# Time tracking for manufacturing and factory shifts > Time tracking for factories: 2- and 3-shift rosters, a kiosk at the gate, shift allowances and overtime by rule, temp workers and payroll exports. URL: https://timetracking.tech/for/manufacturing Language: en Last updated: 2026-10-26 In a factory, the hours are rarely the problem. What they are worth is. An early, late or night shift. A Saturday. Overtime after a breakdown. A temp worker on the same line as your own staff. TimeTracking clocks the shift at the gate and applies your allowance and overtime rules. Payroll gets hours that are already worked out. Start free for up to 5 users. ## How factories use TimeTracking 1. **Plan the shift rotation**: Build your 2- or 3-shift pattern once with shift templates and repeating rotations. Then publish it to every team. 2. **Clock in at the gate**: Operators clock in and out at a kiosk tablet at the entrance with a personal 6-digit PIN. No phones needed on the floor. 3. **Rules do the calculation**: The rule engine splits each shift into allowance bands. It adds overtime when a shift runs longer. It flags breaks and rest times. 4. **Approve and export**: Shift leaders approve their team's week. Hours per hour type go to payroll and are locked after export. ## Built around the shift rotation Two- and three-shift systems repeat in fixed rotations. A week of early shifts, a week of late shifts, a week of nights. In TimeTracking you set up that rotation once, with shift templates and repeating patterns. The planner only handles the exceptions: sickness, leave, a machine that needs an extra crew. A night shift from 22:00 to 06:00 is one shift, not two half days. The roster is checked against rest-time rules. So the planner sees a warning before moving someone from a late shift straight into an early one. - Shift templates for early, late and night - Repeating rotations per team - Night shifts across midnight as one shift - Rest-time warnings before publishing ## A kiosk at the gate Many production floors do not allow phones. And not every operator wants a work app on their own phone. Put a tablet kiosk at the staff entrance. Everyone clocks in and out with a personal 6-digit PIN, in their own language. You can tie the kiosk to one site. So every clock-in has the right location. After 5 wrong PINs, the tablet locks for 15 minutes. That makes clocking in for a colleague harder. The kiosk takes no photos and uses no face recognition. So it is easier to agree with your works council. The break is taken off automatically at clock-out, following Dutch rules. ## Shift allowances and overtime by rule Shift allowances are where sums by hand go wrong. The rule engine splits every shift into the bands you set. For example evening, night, Saturday, Sunday or public holiday. It logs the hours per band. Public holidays for the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium are built in. Overtime works the same way. When a shift runs longer than planned, the extra time counts as overtime at the rate you set. Each hour type has its own payroll code in the export. Payroll gets bands and overtime already split, not one total to pick apart. - Allowance bands by time of day and day of week - Public holidays for NL, DE and BE - Overtime at the rates you choose - Each hour type mapped to a payroll code ## Temp workers on the same line Most factories mix their own staff with workers from one or more staffing agencies. In TimeTracking, temp workers clock in at the same kiosk with their own PIN. They show up in the same roster. So the shift leader sees the whole crew. The apps and kiosk come in 20 languages. Each worker picks their own. After approval, export the agency workers' hours and send them to the agency. Then you can check its invoice against what was really clocked. Does the agency use TimeTracking too? It can send you the week for approval through a secure magic link. You need no account. ## Planned versus worked per team Once hours come in, every shift shows planned and worked time side by side. You see late starts, early finishes and constant overtime per person, team and week. So production managers spot a line that is short of staff early. Before it shows up in the overtime bill. Leave and sick leave sit in the same system. So the planner sees who is away while building next week's rotation. ## Payroll exports and privacy Approved periods go to payroll in one step. Live today: an SD Worx-format export, CSV, XLSX and JSON exports you set up yourself, and the REST API. Connectors for Loket, Nmbrs and AFAS are coming soon. Exported periods are locked. Fixes go into the next period. TimeTracking logs working time and nothing else. No screenshots, no keystroke tracking, no ongoing location tracking. It is not an MES or production tracking system. It handles the hours your people are paid for. All from €1 per user per month, with no add-ons. ## Frequently asked questions ### Does TimeTracking support 3-shift rotations? Yes. You set up early, late and night shifts as templates. They repeat as rotations per team. Night shifts across midnight count as one shift. ### Can shift allowances be calculated automatically? Yes. The rule engine splits each shift into the allowance bands you set, including public holidays for NL, DE and BE. Each band is exported with its own payroll code. ### Can operators clock in without a phone? Yes. They clock in and out at a kiosk tablet at the gate, with a personal 6-digit PIN. The kiosk needs a stable internet connection. ### Does the kiosk use photos or face recognition? No. Workers identify with a personal PIN only. After 5 wrong attempts the tablet locks for 15 minutes. ### Can we track temp workers alongside our own staff? Yes. Temp workers use the same kiosk and roster. Their approved hours can be exported and shared with the staffing agency. ### What does it cost? Free for up to 5 users. Then €1 per user per month on Core. That includes rosters, the kiosk, approvals and payroll exports. No add-ons and no seat minimum.