Creating Projects and Job Barcodes for Shop Floor Scanning

What You Will Have When You Are Done

By the end of this article, each active work order will have:

• A project record in Standard Time® with its name, customer, billing type, and estimated hours
• A unique barcode value — either auto-assigned or matched to your existing work order numbering system
• A printed, laminated barcode label ready to post at the workstation or insert into the shop traveler
• Cost rules configured so every hour logged is automatically priced, coded, and tracked against the right budget

When an employee scans their badge and then scans a project label, Standard Time® starts a time entry tied to that specific work order — no typing, no login, no manual time sheet.

Step 1: Open the Project Assistant

Launch Standard Time® and go to the Home screen. Look for the All Views panel — either a tab at the top of the screen or a navigation panel along the left side depending on your layout. This panel contains icons for every section of the software: Users, Projects, Tasks, Reports, and more.

Find the Project Assistant icon (it looks like a folder or a clipboard) and click it. The project list opens in the main panel, showing all jobs, work orders, and projects currently in the system. If this is your first setup, the list will be empty — that is expected.

Project Assistant vs. Manual Entry

Standard Time® gives you two ways to add projects:

Either approach produces the same result: a project record that can have a barcode assigned and rules applied. For this walkthrough we will use the Project Assistant.

Step 2: Enter Project Information

When the New Project form opens, fill in the following fields. Required fields are marked with an asterisk — the rest are optional but worth completing now to keep reports clean from day one.

Required Fields

1. Project Name Use a name that is meaningful to your shop floor team. A combination of work order number and a short description works well: WO-2024-0047 — Bracket Assembly Line B. Avoid long names — they appear in dropdown lists and reports where space is limited.
2. Job Code (Barcode Value) This is the value that will be encoded in the physical barcode label. Standard Time® auto-assigns a code, but you can override it with your existing work order number. Using the same number across your ERP, shop traveler, and Standard Time® eliminates any mismatch between systems. Keep it under 20 characters and use only letters, numbers, and hyphens — no spaces or special characters.

Important Optional Fields

1. Customer Assign the customer for this job. Time reports can be filtered by customer, making it easy to see total hours billed to each account at month end.
2. Billing Type Choose Fixed Price, Time & Materials, or Internal. This setting determines how time appears in billing reports. Fixed-price jobs track hours against a budget; T&M jobs calculate billable amounts from logged hours; Internal jobs track overhead and non-billable operations.
3. Estimated Hours Enter how many hours the job should take. This feeds the budget-alert rules you will set in Step 4 and makes it possible to see projected completion dates on the schedule board.
4. Work Center / Department Assign the job to the department responsible for it — Assembly, Welding, Painting, Machining. This keeps departmental time reports clean and lets you filter the scanning interface by work center on large shop floors.
5. Due Date Setting a due date turns the job into a scheduled item on the production calendar. Standard Time® can flag jobs that are running over hours before their due date arrives — giving you time to re-prioritize before a deadline is missed.

Step 3: Create a Barcode Label for Each Project

Every work order needs its own physical barcode label. The label is what employees scan when they start working on a job — and without it, the two-scan workflow cannot begin. The process is identical to creating employee badges in Step 1: open Microsoft Word, type the job code, apply the barcode font, and print.

Automatic vs. Custom Barcode Codes

Standard Time® offers two approaches to barcode values:

• Auto-assigned: Standard Time® generates a unique code for each project automatically. This works well for new installations where no prior numbering system exists. The generated codes are guaranteed to be unique and scan reliably.
• Custom (recommended for most shops): You type the job code yourself, matching it to your existing work order numbering system. This is the better choice if you already print shop travelers, use an ERP, or have customers who reference their own purchase order numbers. Matching systems across documents eliminates the need to look up a translation table.

Building the Label in Microsoft Word

1. Open the same Word document you used for employee badges Project labels and employee badges use the same barcode font. A two-column Word table works well — one row per label, with a barcode line on top and a human-readable description line below.
2. Type the job code on the first line Type exactly the value you entered as the Job Code in Standard Time® — WO-2024-0047, PR-21-C, or whatever your work order number is. Spelling and spacing must match perfectly; a single character difference means the scan will not find the project.
3. Apply the barcode font Select the job code text and apply "Free 3 of 9" (or your shop's preferred Code 39 font) at 36–48pt. The text immediately converts to barcode bars.
4. Add a readable description line below the barcode On the second line, type the project name in normal font: Bracket Assembly — Line B. Include the customer name and due date if there is room. This makes it easy for a supervisor to find the right label by reading the board rather than scanning every one.
5. Print one test label first Before running the full sheet, print a single label and scan it with your barcode scanner. Open Standard Time® and confirm the scanner correctly identifies the project. If it does not, check that the job code in Word exactly matches the value in Standard Time® — character for character.
6. Print the full sheet and laminate Once the test scan passes, print all project labels. Laminate the sheet, cut the labels, and post each one at its designated workstation or insert it into the shop traveler packet. Laminated labels in a shop environment last for years; unprotected paper labels curl, smear, and scan poorly within weeks.

Step 4: Set Project Rules

Rules are the invisible engine behind accurate job costing. Once configured, they apply automatically every time an employee scans into this project — no manual entry, no rate lookup, no after-the-fact adjustments. Set them once and they work for the entire life of the job.

Labor Cost Rates

Every project can have its own labor rate structure. Standard Time® lets you set:

• Standard rate: The default cost per hour for any employee on this project. A flat $65/hr is common for shop floor operations where all line workers are costed the same.
• Role-based rates: Different rates for different employee groups. Senior technicians, welders, or CNC operators may cost more per hour than general assembly workers. Assign each group its own rate within the project.
• Overtime rate: The multiplier that applies when an employee exceeds the daily or weekly threshold. A 1.5× multiplier on a $65 base gives $97.50/hr for overtime hours — Standard Time® calculates this automatically once the threshold is crossed.
• Subcontract rate: If outside contractors scan into this project, you can set a separate cost rate that reflects the contract price rather than your standard internal rate.

Bill Codes and Invoice References

Each project can carry billing metadata that flows into your reports and invoices:

• Invoice code: The line-item code that appears on customer invoices. Keeps billing departments from having to look up project-to-invoice mappings manually.
• GL account: The general ledger account for cost allocation. If your accounting system requires costs to hit specific GL codes, set them here and exports will carry the right values automatically.
• PO reference: The customer's purchase order number. Standard Time® can include this on exported time reports so customers can match your invoice against their own records without a phone call.

Overtime Rules

Standard Time® applies overtime rules based on thresholds you define:

• Daily threshold: Hours worked in a single day beyond which overtime rates kick in. The federal standard is 8 hours, but some states or union contracts have different rules — set the threshold to match your labor agreement.
• Weekly threshold: Total hours in a work week beyond which overtime applies. Typically 40 hours, but configurable for compressed work schedules or four-day weeks.
• Billable overtime toggle: For T&M jobs, you can choose whether overtime hours are billed to the customer at the overtime rate or capped at the standard rate regardless of when the work was performed.

Budget Alerts

Every project has a finite budget. Standard Time® can warn you before a job goes over:

• Set a dollar budget or an hours budget (or both)
• Configure an alert threshold — commonly 80% — so a manager receives an email warning while there is still time to act
• Optionally auto-close the project at 100% of budget, preventing additional hours from being logged against a job that has already hit its ceiling

Barcode Rules: Intelligent Scan Parsing

Setting up every project, task, and inventory item in Standard Time® before you can start scanning sounds like a lot of upfront work. Barcode Rules eliminates most of that setup. Instead of requiring every record to exist before a scan is valid, Standard Time® reads the incoming barcode value, matches it against a set of rules you define, and takes the appropriate action automatically — including creating a new record on the fly if the value is not yet in the database.

The result is a scanning system that keeps pace with a fast-moving shop floor. When a new work order arrives, you do not need to open a form, enter a project, save it, and then come back to the scanner. You scan, and Standard Time® handles the rest.

How the Rules Engine Works

Every incoming scan value is evaluated against your Barcode Rules list in order. Each rule has two parts: a pattern (what the barcode looks like) and an action (what Standard Time® does when it matches). Rules are checked top-to-bottom; the first match wins.

1. Pattern matching A rule's pattern can be a prefix, a suffix, a length, a regular expression, or a specific fixed value. For example: "any scan value starting with WO- is a work order" or "any 10-digit numeric code is a part number." You define the patterns to match your shop's existing numbering conventions — no need to re-label anything you already have.
2. Record lookup Once a match is found, Standard Time® looks up the corresponding record in the database. If a project, task, employee, or part with that code already exists, it opens that record and proceeds with the mapped action — logging time, decrementing stock, or starting a process.
3. Auto-create if missing If no matching record is found, Standard Time® creates one automatically using the scanned value as the identifier. A new work order scan creates a new project. A new task code creates a new task under the current project. A new part number creates a new inventory item. The record is live immediately — the next scan of the same barcode hits the newly created record, not a "not found" error.
4. Action execution With the record confirmed or created, Standard Time® executes the mapped action: starts or stops a time entry, records a material transaction, increments a production count, flags an item for QC inspection, or triggers a custom workflow step.

What Barcode Rules Can Recognize

Standard Time® can parse incoming scans as any of the following types, depending on the rules you configure:

• Employee / user: Matches the employee's name or ID encoded in their badge. Standard Time® opens the employee's time record and starts or stops a time entry. If an employee badge is scanned for a name that does not yet exist in the Users list, the rules engine can auto-create the user record — useful when onboarding a new hire while the shop floor is already running.
• Work order / project: Matches a work order number (WO-, MO-, JOB-, or any prefix you choose). Standard Time® opens the corresponding project record or creates a new one if the number is not yet in the system. This is the most powerful time-saver for shops that receive new work orders frequently — no admin setup step required before employees can start scanning.
• Task or operation: Matches a task code like WELD, ASSY, PAINT, or INSPECT. Standard Time® logs the time entry at the task level within the current project, giving you operation-level cost detail without requiring employees to navigate a menu. If the task does not exist under the current project, it is created automatically.
• Process step: Matches a defined process code — a sequential step in a manufacturing routing. Standard Time® can advance a work order through its routing automatically as each process barcode is scanned, updating the WIP status visible on the production board in real time.
• Inventory / part number: Matches a part number or SKU on a bin label, a component kit, or raw material stock. Standard Time® decrements the quantity on hand, logs the material usage against the current work order, and optionally triggers a reorder alert if the quantity drops below the minimum level. If the part number is new, a new inventory record is created on the fly with the scanned quantity set to zero (or a configurable default).
• Custom / user-defined: Any pattern you define can be mapped to any action the system supports. Scan a QC pass/fail barcode at an inspection station to record a quality event. Scan a tool tag to log equipment usage against a job. Scan a location code to record a part's position in the warehouse. If Standard Time® can perform the action through its interface, a Barcode Rule can trigger it.

The Admin-Time Advantage

Without Barcode Rules, the workflow for a new work order looks like this:

1. Receive work order from customer or ERP
2. Open Standard Time®
3. Navigate to the Project Assistant
4. Enter the project name, customer, billing type, and hours
5. Save the project
6. Print the barcode label
7. Post the label at the workstation
8. Employees can now scan

With Barcode Rules and auto-create enabled, the workflow collapses to:

1. Receive work order from customer or ERP
2. Print the barcode label (or scan an existing one from the shop traveler)
3. Employees scan — the project record is created automatically on the first scan

Steps 2 through 7 of the original flow vanish. On a busy shop floor receiving five to ten new work orders a day, that is a meaningful reduction in daily admin time — and it eliminates the window where a work order exists on paper but not yet in the system, which is exactly when missed-scan errors happen.

Setting Up Barcode Rules

Barcode Rules are configured in the Standard Time® settings panel under Tools → Barcode Rules (exact menu path may vary by version). Each rule entry has:

• Rule name: A human-readable label so you can identify the rule in the list (e.g., "Work Order — WO prefix")
• Match pattern: The prefix, suffix, length, or regular expression that identifies this barcode type
• Record type: What to create or look up — Project, Task, User, Inventory, Process, or Custom
• Auto-create: A checkbox that enables or disables automatic record creation when no match is found. Enable this for work orders and tasks; consider leaving it off for employees (to avoid phantom user records from scanning errors)
• Default values: Fields to pre-fill on auto-created records — billing type, work center, default hourly rate, or a manager assignment — so new records are not created blank

The Two-Scan Loop: Putting Steps 1 and 2 Together

With employee barcodes from Step 1 and project barcodes from Step 2, your team is ready to scan. This is the complete workflow that runs dozens or hundreds of times a day on an active shop floor:

1. Employee scans their badge The scanner reads the employee name encoded in the barcode. Standard Time® identifies who is clocking in — the same way a badge reader identifies a worker at a time clock, but without the dedicated hardware.
2. Employee scans the work order barcode The scanner reads the job code posted at the workstation or on the shop traveler. Standard Time® identifies which project is being worked on and starts a time entry that links the employee to that job.
3. Standard Time® applies the rules automatically The correct labor rate is looked up, the bill code is applied, the time entry is stamped with the current date and time, and the project's running hour total is updated — all in the background, in under a second.
4. Employee scans their badge again to clock out The second badge scan closes the open time entry. Standard Time® calculates the elapsed time, applies overtime if the threshold was crossed, and logs the completed entry. The employee is now free to scan into a different project, take a break, or end their shift.

Why Two Scans Instead of One?

The first scan answers "Who is working?" The second scan answers "What are they working on?" Together, those two data points are everything you need for accurate job costing. Separating them also means the same employee can move between projects during the day — scan out of one job, scan into another — and the system tracks every transition without any manual time sheet entry at the end of the shift.

Common Scanning Scenarios

• Employee moves to a second project mid-shift: Scan badge to clock out of the first project, then scan badge + new project barcode to clock into the second. Standard Time® logs both entries with the correct start and stop times.
• Multiple employees on the same job: Each employee scans their own badge + the same project barcode. Standard Time® creates separate time entries for each person, which roll up to a single project total for job costing.
• Employee forgets to clock out: Standard Time® can be configured to alert a supervisor when an open time entry has been running longer than a defined threshold — say, nine or ten hours. The supervisor can manually close the entry and note the reason.
• Shared tablet at a workstation: Post the project barcode at the machine and leave the tablet nearby. Employees scan their badge as they start and stop work. The tablet never needs a keyboard; it just serves as the visible confirmation screen that the scan registered.

Understanding the Project Hierarchy

Standard Time® organizes work in three levels. Knowing this structure helps you design your barcode setup for maximum flexibility:

• Project: The top-level container for a job or work order. Think of it as the work order itself — "WO-2024-0047, Bracket Assembly for Apex Mfg." A project has a due date, a budget, and a customer. The project barcode is usually what employees scan on the shop floor.
• Task: A phase or operation within the project. Welding, Assembly, Painting, Inspection. Tasks let you break the total project hours into categories — useful for quoting future jobs or identifying which operations take longer than expected.
• Sub-task: An individual work item within a task. Optional, but useful for large projects with many discrete steps. Sub-tasks can have their own barcodes if you want employees to scan into specific operations.

For most small and mid-sized shops, creating a barcode at the project level is sufficient. Employees scan into the job; task-level detail can be added later if cost analysis reveals a need for it. Start simple and add granularity only where it delivers insight.

Putting It All Together

Step 2 is complete when every active work order has a project record in Standard Time®, a barcode value, a printed label posted at its workstation, and basic cost rules set. Here is the quick summary:

• Home → All Views → click the Project Assistant icon
• Press + New Project and enter the job name, customer, billing type, and hours
• Note the Job Code (or type your own work order number) — this becomes the barcode value
• Build labels in Microsoft Word using the barcode font; test-scan before printing the full sheet
• Post laminated labels at each workstation or insert them into shop travelers
• Open each project's Rules panel and enter the standard labor rate and budget alert

In Step 3 of this series, we will set up the physical barcode scanning station — the tablet or PC, the scanner type, and the software configuration that ties everything together in one place.