The Last Manual Step in an Automated Process
Smart factories invest heavily in automation — robotics, connected machinery, real-time production monitoring, MES platforms tracking every unit through every stage. Yet in many of these environments, labour data is still collected manually. Supervisors record attendance on paper. Job costing is reconciled in a spreadsheet at the end of the week. The labour cost that sits behind every production decision is the one data point the system does not have in real time.
Synel closes that gap. Biometric clocking terminals on the production floor capture attendance and job time automatically. Data flows directly into your MES, ERP and payroll systems without manual intervention. The result is a fully connected data architecture where labour is as visible as machine uptime.
Connecting Workforce Data to Production Systems
The value of labour data in a smart factory is not the data itself — it is what becomes possible when it is connected to production data. When you know which operator was on which machine during which shift, and how many hours were spent on which work order, you can calculate true unit labour costs, identify productive versus non-productive time, and understand the human contribution to OEE.
MES and ERP Integration
Synel integrates with major MES and ERP platforms including SAP, Oracle, Infor, Epicor and Microsoft Dynamics. Clocking data and job time records are passed to your production system automatically, in the format it expects, at the frequency you configure. There is no import file to generate, no manual mapping to maintain, and no end-of-shift data entry for supervisors to complete.
Automated Job Costing at Work Order Level
Employees clock onto specific work orders, production cells or operations directly from the shop floor terminal — using a barcode scan, RFID tag or touchscreen selection. The time recorded against each work order flows to your ERP as a labour transaction, available for cost reporting immediately. Planned versus actual labour hours are visible in real time, not reconstructed at month end.
Real-Time Labour Visibility on the Production Floor
Operations directors and plant managers in smart factories expect real-time data about machine performance, throughput and quality. They should expect the same from labour. Synel provides live dashboards showing who is clocked on, which work orders are active, where hours are being spent, and where overtime is accumulating — updated continuously throughout the shift.
Labour Cost Per Production Cell
By assigning clockings to specific production cells as well as work orders, Synel enables labour cost analysis at the most granular level. Which cell is running over budget? Which shift has the best productive time ratio? Which work centre consistently generates overtime? These questions are answerable from clocking data when the data is captured at the right level of detail.
OEE and Workforce Efficiency
Overall Equipment Effectiveness measures availability, performance and quality. Labour efficiency — the ratio of productive time to total paid time — is the workforce equivalent. Synel calculates productive time, indirect time and non-productive categories from job clocking data, giving operations teams the labour dimension of OEE that most production monitoring systems do not capture.
Integration Architecture for Industry 4.0
Smart factories are not monolithic systems — they are ecosystems of connected platforms. Synel is designed to fit into that ecosystem rather than sit outside it.
API-First Connectivity
Synel Connect provides a cloud integration layer that exposes clocking and workforce data via REST API. Any downstream system — MES, data warehouse, BI platform, payroll — can consume the data it needs in real time. Configuration is handled through a web interface without custom development. New integrations can be stood up in hours rather than weeks.
Synergy Connect for Third-Party Platforms
For factories running specialist workforce management or HR platforms, Synel Connect bridges the gap between Synel biometric hardware and the third-party software. Clocking events flow from Synel terminals to your platform of choice — whether that is SAP SuccessFactors, Workday, or a bespoke in-house system — without requiring SDK development or custom integration work.
Access Control in Smart Manufacturing Environments
Automated production environments contain areas that pose serious risk to unqualified or unauthorised personnel. Robotic cells, high-voltage areas, laser cutting zones and chemical handling areas must be physically secured against accidental entry, with access conditional on verified qualification.
Biometric Authorisation for Automated Cells
Synel access control at production cell entry points restricts access to operators whose training records confirm the required competency. The access decision is made in real time against live HR data — when a qualification expires, the system automatically removes access until retraining is completed and the record is updated. No manual administration required.
Safety Interlocks and Maintenance Access
For maintenance and engineering access to live production equipment, Synel supports multi-factor authorisation — combining biometric identity verification with permit-to-work workflows. Engineers can only access equipment in a safe state, and every access event is logged with timestamp and identity for safety audit purposes.