Guide / Manufacturing
Job shop tracking software: from paper travelers to live status
Job shop tracking software replaces the paper traveler with a scan or tap at each operation. Operators record start, stop, quantity and problems; the office sees where every job is without walking the floor. Keep the ERP as the job record. The tracking layer reads jobs from it and writes hours back.
01
Why paper travelers fall short
- Status is only known by walking the floor.
- Hours are written at the end of the shift, from memory.
- Scrap and rework notes get lost or never reach the office.
- The traveler lives with the parts, so the office can't see it.
- Someone retypes it into the ERP, or no one does.
02
What job shop tracking software should record
| Event | Who records it | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Start and stop per operation | Operator, one tap | Where is the job? What did it really take? |
| Setup vs run | Operator | Was the quote's setup estimate right? |
| Good and scrap count | Operator | Will we ship the full quantity? |
| Hold and reason | Operator or lead | What's blocking it: material, program, tooling, quality? |
| Inspection result | Inspector | Can it move to the next operation? |
| Out to vendor and back | Shipping | Is outside processing late? |
Track less, not more. Every field an operator skips makes the rest less trusted.
03
From paper to live status
- Keep the traveler. Print a barcode on it. Paper stays with the parts.
- Put a tablet at each cell. Scan the traveler, tap start, tap stop.
- Show the board. Every open job, its operation and anything on hold.
- Flag the late ones. Jobs behind their due date surface on their own.
- Feed it back. Actual hours sit next to quoted hours for the next quote.
Start with one cell. Fix what operators push back on, then roll out.
04
Keep the ERP
Tracking doesn't need a new ERP. Many shop ERPs include floor tracking; check yours first. If it's too slow for operators, a custom layer sits beside it:
| Record | Owner | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Job, routing, due date | ERP | ERP → tracking |
| Status, hours, counts, holds | Tracking | Tracking → ERP |
| Quote vs actual | Tracking | Shown to the estimator |
deltaV builds and hosts the layer; your job data stays yours. See custom software and replacing spreadsheet workflows.
The CNC RFQ-to-job demo shows quote vs actual hours feeding the next estimate.
Questions
Direct answers
Do operators need to type on a tablet?
Barely. Scan the traveler barcode, tap start or stop, enter a count. Anything longer than that gets skipped on a busy shift.
Our ERP has shop-floor tracking. Why add anything?
Use it if the floor actually uses it. A custom layer fits when the built-in screens are too slow for operators or miss steps your shop runs.
What does it cost to set up?
It depends on complexity and the business case. Book a call and bring a sample traveler.