Production tracking: paper, spreadsheet or software?
Every plant tracks production somehow — the difference is when the number arrives and whether you can trust it. Here's how far each method goes, the signs it's time to move on, and what to do before choosing any tool.
How to tell the current method is no longer enough
None of these is a lack of effort from the team. They're symptoms of a method that has become too small for the operation.
- The shift's output figure only exists the next day, after someone has typed it in.
- Two spreadsheets say different things about the same shift, and nobody knows which is right.
- The downtime reason is handwritten and never the same wording twice.
- The manager asks “how much came out today?” and the answer starts with “let me check”.
- Scrap shows up at month-end close, when it's too late to know which batch it came from.
The three methods, with what each one gains and loses
There's no best — there's the right one for the size of the operation today. And the right one changes.
Paper
One or two machines, one shift, a small team
- Gains
- Zero cost, no training needed, works without power.
- Loses
- The data is born late: someone types it in afterwards, with errors. No searchable history. The downtime reason becomes free text. Nobody sees the shift while it's happening.
Spreadsheet
Up to about five machines and someone disciplined enough to consolidate
- Gains
- History, charts, downtime Pareto. Enough to calculate OEE per shift.
- Loses
- Manual consolidation every day. Conflicting versions. A formula someone breaks by accident. Still no real time: the machine-down alert doesn't exist.
Software
When the data delay is already costing money — or when nobody can keep up with consolidating
- Gains
- The operator logs at the machine, the reason comes from a closed list, OEE comes out per shift, the alert fires immediately and the figure reaches the ERP without being retyped.
- Loses
- It has an implementation cost and needs a minimum of method first: a defined reason list, a trained operator. Software on top of a mess only organises the mess.
The hidden cost of the spreadsheet
The spreadsheet looks free because the cost never arrives as an invoice. Run the numbers for a plant with five machines where someone consolidates the log every day:
- Daily consolidation
- 45 min collecting sheets, typing and correcting
- Working days per year
- around 220
- Hours per year
- 45 × 220 ÷ 60 = 165 h
- Hourly cost (fully loaded)
- £25 / $30 is conservative for a shift supervisor
165 h × £25 = £4,125 a year just typing (about $4,950)
And that's the visible cost. The invisible one is the whole day nobody knew machine 3 had been down for 40 minutes, the scrapped batch that only surfaced at month-end close, and the investment decision made on a number that was wrong. When those start adding up, the spreadsheet stopped being free.
What to do before choosing a tool
Four steps that work for paper, spreadsheet and software — and that halve the time of any implementation.
- 01
Define the downtime reason list
Between 10 and 15 codes, in the words the team already uses. It works for paper, spreadsheet and software — and it's what makes the Pareto work later.
- 02
Pick one machine, not the plant
The one that hurts most. Measure for a month. What you learn there applies to all the others and keeps you from implementing blind.
- 03
Show the number to whoever logged it
A shift dashboard visible on the line. It's the difference between tracking that lasts and a form that dies in two weeks.
- 04
Only then decide on the method
With the list ready and a month of data, the choice between spreadsheet and software becomes obvious — and any implementation takes half the time.
Frequently asked questions
- What is production tracking?
- It's the record of what happened at the machine on each shift: how much it produced, how much was scrapped, when it stopped and why, against which work order. It's the raw material of every plant metric — OEE, productivity, cost per part. Without it, management works from the gut feeling of whoever is on the shop floor, not from the number.
- Doesn't a spreadsheet do the job?
- Up to a point, yes — and it's where most plants should start. The spreadsheet works as long as someone can consolidate it every day, as long as getting the number the next day is acceptable, and as long as nobody needs the machine-down alert right now. When one of those three conditions stops holding, the spreadsheet starts costing more than software — except the cost is invisible, because it comes in people's hours and delayed decisions.
- Will operators actually log properly?
- They will, if it's fast and they see the number come back. Two practical rules: no more than three taps to log a stop, and the shift dashboard visible to the team itself. An operator who sees the result of what they logged logs better. An operator who fills in forms for the office and never sees the data again gives up within two weeks — and it isn't their fault.
- Do I need to connect the machines to have production tracking?
- No. Tracking is what a person records; machine data is what the PLC or a sensor reports. You can start with manual shop floor data collection on a tablet next to the machine and have OEE per shift right away. Automatic data comes later, to catch what a person can't: micro-stops and actual speed. In practice the best result is the combination — the machine says it stopped, the operator says why.
- How long does it take to implement production tracking software?
- Starting with one machine or one line, the first useful version usually ships in weeks, not months. What takes time isn't the software: it's defining the downtime reason list and training the team — and that's worth doing even before choosing a tool, because it works for paper, spreadsheet and software alike.
- Where does Volvi come in?
- We build production tracking in the browser or on a tablet, with standardised downtime reasons, OEE per shift and per machine, automatic shift close and ERP integration where one exists — SAP Business One, Sage, Odoo, NetSuite or another. Half the team spent 25 years inside manufacturing, so the first conversation is about your process. We work remotely, available for plants in the UK, the US and beyond. If the right answer today is a spreadsheet, we'll say so — and help you build the reason list for when it's time to grow.
Want to know whether your operation already needs software?
Tell us how many machines you have and how tracking is done today. We reply within one business day with a path forward — and if the answer is “the spreadsheet still works”, we'll say so.
Get in touch