Partner Stories

The Secret to Maximizing Shop Floor Efficiency in Business Central with Real-Time Production Tracking

Published by Insight Works

Manufacturers face daily challenges keeping production on schedule and teams synchronized. When job progress and employee activity aren’t visible in real time, bottlenecks appear, and productivity drops.
Shop Floor Insight, a comprehensive MES solution for barcoded time capture and employee time management, helps manufacturers maintain complete visibility and control of their production environment.

The Shop Floor Insight app from Insight Works, seamlessly integrated with
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, provides real-time tracking of production orders, job tasks, and employee shifts. By connecting the shop floor to Business Central, supervisors gain instant insight into progress, labor usage, and quality—all in one place.

Shop Floor Insight Designed for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Track Production Activity as It Happens

Supervisors stay informed of ongoing work without waiting for end-of-shift reports. Employees log activities directly from terminals, touchscreens, or mobile devices, keeping data current and accessible. This real-time tracking removes guesswork and ensures every operation stays aligned with plan.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="768"]

The Secret to Maximizing Shop Floor Efficiency in Business Central with Real-Time Production Tracking
 The app displays a real-time production dispatch list filtered by the employee’s department or work center, complete with operation numbers, item details, and routing status. By showing only relevant tasks, Shop Floor Insight helps workers focus on what’s next without needing to dig through production orders, increasing efficiency and reducing idle time.

Identify Bottlenecks Early

Production efficiency relies on awareness. Real-time visibility helps supervisors recognize issues such as short shifts, underutilized time, or delayed tasks before they disrupt schedules.

 Shop Floor Insight gives supervisors a clear view of how actual hours compare to scheduled shift hours, with visibility into specific activities and exceptions like underutilized time. This allows issues to be flagged early—such as short shifts or incomplete tasks—helping teams maintain accountability and prevent time leakage before payroll processing.

Maintain Quality and Accountability

Real-time data capture promotes consistent quality and faster feedback. Operators record inspection results, rework, and scrap directly at the workstation, ensuring accurate traceability and immediate insight into recurring issues.

The Secret to Maximizing Shop Floor Efficiency in Business Central with Real-Time Production Tracking
 The app simplifies capturing quality data by allowing users to enter inspection results right from the terminal, tied to specific operations or work centers. With this integrated approach, businesses can enforce quality checks at key stages of production, ensuring compliance and reducing the chance of defects slipping through the process.

Simplify Time Approvals

Supervisors approve time faster when data is accurate and validated automatically. Shop Floor Insight highlights exceptions that need attention, enabling quick review and correction. The result is accurate payroll data and efficient approvals.

The Secret to Maximizing Shop Floor Efficiency in Business Central with Real-Time Production Tracking
 Shop Floor Insight streamlines the time card approval process by flagging issues like missing setup time or excessive runtime directly within the approval worksheet. By surfacing validation messages at both the card and line levels, supervisors can quickly resolve discrepancies without digging through individual records, improving accuracy and speeding up payroll approvals.

Work Smarter with Real-Time Insight

Manufacturers using Business Central gain a reliable, connected view of production activity through Shop Floor Insight. Real-time tracking supports better decisions, stronger accountability, and higher-quality output. When every scan, shift, and job update flows directly into Business Central, efficiency becomes part of the daily workflow.

For more information about the Shop Floor Insight app, visit ShopFloorForDynamics.com or reach out to your Microsoft Partner today.

AI and Machine Learning Azure Business Central Copilot Distribution Dynamics 365 Integration Logistics Manufacturing Process Manufacturing Warehouse Management