Attendance, shift and leave process for VMC Machining Units: cover for waves of releases
With several VMCs on three shifts and customer releases coming in waves, attendance is the planning problem. A missing setter or inspector halts a pallet line while the casting stock waits.
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Share your requirementsWhy attendance, shift and leave process matters in VMC machining units
Customer releases arrive in waves, so the unit runs flat out for some weeks and thinly for others. During the wave, leave requests pile up, overtime is given by habit and the same people are asked to stay again. In the quiet weeks the unit has more people than it needs. Neither pattern is written down, so the same surprise returns.
A usable process has three parts. A roster showing, per shift, who can set, who can inspect and who covers washing and deburring. A leave rule that tightens before a known wave and relaxes after it. A handover sheet that carries pallet status, tool life and rejections across shift change. A short record of overtime by person shows who is being overused.
How to set it up
1. Roster by role, not just by head count
For each shift list the setter, the inspector and the washing and deburring staff. If any shift has no one in a key role, mark it and plan a cover before the week starts.
2. Plan leave around the release calendar
Ask the planner for the next quarter's expected waves. Close leave in the heaviest weeks for setters and inspectors, and encourage it in the quiet weeks so it is not all taken at once.
3. Spread overtime on a record
Keep a simple sheet of overtime by person for the month. If the same four people hold most of it, share the load or hire. Look at the attendance, shift and leave software if the sheet is hard to keep.
4. Use a handover sheet
One line per machine: job, pallet or tombstone state, tools near end of life, rejections and what to check first. Both leads sign it at the change of shift.
5. Review after each wave
After a wave, list absence, overtime and stoppages caused by missing roles. Adjust the rule for the next wave on the facts.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- List each shift with its setter and inspector and see where one role is held by a single person.
- Pull the overtime by person for the last month and see how many people carry most of it.
- Look at leave taken in the last wave and see whether key roles were away together.
- Read a handover sheet from the last week and see whether tool life was noted.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach attendance, shift and leave process in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Job running, pallet or fixture state, tools due for change, rejections found, any offset changes with reasons and what the next shift must check first. Keep it to one page per shift.
Agree the closed weeks in advance and share them with the floor early. Give a fair way to apply, such as first come with a limit per role. Consistency matters more than the exact rule.
A fixed rotation is easier for people and for families, and helps absence. A changing roster gives cover flexibility. Many units fix the pattern and swap by agreement, with the supervisor keeping the record.