Manage Your Manufacturing Workforce With The Right Time Clock

When you consider the country’s continued economic growth, and record-low unemployment, things continue to look good for many companies and workers. That’s especially true in the manufacturing sector.

Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that manufacturers continue to add jobs and boost wages, while the unemployment rate among manufacturers is lower than the nation’s overall rate.

Time Clocks and Workforce Management in Manufacturing

Automated, easy-to-use workforce management solutions can be key when it comes to creating and maintaining a successful workflow in your manufacturing environment, especially when growth is on your mind. This includes next-gen time clocks that offer robust time and attendance options that go beyond clock in/out swipes.

Retaining workers always matters, no matter what’s happening in the economy.

Employee retention is an essential topic, regardless of what’s happening in the labor market.

• Right now, job seekers and employed workers can be picky when it comes to where they work, what they do, and how much they’re getting paid.
• Workers at all levels are taking opportunities they might have put off in previous years. They’re switching jobs, asking for training and education, and exploring new ways to advance up the ladder.

If your business taking steps to keep employees happy?  

Raises are always a great idea, but they’re not always an option. Instead, companies are examining the work environment, and looking for ways to create efficiencies with tools that make things easier for employees, managers, and administrative staff.

Below, we’ll explore a number of ways that automated time clock solutions can fit into this line of thinking.

Advanced time clocks for manufacturers

There are many reasons why advanced time clocks, such as those from Icon Time, could help create ideal solutions for manufacturers—especially during times of growth. For instance:

• You want to be sure that your system captures every punch securely and accurately, and that your system includes real-time punch record updates.
• Do managers and administrators have quick access to important labor data through easy-to-generate labor reports? Without it, they could be missing vital information related to schedules, break times, and absences.
• Likewise, does your time clock include employee benefit tracking, so workers can access and review their PTO and time off accrual information.

In a growing manufacturing environment, Icon Time’s TotalPass P600 can help ensure that you’re getting more out of your time clock solution.

The TotalPass P600 is feature‐rich, and fully supported by a nationwide network of experts. But is it the right fit for your manufacturing, management, and administrative environments? Here are some essential questions to ask and answer as you consider upgrading your time clock solution:

1. How many employees do you need to support?

Out of the box, the TotalPass P600 solves the needs for 50 employees, and can be upgraded to 500 employees.

• You can upgrade in stages as your business expands to cover the needs of 100, 250, or 500 employees.
• This upgrade schedule helps you control costs, and only pay for what you need.

2. Where are they working?

If you need to manage the time and attendance needs of workers at multiple locations, the TotalPass P600 makes it easy to sync up with other centralized HR tools. It doesn’t matter if your people are working in the warehouse, offices, or remotely.

• Employees can set up PIN entry (4 – 9 digits), with proximity badge entry as another option.
• The clock also includes web punch entry licenses for remote workers, using their web browser (via office computer, smart phone, or tablet).

3. What do you need to track other than clock in/out information? 

If your current time clock doesn’t integrate with other HR functions, you could be stuck dealing with major administrative inefficiencies. The TotalPass P600 provides seamless integration with a number of vital business systems, either out of the box, or when you decide to upgrade.

• Benefit tracking and accruals automatically calculate vacation, sick, and personal time off.
• You can customize accrual rates and tracking per employee to create more policy flexibility.

Likewise, a number of built-in exports provide additional layers of connectivity across HR and payroll, including Paychex Flex, Paychex Preview, and SurePayroll.

• TotalPass P600 also includes a CSV export option. Use this to view time clock data in Excel, or import into another third-party payroll program.

An advanced time clock solution, such as the TotalPass P600, can be a boon in just about any manufacturing environment. It can also help ensure that you’re getting the most out of what’s available in the world of advanced time and attendance, while giving workers, managers, and administrators new tools and features they can rely on.