Required a device for updating the status of the job

Hello guys,

I work in a modular kitchen industry , we manufacture kitchen cabinets and shutters,
i am looking out for a portable device which can provide me with the status of the job(wood work) on different machines( Beam Saw, CNC Router, Drilling, Grooving, etc..) the data will be just a tick based of just typing ok on the table, it has to update the status in the server so that anyone in office can know the status of job. it may work through internet or wireless or lan.

kindly help me, it should be bit cheap since i require around 50 - 60 such devices,

if any alternate approach , kindly suggest,

Regards

Praveen

obviously on a PDA like I-Pad, but for doing it cheaply, There used to be a system that used was like a time card, the operator would punch a hole in the card and a reader would record the punches at the end of the day. I remember a discussion about these maybe 30 years ago. A simple home grown system uses strips of paper coupons, each coupon is say 100 pieces of a certain operation. When the operator finishes 100 of a certain hole, he tears off a coupon and puts it in his cup. This is how some piece work is tracked. The coupons are allot easier to count than parts. Works ok. Today you would probably print up a sheet of psa labels that the operator would transfer to his day card.

Another approach would be to print bar-code for all work. So either the workpiece or some kind of clipboard that travels with it have barcode labels on them.

The work stations have bar code readers. So when the router operator starts a workpiece (or set of workpieces in a job) they scan a barcode and perhaps hit a button that says "start". When finished they scan the same barcode and hit a different button that says "finished". Barcode can be stuck on the workpiece (back of a cabinet door say) where it cannot get separated, or be on a clipboard or job-tote that travels with the workpiece.

Bar code labels are cheap.
The readers can be cheap (at least cheaper than a PAD)

However, the system requires some kind of network that works on the factory floor, and some servers with software.

Such a system would allow a display of all work in progress, at least past the stage where it's been cut out of bulk stock.

The trouble with solving this challenge is that India has extremely cheap labor, and the solution (apparently) will be sourced from the United States of America, which does not have cheap labor.

So you need to decide if solving this challenge is truly needed and a payback scenario can be crafted.

In the United States, it is common that any PC/workstation has Microsoft (Office) Excel installed. Excel allows a spreadsheet to be shared across the network.

Whether the final implementation would allow each workstation to have the spreadsheet open and visible, or a VBA dialog that would update the spreadsheet is up to you and your I.T. department.

The names and methods aren't really the issue, the essence is a networked database accepting updates from many users.

Perhaps Open Office could provide the functionality you desire.


You need a database, and a programmer or two to provide the user interfaces.