Auckland based ‘Empower Workshop Productivity & Scheduling Software App’ has pioneered the technology of using touchscreens on the workshop floor, with a low-cost subscription – based productivity software app for all jobbing manufacturing and engineering industries, custom work, “one off” jobs, bespoke manufacturing, or small batch production. 

The method is simple, workshop staff use their touchscreens to access their job list then start and finish each of their jobs.

50-inch TV screens in the office and on the workshop floor display results in ‘real time’ and continuously throughout the eight-hour day: individual staff, all jobs, all job status, all job times and all job variances.

Research over 20 years across 82 New Zealand and Australian jobbing manufacturing and engineering businesses using Empower technology has produced the following statistics.

To our knowledge these statistics are both the most comprehensive research available (82 businesses involved) and the highest productivity increases confirmed in the world (23.56%).

The key Metric for all manufacturers and engineers using this technology is % Labour Time Reduction on all Jobs, which is % Labour Cost Reduction on all Jobs.

The eighty-two manufacturers and engineers using this technology achieved on average a 23.56% Labour Time Reduction on all Jobs, across all machining processes and all assembly and fabrication processes, which is across the entire business.

In comparison, if you had 10 processes to manufacture a given product and you purchased a new CNC machine to reduce labour time by 50%, (there are 10 processes to manufacture a given product and your new CNC machine that you have purchased reduces labour time by 50% in that single process) that would be a 5% Labour Time Reduction on all Jobs, across the entire business.

This research will continue for the next 10+ years with 24 additional manufacturing and engineering businesses adding their productivity increase data annually, so the data set will get significantly larger [annually], 96 businesses in 2023 and 120 businesses in 2024.

Therefore, in following years, the statistics will continue to increase in accuracy and confidence.

To put a 23.56% Labour Time Reduction on all Jobs across the entire business in perspective, we use a projected P & L Statement on spreadsheet to show a 20% labour cost saving on all jobs is projected to increase a manufacturer or engineer’s annual profit by approximately 60%.

Three Experts in Manufacturing advise on the technology of touch screens on the workshop floor and the Empower Workshop Productivity & Scheduling App:

Doug Green, publisher, NZ Manufacturer magazine said: “I visited Phoenix Aluminium Windows and listened to the owner Jon Martin, with other engineers and manufacturers in attendance, to hear “11 years ago ( in 1998) we had 26 factory staff and were struggling with being productive – solely with the use of PC’s on the factory floor time tracking software we reduced staff down to 10.5 at the same time increasing output”.

Doug then concluded “I believe in today’s very challenging manufacturing environment you cannot afford to be without PCs on the factory floor and labour management and job scheduling software, which clearly can transform one’s factory productivity. You need it to move forward”.

Jeff Tuffnell Director of Jupiter Lean Manufacturing Consultancy advises: “May 2020 I attended a training session on what I now see and conclude to be an exceptional and world class labour management system in the Empower Workshop Productivity & Scheduling Software App.

“Empower Software perfectly suits SME and larger jobbing manufacturers and engineers.

“Projected additional weekly production and revenue using Empower is very high. Return on Investment (ROI) weekly is also very high.

“In today’s highly cost competitive manufacturing environment you should not be manufacturing or engineering without accurate and real time information. Empower provides this with tablets on your workshop floor and a Workshop Productivity and Scheduling Software App. “

Marcus Ward, Senior Lean Consultant at TXM Lean Consultancy, Perth, WA Australia advises: “It is imperative in the year 2018 for all Australian manufacturers and engineers to use tablets on the factory shop floor and factory floor data collection software.

“Manufacturers and engineers operating without these tools operate at unnecessary higher labour times and labour costs on all jobs.

“For manufacturers and engineers to adopt ‘Industry 4.0’ you need tablets on your factory shop floor data collection and job scheduling. If you are operating with either manual time cards (i.e. ‘cheat sheets’) where your factory staff at the end of the day fill in their start time, finish time and time taken on each job, or not tracking your staff times on jobs at all, you are operating “blind” or practically “blind” as you are operating as manufacturers and engineers did over 100 years ago.

“I have seen and used several factory floor data collection software tools over the years both here in Australia and the UK, none as good as Empower Software. I have recently recommended Empower Software to twelve of my manufacturing and engineering clients. “

Empower guarantees all new manufacturing and engineering clients the following two outcomes:  You will be using Empower well and securing significant productivity gains within week one.

You will achieve a 20% reduction in labour times on all jobs within 6 months. Empower Software honour this guarantee with unlimited time support at no cost until these gains have been achieved.

Business decision to invest in this technology is straight forward as follows:

(Numbers below based on manufacturer with ten workshop staff)

Cost                 $130 Software Subscription, weekly

Risk                 Practically no risk (as Technology is proven across thirty-seven manufacturing industries and 236 manufacturing businesses over 20 years. Also well proven specifically in your  industry)

Return             $6,400 projected additional production and revenue weekly. That is with ten workshop staff projected eight additional production hours per week at $80 an hour overhead cost for one labour hour. That is $313,600 projected additional production and revenue annually

If you are involved in manufacturing the Empower web site is recommended. www.empowersoftware.co.nz