding wedge readers to the system. The wedge readers automatically monitor personnel activity through magnetic-stripe login of each employee.

A two-fold system tracks employee activity at each work center on the shop floor. After a supervisory review process, this information is fed back into Symix for payroll processing. Additionally, job routing information is pulled from the third-party software system and fed into Symix. This information is used to track job status at each work center in the production flow, verifying each step -- as well as quantities produced and waste versus planned values. Variance information can be tracked by plant engineers for use in fine tuning job costs and estimates. All employee activity and production information can also be used for detailed cost tracking, allowing expenditures per specific job and client to be tracked more accurately. Symix job steps are updated in real time as the job progresses across the shop floor and job completion and inventory adjustments are performed, feeding completion information back into Symix.