Title: How to Track WIP in a Small Shop URL: https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-track-wip/ Description: How to track WIP: work orders with routing steps, start and complete at each work centre, WIP value from material and labour, and a daily WIP board. Updated: 2026-11-03 # How to track work in progress on the shop floor Track WIP by giving every job a work order with routing steps, recording when each step starts and completes at its work centre, and recording material issued and labour booked to the job. WIP value is material issued plus labour booked, less the value of finished output already moved to stock. Count open work orders at each step every day. By Arunkumar V, CTO · 03 November 2026 · 2 min read [Try ZMOS free](https://app.zudoworks.com/signup) [Book a 20-minute demo](https://zudoworks.com/contact/) - how to track work in progress - WIP tracking manufacturing - WIP value calculation - work in progress report ## What WIP tracking actually records Work in progress is everything that has started but not finished. To track it you need four records per job: the work order, the routing steps it must pass through, a start and complete time at each step, and the material and labour added along the way. With those four you can answer the two questions a supervisor asks every morning: where is each job, and how much is tied up on the floor. The step record is the one most shops skip. Without it you know a job is open but not whether it is waiting at the laser or sitting at inspection. Scanning a job card at each work centre captures it without typing. ## A simple WIP board A WIP board is a table with one row per routing step, on a whiteboard, a spreadsheet or an ERP report. The step with the longest waiting column is the constraint; jobs released faster than it can process only add to the pile. A job that has not moved in three days should be asked about by name at the morning stand-up. The sample below is invented to show the shape. | Step | Jobs waiting | Jobs running | Hours booked today | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Laser cutting | 3 | 1 | 6.5 | | Press brake | 5 | 2 | 9.0 | | Welding | 2 | 2 | 11.0 | | Powder coat (outside) | 4 | 0 | 0 | | Final inspection | 1 | 1 | 2.0 | ## WIP value with sample numbers To value WIP, add up what has gone into open jobs. Say three jobs are open. Job A has 2,400 of material issued and 1,800 of labour booked. Job B has 950 of material and 300 of labour. Job C has 4,100 of material, 2,200 of labour, and 40 of its 100 units already completed to stock at 60 each (2,400). WIP value is (2,400 + 1,800) + (950 + 300) + (4,100 + 2,200 − 2,400) = 9,350. These are example figures. In one line: WIP value = material issued + labour booked + outside processing − value of output transferred to stock. The accountant needs this at month end; the supervisor needs the job count per step daily. ## How to track work in progress 1. **Step 1** Create a work order for every job with a routing that lists each step and its work centre. 2. **Step 2** Print a job card for the work order and attach it to the parts or the bin. 3. **Step 3** Scan or mark the card when each step starts and again when it completes. 4. **Step 4** Record material issues, returns and labour against the work order as they happen. 5. **Step 5** Review a WIP board each morning, and close the work order when the finished quantity is received into stock. ## Where ZMOS fits ZMOS tracks WIP through work orders with routing steps and work centres, barcode job cards scanned at each step, material issue and return, and labour logged at work centres. Live stock balances per warehouse show what has moved to finished goods. It fits sheet-metal, machining and fabrication shops of 10 to 50 people running discrete jobs. If production is one continuous line with no distinct jobs, or the team will not scan or mark steps, the tracking will be no better than a whiteboard. See BOM and production in ZMOS. [What ZMOS does](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/) - [BOM and production in ZMOS](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/production-and-bom/) - [barcode job cards](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/barcode-job-cards/) - [manufacturing workflows](https://zudoworks.com/manufacturing/workflows/) ## People also ask Short answers, each one complete on its own. ### Related answers - [What is WIP inventory?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/what-is-wip-inventory/) - [What is a work order in manufacturing?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/what-is-a-work-order/) - [How do I track labour hours on jobs?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-track-labour-on-jobs/) - [How do I calculate job cost in a small manufacturing shop?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-calculate-job-cost/) - [What is a routing and a work centre?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/what-is-a-routing-and-work-centre/) - [How do I set reorder points for raw materials?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-set-reorder-points/) - [How do I do cycle counting in a small shop?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-do-cycle-counting/) - [How do I manage BOM revisions?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-manage-bom-revisions/) - [All 54 answers](https://zudoworks.com/answers/) ### Inside ZMOS [Zudo AI](https://zudoworks.com/zudo-ai/)[Stock ledger](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/stock-ledger/)[Low-code forms and rules](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/low-code/)[Barcode job cards](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/barcode-job-cards/)[Roles, audit log, API](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/roles-audit-api/)[Security](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/security/)[Free trial](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/free-trial/)[Why Zudo Works](https://zudoworks.com/why-zudo-works/) What is the difference between WIP quantity and WIP value? WIP quantity is how many jobs or units are open at each step; the supervisor uses it daily. WIP value is the money tied up in those jobs, built from material issued and labour booked; the accountant uses it at month end. Do I need barcodes to track WIP? No. A whiteboard with a card per job works for a small shop. Barcodes remove the typing and make the timestamps reliable, which matters once more than a handful of jobs are open at a time. How often should WIP be reviewed? Review the job count per step daily, ideally in a ten-minute morning stand-up at the board. Review WIP value monthly with the accountant. Review any job that has not moved for more than a few days as soon as it appears. Does WIP include material issued but not yet used? Yes. Once material is issued to a job it is part of that job's WIP until the job completes or the material is returned to stock. Unused sheet left on a job inflates both WIP and the job cost.