Getting the floor to actually record things
Every plant has a system the office loves and the floor works around. Why that happens, and what makes recording stick.
The reason paper survives on production floors is not resistance to technology. It is that paper works with gloves on, does not time out, does not need a login, and cannot lose what you wrote when the wifi drops near the filler.
Anything replacing it has to clear that bar. Most production software does not — it was designed for someone sitting down, and it gets used by someone standing up, holding something, in a hurry, at the end of a shift.
The tell is where the data actually comes from. If checks are entered by a supervisor from a clipboard the next morning, you do not have floor data capture. You have a data entry job, and every transcription is a chance for a number to move.
What to actually do
- One screen, one jobA person at the line is doing one thing. Everything not about that thing is in the way.
- Big targets, no small textGloves, poor light, a moving line. If it needs a careful tap it will be done later or not at all.
- Never require a login mid-shiftA timeout at the filler is the moment the tablet gets ignored for the rest of the week.
- Record at the point of workA check written down now and typed up tomorrow is tomorrow’s guess.
- Show them it went somewherePeople record diligently when they can see it mattered. A number that vanishes into an office is a number that gets estimated.
Floor mode in NextBatch is a tablet screen with one job and three buttons — the job, goods in, and stock counts. No prices, no other brands, no settings, and what is tapped there is in the office view immediately.