Shop Floor Control (SFC) in Manufacturing

What is SFC (Shop Floor Control)?

SFC (Shop Floor Control) refers to the operational control and monitoring of manufacturing directly on the shop floor.

Core task: Ensure production orders are:

• Started at the right time
• On the right line/machine
• With the right resources
• Monitored and completed—including status, quantities, times, and quality

SFC is the execution layer between ERP planning and physical manufacturing. In modern plants, SFC is no longer handled through paper, Excel, and verbal communication, but through SFC software/MES.

SFC Tasks in Daily Manufacturing

SFC answers day-to-day questions like:

• Which orders are currently running where?
• What has been produced, what's missing from the plan?
• Which machines are stopped, in changeover, or running?
• Where are orders backing up, where are delivery dates at risk?

Typical tasks:

• Order release and start on the shop floor
• WIP tracking (Work in Progress) across all stations
• Feedback on quantities, times, failures, and quality
• Support for shift supervisors in prioritization and rescheduling

SFC vs. MES vs. ERP – Brief Distinction

ERP plans orders, materials, schedules, and costs.

SFC/MES controls and monitors actual execution on the shop floor.

Automation (PLC, robots) technically executes individual steps.

A Cloud MES like SYMESTIC contains SFC functions as a core module: SFC is the "operational heart" in MES that keeps plan (ERP) and reality (shop floor) synchronized.

Core Functions of Shop Floor Control

1. Order Control & WIP Tracking

• Display of open orders per line/machine/workstation
• Start, interruption, completion via terminal, HMI, or tablet
• Prioritization by delivery date, changeover family, customer, shift
• Visualization of WIP, bottlenecks, delays

Goal: Controlled material and order flow instead of chaotic processing of "whatever's available."

2. Data Collection (BDE/MDE)

SFC systems connect production data collection (BDE) and machine data collection (MDE):

• Piece counts (target/actual, good/scrap)
• Start/end times, downtime, changeover times
• Failure reasons, comments, shift information
• Machine signals (status, cycles, alarms, process values)

This creates a factual view of manufacturing, not just planned values.

3. Feedback, Traceability & Quality

• Feedback of quantities and times directly to ERP (order progress, completion)
• Capture of quality status (pass/fail, rework, scrap) per order, lot, serial number
• Linking with inspection and test results, possibly digital work instructions

SFC thus provides the foundation for traceability, complaint processing, and audit-ready documentation.

4. KPI Monitoring & OEE Foundation

Because SFC knows all relevant events, it's the data source for:

• OEE (availability, performance, quality)
• FPY, scrap rate, rework rate
• Downtime structure, changeover times, failure reasons
• Throughput, lead times, on-time delivery

In short: Without clean SFC, OEE and performance metrics remain incomplete or manual.

SFC in Digital Shop Floor & OEE Cluster

In the digital shop floor context, SFC is the operational layer:

Manufacturing Visibility: Dashboards build on SFC data

Performance Tracking/KPI Monitoring: OEE and other metrics emerge from SFC events

Digital Process Optimization: Bottlenecks, losses, and drifts become visible through SFC data

Smart Maintenance/Notification System: Failures and anomalies come as events from the SFC/MES layer

For technical readers: SFC is the part of MES that generates the production event stream and provides it with order/product context.

SFC with Cloud MES like SYMESTIC

A Cloud MES like SYMESTIC bundles traditional SFC functions in a lean, cloud-based architecture:

Browser-Based Order Control: Terminals/HMIs at lines and machines show current orders, allow start/stop, quantity and failure reason entry

Real-Time Transparency: Line and plant dashboards display status, OEE, output, downtime, and quality situation live—based on SFC data

Close ERP Integration: Orders are pulled from ERP, progress and completions are fed back; double data entry is eliminated

Configurable Workflows: Failures, control limit violations, or quality deviations from the SFC layer automatically trigger alarms, blocks, rework paths, or maintenance orders

Cloud-Native Scalability: Once-defined SFC setup (structure, workflows, KPIs) can be quickly rolled out to additional lines and plants

Pragmatic Entry into SFC

Sensible starting point for SFC/Shop Floor Control:

Define Scope: Choose one line/area with lots of paper, Excel, and missing transparency

Introduce Minimal-Set SFC Functions:

• Digital order start/end
• Quantity and failure reason feedback
• Basic dashboards for shift supervisors

Set Up OEE & Core KPIs: Evaluate OEE, downtime structure, output vs. plan based on SFC data

Establish Continuous Improvement Loops: Weekly/monthly optimization rounds with exactly these KPIs, derive actions, measure impact

Rollout as Template: Transfer successful SFC setup to additional lines/plants

This way, SFC (Shop Floor Control) evolves from theoretical concept to a practical lever for OEE, on-time delivery, and productivity—technically implemented through a Cloud MES like SYMESTIC.