Attendance, shift and leave process for Wire EDM Shops: who is on watch when the wire runs overnight
A wire EDM cut can run for many hours with nobody at the machine. The attendance and shift rules decide who starts it, who checks it and who answers when the wire breaks.
Not sure what you need? Tell us about your business in six short steps and we will come to the first meeting prepared.
Share your requirementsWhy attendance, shift and leave process matters in wire EDM shops
Without a clear shift and leave process, overnight work depends on goodwill. An operator threads the wire at the end of the day, leaves, and nobody is named to look at the machine an hour later. A wire break at the start of the night then costs the whole run, and the part that was due in the morning is late. When the one operator who tunes a difficult cut is on leave, the job simply waits.
A good process names a watch person for every night run, with a short list of what to look at: wire tension, water level, filter and the first minutes of the cut. Leave is planned against the cut schedule, so two threaders are never away together. Handover notes on the machine log say what is running, how long it should take and who to call. Late starts and missed checks are visible the next morning, not argued about.
How to set it up
1. List the machines and who can run each
Write down every wire EDM machine and the operators able to thread, set and start it unattended. This shows how many people cover each machine and where a single absence leaves a machine idle.
2. Fix a night watch pattern
Decide who starts the overnight runs, who is on watch and who checks the first hour. Rotate the watch role so one person does not carry every night, and agree the rest day that follows.
3. Write a one page handover
Use a simple sheet at each machine: job, expected finish, wire and filter status, anything odd. The next shift reads it before touching the machine, and the night person signs it.
4. Plan leave against the cut schedule
Ask for leave dates early and check them against long jobs. Two threaders or two programmers should not be away together. See attendance and shift design for the wider pattern.
5. Review misses weekly
Once a week, read the logs for late starts, skipped checks and jobs lost overnight. Talk about the cause with the people involved and change the pattern, not just the person.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Count the nights this month when a run was lost to a wire break and who was on watch each time.
- Ask each operator which machines they would be happy to run alone overnight and which they would not.
- Read the last handover sheets and note how many say what to check and how many only say a job number.
- List the leave dates for the next month against the long jobs scheduled in the same weeks.
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
Many shops pay a night allowance or give a compensatory rest day, because the person carries the risk of a lost run. Decide it before the first night, write it down and apply it the same way to everyone on the rota.
Treat that as a gap to close, not a favour to return. Pair a second operator with the first on that job, record the settings, and plan leave so the specialist is never the only cover.
Some shops do, with checks before leaving and an on-call person. The decision is yours, based on the machines and jobs. We would look at the checks and the call-out rule, not push a particular answer.