Lack of Visibility in Production Costs Time and Money
Pay Rule Complexity
Manual calculations for shift differentials and industry-specific premiums create errors and drive up HR costs.
Hardware Incompatibility
Outdated or incompatible terminals prevent modern, multi-site time and data management.
Limited Order Visibility
Without a timely reconciliation of labor time and order time, cost analysis remains inaccurate and delayed.
In manufacturing, time is more than a payroll value: it is the foundation for planning reliability, transparent processes, and profitable order management. That is why shop floor time tracking is becoming increasingly important for plant managers, IT leaders, and HR decision-makers:
- According to a 2025 Bitkom survey on time tracking, around 74 percent of companies record working hours. However, 13 percent still rely on handwritten timesheets and 16 percent still use Excel-based approaches, which can significantly slow down speed and system integration in production.
- A study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation shows that objective, automated production time tracking is becoming more important in manufacturing because it makes processes more transparent and easier to analyze.
- The study Future of Production Planning by RWTH Aachen University and FIR e. V. highlights that resilient production planning requires integrated data from ERP, MES, and other systems, along with feedback from the shop floor.
Why Production Time Tracking Is at the Core of the Smart Factory
With the GFOS platform and the combination of workforce management, MES, and access control, you can digitize your entire production environment and make productive time and machine status visible immediately. Employees book time directly to orders or cost centers, creating the basis for precise post-calculation.
- Connected to employee time and pay rules: Link time and attendance data for manufacturing with order bookings and automatically calculate complex shift differentials and collective agreement requirements
- Multiple capture methods: Use rugged hardware, app-based time entry, and multiple interfaces for order reporting, material bookings, and employee self-service
- Validation through monitoring: Improve data quality through direct reconciliation of machine status and employee bookings within the connected MES solution
- Precise plan-versus-actual analysis: Track production order progress in real time and respond to variances to protect deadlines and budgets
Reliable Time Tracking, Even With Complex Pay Rules
In industrial environments, manually calculating premiums and bonuses is a major source of errors and consumes valuable HR time. With the right shop floor time tracking solution, you create an intelligent bridge that turns production data into payroll-ready information.
- Powerful pay rule engine: Automatically calculate night premiums, shift differentials, industry-specific allowances, and complex compensation models
- Seamless payroll process: More than 70 interfaces to systems such as SAP, DATEV, and LOGA allow you to transfer evaluated data without manual effort
- Custom rule sets: Map site-specific agreements and working time models directly in GFOS.Workforce Management
- Performance-based pay and incentive compensation: Connect recorded quantities and production output for transparent, performance-based compensation
Built for Your Production Environment
Our systems are purpose-built for the demands of industrial operations and serve as a central touchpoint for your workforce directly at the point of experience. GFOS software integrates with your existing hardware, creating a reliable data foundation for your shop floor time tracking processes.
How GFOS Supports Production in Practice:
- Hybrid capture concepts: Combine fixed industrial terminals with mobile devices or app-based solutions to include maintenance teams and field employees
- Biometrics and RFID flexibility: Choose the level of security your operation requires, from classic badge-based access to biometric methods such as hand vein scanning or fingerprint authentication
- Multifunctional capabilities: Turn capture devices into intelligent self-service points where employees can book order time, check leave balances, and more
- Retrofitting support: Continue using your existing equipment and systems with GFOS, creating a critical cost advantage for budget planning
The GFOS Platform: From Plant Access to Machine Login
A modern production environment also requires a consistent security strategy. By integrating GFOS.Access Control and GFOS.Smart Manufacturing into your production time tracking processes, you create a framework that protects people, machines, and data.
Your Benefits at a Glance:
- One credential for every process: Use a single employee badge, whether RFID-based or combined with biometrics, for manufacturing time and attendance, gate access, and authorized login to MES-controlled machines
- Evacuation management: Generate a digital evacuation list at the push of a button so you can immediately see which people are in which plant areas or security zones
Use Case: Precise Tracking Through Final Assembly
6:45 AM: An employee logs in at the terminal. The area around the CNC machine is secured by the access control system. Because the required authorizations are stored in the system, access is granted without delay.
8:15 AM: Shop floor time tracking begins. The booking is made at the point of production with a scan. Every minute is recorded against the order, creating error-free post-calculation without paper-based processes.
11:30 AM: During a material stop, the operator records downtime. Alternatively, this can be transmitted directly from the machine to GFOS. The system immediately detects the technical interruption and keeps performance evaluation fair and transparent.
3:00 PM: At the end of the shift, the GFOS system calculates premiums and bonuses according to the defined manufacturing pay rules. The data is ready for payroll export, for example through SAP.
The result: 100 percent valid shop floor data and minimal administrative effort for HR.
Get to Know Our Bundles
Optimize your time tracking with Time & Attendance – flexibly scalable from Base to Enterprise.
To the bundle Time & Attendance-
Base
Attendance & absence tracking
Employee self-service portal
Mobile time tracking & GFOS App
Electronic certificate of incapacity for work
Custom dashboard & widgets
GFOS Terminal App
Evacuation list app
Digital ID card creation
Temporary employment
Project time tracking & controlling
Customized analysis & reports
-
Professional
Attendance & absence tracking
Employee self-service portal
Mobile time tracking & GFOS App
Electronic certificate of incapacity for work
Custom dashboard & widgets
GFOS Terminal App
Evacuation list app
Digital ID card creation
Temporary employment
Project time tracking & controlling
Customized analysis & reports
-
Enterprise
Attendance & absence tracking
Employee self-service portal
Mobile time tracking & GFOS App
Electronic certificate of incapacity for work
Custom dashboard & widgets
GFOS Terminal App
Evacuation list app
Digital ID card creation
Temporary employment
Project time tracking & controlling
Customized analysis & reports
Our success storys
Answers to Your Questions
Yes, fully. GFOS offers more than 70 interfaces to ERP and HCM systems such as SAP, DATEV, and Microsoft Dynamics. For direct communication on the shop floor, our MES software supports the global industrial standard OPC UA as well as common machine and production data protocols. This allows you to capture data directly from your production equipment and connect it with employee time without media breaks.
No, not necessarily. Thanks to its hardware-agnostic architecture, GFOS supports the integration of existing devices and does not impose unusual requirements on your hardware components. We also work with leading hardware partners such as dormakaba, PCS, and Datafox. This protects your investment while modernizing your software environment.
The integrated pay rule logic automatically processes complex shift models, premium structures, and industry-specific allowances. Site-specific agreements can also be stored in the system so that payroll receives fully evaluated data.
Yes. In addition to fixed terminals, job time tracking can also be done through mobile devices or a web application. This is ideal for maintenance teams or employees working across large plant sites who need to record time directly where the work happens.
Would you like to learn more about GFOS software or receive additional information? Please feel free to contact us so we can discuss your needs together.
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