What the job actually took, against what you charged for it
Every shop has a product it loses money on and does not know it. The quote says two hours, the job takes five, and because nobody measured it the recipe never changes and the next one loses the same again. Sign OS clocks the real time against the real steps and puts it next to the quote.
Time gets captured where the work happens
Makers scan a QR-coded job sheet on the floor to clock on and off a step. No timesheet to remember at five o’clock, no app to learn — a phone or a tablet at the bench, big buttons and no prices.
Real days are messier than a scanner allows, so time can also be written up afterwards — a whole day as a table straight from the production board — and it counts towards the job exactly the same way. Corrections are recorded rather than overwriting the original.
- QR job sheets — scan, step, clock
- Write up a day’s work as a table from the board
- Corrections recorded, not overwritten
- A day clock with its own filter
Hours cost themselves onto the job
Clocked time costs at the labour rate of the department that did the work, and machine time costs at that machine’s running rate — so the actual cost of a job builds up as it is made, alongside the materials bought for it. Quoted versus actual is visible while the job is still in the building, not a quarter later.
- Department labour rates and machine running rates
- Actual cost accrues as the job is made
- Quoted against actual, per job
- Material cost from purchasing lands on the same job
Privacy, because it is people’s hours
An ordinary staff member sees their own time and nobody else’s. Seeing the whole shop’s hours is a permission you grant deliberately, to the roles that need it. Floor screens never show a dollar figure at all.
That is worth being plain about: time keeping is measurement for pricing work, and it should not turn into surveillance of the person doing it.
- Your own hours stay your own
- Shop-wide visibility is a granted permission
- No financial figures on any floor screen
- Time keeping is a paid add-on — switch it on when you need it
Where it pays for itself
Profit analytics break margin down by job, by customer and by product, so the pattern shows up: the product that always overruns, the customer whose jobs always need a second trip. Then you fix the recipe rather than absorbing it. Sign OS is built and operated in Australia, AUD from $89 a month with a free 30-day trial and no card.
Frequently asked questions
- Do makers have to remember to fill in a timesheet?
- No. They scan the QR code on the job sheet to clock on and off a step. Anything that was missed can be written up afterwards from the production board, and written-up time counts identically to scanned time.
- Can everyone see everyone else’s hours?
- No. By default a staff member sees their own time only. Seeing the whole shop’s hours is a permission you grant to specific roles, deliberately.
- How does clocked time turn into a cost?
- Labour costs at the department’s labour rate and machine time at that machine’s running rate, both set once in your catalogue. The cost accrues onto the job as it is made, next to the materials bought for it.
- Is time keeping included in the plan?
- Time keeping is a paid add-on priced per tier, so shops that do not need it are not paying for it. Floor boards and QR job sheets are part of production scheduling; the time log and job costing sit on the add-on.