I work as and IE in a rather unique fabrication shop. We have production machines that use NC programs for the tool paths. We also have machines that make emergent parts. Parts that we will only see once or twice. These machines are programmed by the CNC operator at that machine. We have estimation systems to give us a best guess as to how long the part will take to run but we have no way of capturing how long our guys are programming at the machines. Does anyone out there have a solution to this problem?

All of these responses are great!! ​Jeff- I am the Industrial Engineer for the area not the manager. Ive asked the managers to put some heat on the operators to fill out the documentation correctly but nothing happens. Im sure there are some IAM union complications in there somewhere. We are an emergent, one off part job shop that can make just about anything. All the parts are different which means programming times are all over the board. We also hand out overtime like candy at a parade. No expectations for programming time, unpredictable work statement, unlimited over time. Recipe for disaster. LA CAMmer- I have heard of ManicTime but haven't been able to use it yet. Ill dig into it some more. ToolMan184- Ill look into this software as well. YoDoug®- As an IE, its my job to maintain performance and find ways to keep those spindles turning. I used to monitor production CNC machines. It was easy. Work came in and work went out. Now Im in an emergent shop making one off parts that were needed yesterday. I honestly do play big brother from time to time but it is never to jump on operators and crack the whip to make them work faster. I need data like this programming time so that I know how much wip the area can really handle, set expectations, prep for production increases. If a guy is slacking, I get with the operator and we hash out a plan to boost things back up. We pay these guys for 40 hours a week and OT when hot jobs need to get out. But when they screw off during the week to push on schedule work behind schedule to get OT, thats not good business. I know where you are coming from though. I used to be a machinist and hated it when my boss barked at me to get work out. He didn't know my machine went down 6 times that day and had an oil leak. All he cared about was output numbers. Thanks for all of the great input. This whole thing has been a major issue but its complexity makes it difficult to solve. Ill take a look at some of those software suggestions. Hopefully they will help me solve this problem.

Hello, I have a major problem involving MasterCam and was hoping you guys could help me out. I work in a shop where the CNC operators both program tooling and run machines. They can do both separately and at the same time. The problem I am having is knowing how much time they are spending programming. Both while the machine is Idol and while the machine is running. I have software that monitors the machines but not the programming. There is a manual system in place where the operators keep track of their time spent on a job but the operators dont fill it out all the time which makes out data useless. It needs to be automatic. Do you guys know of any system out there that can track when the operators are programming while the machine is Idol and while its running automatically?