Doing more with less, part 2: Measure labor efficiency (without micromanaging)

If you’re under pressure to increase output but can’t justify more headcount or new equipment, your biggest opportunity might be hiding in plain sight: labor efficiency.

When you understand how time is actually being used on the floor—where it’s spent, where it’s lost, and where it can be improved—you unlock capacity without spending more.

It’s not about micromanaging. It’s about tracking the right labor metrics so you can support your team, optimize workflows, and get more from the resources you already have.

Why labor metrics matter

Labor is one of the biggest costs on your floor—and also one of the biggest opportunities. Yet most manufacturers aren’t tracking how time is used across jobs, shifts, or teams. They’re relying on what’s on paper, or what people remember.

With the right labor metrics, you can:

• Identify top performers and learn from what they do differently
• Spot training gaps that lead to slower setups or longer changeovers
• Improve resource allocation across shifts or job types
• Track late starts and early stops, which often signal hidden downtime, bottlenecks, or unclear processes
• Measure the impact of improvement efforts over time

Tracking labor metrics is not about policing your people, but rather about understanding patterns. When done right, labor tracking actually builds trust. It helps managers coach more effectively, gives operators clarity, and enables leadership to make fair, data-informed decisions. It also helps prevent burnout and overload by ensuring work is balanced and downtime is addressed—not ignored.

What happens if you skip this step?

Without labor data, it’s easy to draw the wrong conclusions.

For example:

• You think someone’s underperforming, but really they’re stuck waiting for materials every morning due to a late start.
• One shift finishes early but doesn’t report it—and you lose hours of capacity each week without realizing it.
• A new hire struggles with changeovers, but the delay blends into overall job time, so no one spots it.

Tracking events like late starts and early stops can uncover inefficiencies that would otherwise go unnoticed. And once you know where the time is going, you can start making changes that actually stick.

What it looks like in real life

At Master Power Transmission, time to first piece was a really big pain. When they implemented Amper, one of the first things they looked at was the report breaking down late starts and early stops by machine, shift, and operator.

Improving time to first piece became one of the first goals. Since they had objective data now, the team at MPT devised an incentive program and started giving out gift cards to high performers. And suddenly, one of the worst performing operators became the first one in the shop every morning, determined to be the first one to get a piece done.

Tracking labor efficiency didn't just improve operations. It gave operators ownership—not just in their numbers, but in the success of the plant as a whole. And it sparked a fair bit of friendly competition. So much so, one operator asked for another machine to generate more standard hours.

It wasn’t about control. It was about clarity, recognition, and pride in the work.

How to get started

You don’t need complex time studies or micromanagement to track meaningful labor metrics. Start small:

• Track task changes: Let operators log when they start, stop, or switch jobs.
• Capture late starts and early stops: These often point to systemic issues—like unclear schedules, poor handoffs, or supply chain delays.
• Pair labor and machine data: This gives you context to understand performance in real time.
• Look for trends: See how labor time shifts by operator, product, or shift—and use that to guide coaching and staffing decisions.
• Share the data: When operators see the same insights you do, they can take action too.

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