Shift leads close each shift with a tablet form for output, scrap, changeovers and downtime reasons. At 6 AM the plant manager gets an email summary from the Google Sheets log, with output against target per line, scrap and the top downtime reasons.
Typical results
6 AM
Daily summary in the plant manager's inbox
Top 3
Downtime reasons ranked every day
10%
Below-plan threshold that flags a line
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
Shift output usually lives on paper sheets at each line. Someone in the office types them into a spreadsheet the next morning, about 5 hours a week in total, and the plant manager sees yesterday's numbers around midday. By then a line that ran 15% under plan has already lost another shift.
Before and after
Office hours per week typing shift reports
−100%Hours from last shift end to numbers in hand
−43%The automation
At the end of each shift, the shift lead fills in a short tablet form for every line: units produced, scrap, number of changeovers and downtime minutes with a reason code. Entries land in a Google Sheets log. At 6 AM an email goes to the plant manager with yesterday's output against target per line, scrap percentage and the top 3 downtime reasons, and any line more than 10% below plan is flagged at the top.
How it works
- 01
Shift-end tablet form
The shift lead records units, scrap, changeovers and downtime minutes with a reason code for each line before handover.
- 02
Log in Google Sheets
Each form entry adds a row to the shift log in Google Sheets, tagged with the date, shift and line.
- 03
Summary built at 6 AM
Every morning the automation totals yesterday's shifts per line, compares output with target and ranks the top 3 downtime reasons.
- 04
Below-plan lines on top
Any line more than 10% below plan is flagged at the top of the email, followed by the full table for every line.
Starts from
- Shift-end tablet form
- Daily line targets
Delivers
- 6 AM email summary
- Below-plan line flags
- Shift log in Google Sheets
The impact
The plant manager starts the day with yesterday's numbers already in the inbox, and a struggling line gets attention at the morning meeting instead of after lunch. The office saves about 5 hours a week of typing, and the reason codes build a history for spotting repeat causes of downtime.
Questions about this automation
Who sets the targets the report compares against?
Targets live in a tab of the same Google Sheets file, per line and per shift, and can vary by product. The production planner updates them when the schedule changes, and the morning email always uses the target that was in place for that shift.
What if a shift lead forgets to fill in the form?
The summary lists any line and shift with no entry as missing, so the gap is visible at the morning meeting. A reminder to the shift lead's phone 15 minutes before the shift ends is an easy addition once the basic report is running.
What does the plant provide to set it up?
The list of lines, targets per shift, the downtime reason codes already in use and the email recipients. The tablet form is built around those so shift leads can finish it in a couple of minutes. Simple automations like this are usually live within days.