How to Eliminate Paper from the Shop Floor and Automate Piecework Payroll

Industry: Manufacturing company fulfilling contract orders

Who it is for: Primary users are the production manager, shop-floor employees, and the HR and payroll department

Area: Manufacturing

See it on video

A step-by-step walk through the module — the same screens this write-up describes.

What is in the recording

0:00The end of paper on the production shop floor
0:05Real-time order and status overview
0:20Managing communication and contract changes
0:35Generating labels and barcodes
0:52Operation scanning by shop-floor employees
1:53Automated piecework wage settlement
2:39Regain control over production

The Challenge

Replacing paper work cards with barcode scanners completely eliminates shop-floor errors and automates the tedious calculation of piecework wages.

Before implementation, employees had to manually record completed operations, which led to errors and delays in the flow of information from the shop floor. The payroll department wasted time on tedious, manual recalculation of paper work cards in order to compute piecework wages at the end of each month.

Key challenges:

Employees had to manually record completed operations, which led to errors and delays in the flow of information from the shop floor.
The payroll department wasted time on tedious, manual recalculation of paper work cards in order to compute piecework wages at the end of each month.

Business impact: Production managers, manufacturing business owners, and HR and payroll staff looking for ways to eliminate errors and paper-based document workflows.

The Solution Process

A production module was implemented that enables order management and automatic generation of barcode labels.

Traditional work cards were replaced with digital reporting – employees scan operation codes, and the payroll module automatically converts that data into ready-to-use payroll summaries.

The existing paper-based document workflow was mapped and the rules for calculating piecework rates were defined.

ProcessApp was then configured to match the company's order specifications, corporate email accounts were connected, and barcode scanners were installed at production workstations.

Actions Taken

Order review

Today the manager opens the production module and sees all contracts, numbers, clients, deadlines, and statuses in one place, always in real time.

Communication management

In the past, agreements with clients got lost in inboxes; today all correspondence flows into an integrated inbox where the team can see changes assigned to each order.

Label generation

Manual paper work cards have been eliminated; instead, a ready-made barcode label complete with product data is printed with a single click, replacing the outdated paper document flow on the shop floor.

Operation scanning

Employees used to have to stop work to manually record operations on paper cards, which caused errors and delays in the flow of information. Today, in the daily report module, an employee simply selects their name and scans a barcode, and the system automatically adds the entry to the summary, displaying operation details including execution time and the assigned order. There is no longer any room for mistakes or illegible handwriting. The production manager no longer needs to walk onto the shop floor to check order progress; sitting at their desk, they can see who is working on what in real time. This change eliminated informational chaos, giving the company full control over costs.

Automated payroll settlement

The payroll department experiences the greatest relief after implementation, because previously HR staff wasted time manually recalculating paper work cards to compute piecework wages. Now the payroll module works automatically; by clicking on an employee's name they can see a detailed settlement based on scanned operations. The system is flexible, allowing entries to be easily edited or deleted so that mistakes can be quickly corrected. At the end, a clear monthly summary is displayed, and the HR department receives ready-made, error-free payroll statements, putting an end to the problem of manual piecework calculation.

Results Achieved

What changed

Before the deployment

Employees had to manually record completed operations, which led to errors and delays in the flow of information from the shop floor.
The payroll department wasted time on tedious, manual recalculation of paper work cards in order to compute piecework wages at the end of each month.

After the deployment

The company completely eliminated paper reports, gaining real-time visibility into order status and costs.
The payroll department receives ready-made, error-free monthly piecework wage summaries, relieving them of the obligation to calculate piecework manually.

Screens from the deployment

Order review — How to Eliminate Paper from the Shop Floor and Automate Piecework Payroll

Order reviewNavigating the system and opening the list of contract orders with key data. Today the manager opens the production module and sees all contracts, numbers, clients, deadlines, and statuses in one place, always in real time.

Click to enlarge

How to Eliminate Paper from the Shop Floor and Automate Piecework Payroll

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How to Eliminate Paper from the Shop Floor and Automate Piecework Payroll

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Label generationOpening order details and generating a print-ready barcode label. Manual paper work cards have been eliminated; instead, a ready-made barcode label complete with product data is printed with a single click, replacing the outdated paper document flow on the shop floor.

Click to enlarge

Operation scanning — How to Eliminate Paper from the Shop Floor and Automate Piecework Payroll

Operation scanningSimulating a barcode scan by an employee and the automatic addition of the completed operation to the daily report. Employees used to have to stop work to manually record operations on paper cards, which caused errors and delays in the flow of information. Today, in the daily report module, an employee simply selects their name and scans a barcode, and the system automatically adds the entry to the summary, displaying operation details including execution time and the assigned order. There is no longer any room for mistakes or illegible handwriting. The production manager no longer needs to walk onto the shop floor to check order progress; sitting at their desk, they can see who is working on what in real time. This change eliminated informational chaos, giving the company full control over costs.

Click to enlarge

Automated payroll settlement — How to Eliminate Paper from the Shop Floor and Automate Piecework Payroll

Automated payroll settlementViewing and editing the automatically generated employee wage summary based on previously scanned operations. The payroll department experiences the greatest relief after implementation, because previously HR staff wasted time manually recalculating paper work cards to compute piecework wages. Now the payroll module works automatically; by clicking on an employee's name they can see a detailed settlement based on scanned operations. The system is flexible, allowing entries to be easily edited or deleted so that mistakes can be quickly corrected. At the end, a clear monthly summary is displayed, and the HR department receives ready-made, error-free payroll statements, putting an end to the problem of manual piecework calculation.

Click to enlarge