Manufacturer of Hydraulic Presses
To run a successful machine shop, you need to coordinate the efforts of workers, customers and machinery. The daily tasks involved are complicated and demanding. Thankfully, there are apps available for smartphones and tablets than can help you make it through the day.
Here is a look at apps available for scheduling, calculations and productivity.
Scheduling
It is a headache to schedule shifts. You need to factor in vacations and sick leave with job flow. Shift Planning, an app that works on all types of mobile devices and desktop computers, simplifies the process.
The app helps you eliminate scheduling conflicts, acts as a time clock, sends reminders and gives everyone access to the most up-to-date schedule. It even integrates schedules and time clock data with payroll, which helps with speed and accuracy.
The app offers a free 30-day trial. More information is available at https://www.shiftplanning.com/tour.
Preventive maintenance for your machinery is essential if you want to avoid downtime. VibePro is an app that helps you schedule regular equipment upkeep. It lets you easily track the recording, monitoring and evaluating of machinery data that shows indicators like vibrations, balance and other conditions.
Made by GTi Spindle Technology, it is available for the iPad and iPad mini. You can watch this YouTube video for more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU59tLnPlVk
Calculations
Machining Mate was created by machinists to help with calculations routinely done in machine shops, including calculating functions and CNC codes.
It covers calculations like:
It handles G codes, M codes and letter addresses.
This is an Android app made by Arkatek Studios and is available at Google Play. You can find out more here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.techrds.machiningmate&hl=en
Productivity
Google Keep is a free app that lets you keep track of daily tasks. It is made to be highly visual so that information is easy to check at a glance.
It makes it easy to add items to your to do list. You can insert notes by typing them in, by speaking them into your mobile device, by putting them into a list or by simply taking a photo of what needs doing.
Much like tacking up notecards to a bulletin board, the app works by putting each task on a digital card. You can easily check off what you have accomplished by tapping a box beside each card. The app makes it simple to set alarms and take photos of chores.
You can read more about it on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.keep&hl=en
Any.Do
This handy app, also free, lets you and your team keep up to date on appointments and meetings. It is cloud-based and available for Android devices.
In addition to its calendar functionality, it pulls in a range of data that gives greater context to simple meeting times. It adds contact information from your address book and includes helpful map information for people coming to the meeting.
The app sends out invitations and reminders to your team. If you are running late, or any other attendee, it is easy to send the others a quick message.
You can read more about this app at http://www.any.do/
Technology can make life much easier when you’re running a machine shop. The right app can handle repetitive tasks, help you keep in touch with workers and customers, and simplify tracking information.
