stop managing production in excel: open windows into your shop floor

Windows® isn’t going to drive productivity, increase efficiency, or keep your team on-task. Neither will Google Docs®.

There, we said it.

Every day, we talk to manufacturers who want to replace their “system”—but what they really have in place is little more than a digital clipboard. Tools like Windows, shared drives, and spreadsheets may look like an upgrade from paper, but when it comes to accuracy, accountability, and on-time production, they fall short. And even more dangerously, they lure you into believing you have something in place that will do it all for you.

At best, document management helps you get information onto paper (in this case, paper-on-glass) a little faster. But it won’t make you more competitive. It won’t improve profitability. And it certainly won’t give you the real-time visibility you need to compete in today’s market.

What you need is a true production operations system—one that goes beyond paper or digital storage and helps you manage the flow of work on your shop floor with real-time production and real-time job status to compete today.

production operations: a window into U.S. manufacturing

If production in the U.S. is more expensive than overseas, every resource in your shop—people, machines, space, and materials—must be used smarter, faster, and more efficiently. The reality is, nothing on your floor stays still and not everything works the way it should (we should hear you laughing right about now). Equipment breaks, schedules shift, and people take time off. Problems happen every day, and spreadsheets won’t catch them before they hurt your bottom line.

Unless you are a lights-out facility that is run without the use of humans, you have change, movement and problems everywhere. All day, every day, things are always going unexpectedly.  

Here’s what we hear from manufacturers every day:

• Unpredictable labor: Alternate work schedules, sick days, and vacations rarely align with production needs. These are usually timed for their needs, not yours and may impact a big job or a rush order with negative consequences. A single absence can delay a rush order or critical job.
  
  
• Inventory challenges: Even years after COVID, supply chains remain disrupted and gummed up. Delays, inflated costs, and last-minute orders are common. This drives up costs and are often hidden from your team at the time you’re bidding work. Spreadsheets can’t adapt quickly enough even with human intervention and calculation.
  
  
• Unexpected problems: Jobs fall behind. Machines fail. Materials arrive late. You’ll make the best decisions you can with the data you have—but hidden details often sink projects, the nails in the coffin.
  
  

To stay competitive against offshore production, you need speed, agility, ideal costs, and accuracy. That means moving beyond Excel sheets and Access databases to a real digital tool designed for your production operations team.

paperless production: a window into your future

A paperless manufacturing system isn’t just a repository for information—it’s a real window into your shop floor. Think of it as a digital production assistant:

• It gives your team the original plan and the backup options they need when things go wrong.
  
  
• It updates in real time, helping you make better decisions in the moment.
  
  
• It alerts you to issues and can even solve problems before you know they exist.
  
  

Imagine knowing that a job is falling behind and having the system automatically recalibrate the schedule. Or receiving an alert that a change has been made before it derails production. That’s the kind of support that’s invaluable to manufacturers today.

The biggest challenge we hear from manufacturers is that they don’t have the money to pay for that kind of system. But here’s the best part: these tools are no longer out of reach. Small and mid-size manufacturers can implement robust digital systems without breaking profitability.

ready to take the next step?

At CIMx, we help manufacturers every day replace their outdated “systems” with tools that deliver real-time insights, efficiency, and control. If you’re unsure whether a system like this could help—or worried about the cost—reach out to us

We’ll help you explore your options and find the right solution for your shop.