Labour time tracking software

MTM (Methods-Time Measurement) software is a tool for detecting, analyzing, and standardizing manual work times in production. It detects: actual cycle times of operators with digital timing, elementary movements and operations (reaching, grasping, positioning), increases for fatigue, rest, physiological needs, standard times to calculate accurate preventive costs. MTM software replaces manual stopwatches and Excel spreadsheets, providing objective data for quoting, line balancing, production cost calculation, and waste identification.

Detecting labor times is essential for: calculating actual production costs and real margin per order, estimating accurate bids without underestimating or overestimating, identifying inefficient operations and eliminable time wasters, properly balancing assembly lines between operators, assessing productivity and rewarding high performance, and supporting Make-or-Buy decisions with concrete data. Without time signatures, work is done in the dark, risking uncompetitive or below-cost prices and missing opportunities for improvement.

Modern timing is done with industrial mobile devices (tablets, handhelds). The operator: frames the barcode of the shop assistant or work phase, starts the digital stopwatch at the beginning of the operation, the system automatically records the start, breaks, and end of the activity, can record videos of the work for subsequent analysis, and confirms the number of parts produced at the end of the cycle. The data is stored in real time on the cloud and synchronized with the MES, allowing for immediate analysis of cycle time, operator efficiency, and actual labor costs per order.

Both methods have pros and cons. Direct timing measures real times by observing operators with a physical or digital stopwatch, is accurate for existing operations, but requires an already trained operator and time to collect statistically valid samples. MTM standard times use predetermined tables of standard micro-movements, allowing you to calculate times before starting production, useful for quotes on new products, but less precise for complex or specific operations. The ideal is to combine MTM for quotes and timing for validation and continuous improvement.

For manufacturing SMEs, costs vary: 150-400€/month subscription cloud solutions for 5-10 users, one-time on-premise software of 8,000-25,000€ plus hardware (400-800€ industrial tablets each, 3-10 devices typically). Implementation takes: 2-4 weeks for initial setup and registry upload, 1-2 weeks operator and department head training, 2-4 weeks testing and refinement period. Total: 2-3 months to be operational. ROI arrives in 12-18 months through improved preventive accuracy and identification of inefficiencies.

MTM data enables concrete cost-cutting actions: identifying time-consuming operations and analyzing their causes (inefficient layout, inadequate tools, unnecessary movements), standardizing the best method by eliminating variability between operators, balancing assembly steps to saturate all operators and increase throughput, supporting automation decisions with ROI calculated on real data, and negotiating account-to-work prices with third parties based on certified timeframes. The typical improvement is 10-20% efficiency in 6-12 months through optimization methods and waste reduction.