What Is SymplProcess?
Imagine you run a factory. Every day, you have to figure out:
- How many people go where?
- Are we making enough stuff?
- What broke? What went wrong? What do we fix tomorrow?
Right now, most factories figure this out with spreadsheets, whiteboards, walkie-talkies, and gut feelings. That means mistakes. Missed targets. Wasted money.
SymplProcess replaces all of that with one platform. You model your processes, the math tells you where to put people, your shift reports auto-fill, and your boss gets real-time data without calling you. Done.
Think of it like GPS for your factory
GPS doesn't drive the car — you do. But it tells you the fastest route, warns you about traffic, and recalculates when something changes. SymplProcess does that for your manufacturing operation. You still make the decisions, but now you have data instead of guesses.
The 7-Step Guided Setup
Follow these steps in order. Each one builds on the last. By the end, your entire operation will be running on real data — not hope.
Step 1: Model Your Processes
What it is: A visual map of everything your operation does — every step, every person, every dependency.
Where to find it: Process Modeler (free, no login needed) or Process Planner (full version, saves to cloud)
Why this matters (the ROI)
Most supervisors guess where to put people. They go with "what we did yesterday." But yesterday's plan was also a guess. This cycle means you're always understaffing your bottleneck and overstaffing everywhere else. One study found that unbalanced staffing wastes 15-30% of labor capacity. If you have 50 people at $20/hr, that's $150-300K/year you're burning. The process modeler shows you exactly where the bottleneck is so you can fix it.
What you'll do:
Key features inside the Process Planner:
| Feature | What It Does | Why You Care |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-stream modeling | Map separate workflows that depend on each other | See the full picture — not just your area |
| Critical path analysis | Auto-calculates the longest chain of dependent steps | Know exactly what determines your lead time |
| Bottleneck detection | Highlights the step limiting your entire throughput | Stop guessing which area is the problem |
| Cycle time entry | Enter how long each step takes per unit | Feeds the math for staffing optimization |
| Shift activation | Toggle which steps run on which shifts (1st, 2nd, 3rd) | Different shifts, different plans — automatically |
| Save & templates | Save plans to cloud, create reusable templates | Set up once, reuse forever. New area? Clone a template |
Step 2: Let the Math Assign Your People
What it is: One button that distributes your available headcount across every process step to maximize throughput.
Where to find it: The "Auto-Assign Staff" button inside My Day or the Process Planner
Why this matters (the ROI)
This uses Theory of Constraints (TOC) math. Here's the simple version: your operation is only as fast as its slowest step. If you put extra people on steps that are already fast enough, you're wasting money. TOC math finds the slowest step and gives it more people first. The result: 10-25% more output with the same number of people. That's not a sales pitch — that's math. If your facility moves $5M/year in product, a 15% throughput gain is worth $750K.
How it works:
Step 3: Use "My Day" as Your Daily Playbook
What it is: A single screen that shows a supervisor everything they need to do today. No dashboards. No charts. Just a checklist.
Where to find it: My Day
Why this matters (the ROI)
New supervisors fail because nobody tells them what to do each day. They get promoted, get a radio, and figure it out. My Day fixes that. It auto-populates tasks based on your role, your shift, and what happened last shift. The result: consistent execution from every supervisor, every shift, every day. No more "good shift / bad shift" depending on who's running it.
What's on the My Day screen:
| Card / Task | What It Does | Why It's There |
|---|---|---|
| Quick Staff | Enter headcount, auto-assign with one tap | Staffing is the first decision every shift — do it in 10 seconds |
| Review incoming shift notes | Read what the previous shift left for you | Never walk in blind — know what happened before you arrived |
| Production targets | Auto-populated from your staffing plan | No more calculating targets by hand or using yesterday's numbers |
| Action items | Open tasks assigned to you or your shift | Nothing falls through the cracks between shifts |
| Daily tasks | Audits, safety checks, walkthroughs | Leader Standard Work — the habits that make great supervisors |
| Submit shift report | Reminder and quick link to your report | Managers get data. You get credit for your work |
Step 4: Fill Out Your Shift Report (Under 3 Minutes)
What it is: A standardized form that captures everything that happened on your shift — production, quality, safety, downtime, and action items.
Where to find it: New Shift Report
Why this matters (the ROI)
Without standardized reports, shift handoffs are a game of telephone. "I think we ran about 800 units." "There was a jam on line 3, I think." Bad data = bad decisions = lost money. With consistent shift reports, managers get facts, not feelings. Over 30 days, this data reveals patterns: which shifts underperform, which machines break most, where quality drops. Facilities that implement structured shift reporting typically see 5-15% improvement in schedule adherence within the first quarter.
What's in a shift report:
Key report features:
| Feature | What It Does | Why You Care |
|---|---|---|
| Live auto-save | Every field saves as you type — no "submit" needed until you're done | Never lose work. Managers can see progress in real time |
| Auto-populated targets | Production targets pull from your process plan | Saves 5-10 minutes of manual calculation every shift |
| Multiple production entries | Add rows for different products, lines, or areas | One report covers everything — no separate forms |
| Draft & submit flow | Save as draft, come back later, submit when ready | Start at shift-start, finish at shift-end |
Step 5: Watch the Dashboards Light Up
What it is: Once shift reports start flowing in, your dashboards and analytics populate automatically. No manual data entry. No Excel. Just patterns emerging from real data.
Why this matters (the ROI)
Data you don't look at is worthless. Data you look at 30 days late is almost worthless. Real-time dashboards let you fix problems TODAY instead of discovering them at the end-of-month review. A downtime event that costs $500/hour? If you catch the pattern on day 3 instead of day 30, you save $13,500 in just that one instance.
What you get — organized by who you are:
If you're a Supervisor:
- My Day hub — your daily checklist (covered in Step 3)
- Your shift history — see all your past reports and trends
If you're a Manager:
- KPI Dashboard — OEE, throughput, schedule adherence, quality rate at a glance with 14-day production trend charts
- Reports History — Search all submitted shift reports by date, facility, and shift
- Action Items Tracker — Kanban board (open / in-progress / completed) with priority levels
- Pareto Analysis — See which 20% of problems cause 80% of your defects and downtime
- Performance Trends — 7, 14, or 30-day rolling views of OEE, yield, and schedule adherence
- Live shift streaming — See supervisor reports as they're being filled out, before submission
- Bottleneck alerts — Get notified when a process step is constrained
If you're a Director:
- 30-day facility trends — schedule adherence, quality, availability, and safety across all shifts
- Throughput by week — see the trajectory over 8+ weeks
- Staffing insights — "Putaway has been the bottleneck 18 of 30 days. Adding 2 headcount = +15% throughput."
- Cross-facility comparison — if you run multiple sites, compare them side by side
Step 6: Run 5S & Safety Audits
What it is: Structured walkthrough checklists for workplace organization (5S) and safety compliance. Zone-by-zone scoring with automatic action item creation.
Where to find it: 5S & Safety Audits
Why this matters (the ROI)
OSHA fines average $16,131 per serious violation (2024 rates). One recordable injury costs a company an average of $42,000 in direct costs and 3-5x that in indirect costs (training replacement, lost productivity, insurance premium increases). Regular audits catch hazards before they become injuries. 5S audits catch disorganization before it becomes lost tools, wasted time, and frustrated workers. Companies with mature 5S programs report 20-30% reduction in safety incidents.
How audits work:
Step 7: Manage Engineering & Maintenance Tasks
What it is: A weekly planner for engineers and maintenance staff with a live team dashboard so managers can see who's working on what.
Where to find it: Engineering Dashboard
Why this matters (the ROI)
Engineering and maintenance teams are expensive. A single maintenance tech costs $60-80K/year. If their weekly priorities aren't aligned with the operation's actual bottlenecks, they're fixing the wrong things. The task tracker ensures that the highest-impact work gets done first and managers have visibility without constant status meetings. Eliminating just one unnecessary 30-minute daily standup meeting for a 5-person team saves 650 hours/year.
Key features:
| Feature | What It Does | Why You Care |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly planner | Each engineer sees their week — tasks, priorities, deadlines | Clear expectations, zero confusion about what's important |
| Live team dashboard | Managers see everyone's tasks, status, and workload | No more "what are you working on?" interruptions |
| Task assignment | Create tasks, assign to people, set priority | Work doesn't get lost in email or chat threads |
| Activity feed | See all changes in real time — who completed what, when | Accountability without micromanagement |
| Outlook export | Export tasks as ICS for calendar sync | Engineering tasks show up alongside meetings |
Bonus: Power Features That Multiply Your Results
Once you've completed the 7 steps above, you're running a tight operation. These features take it further.
Admin Templates (For Org Admins)
What: Locked process templates that standardize how every facility in your org sets up their processes.
ROI: Without templates, every site builds their own process model differently. Comparisons become meaningless. Templates enforce consistency so your KPIs actually mean the same thing across locations. One source of truth = one set of standards = real benchmarking.
Where: Admin Templates
Capability Planning & Calculators
What: A suite of 15 manufacturing calculators for OEE, throughput, takt time, capacity utilization, downtime cost, safety stock, and more.
ROI: Every time a manager opens Excel to calculate OEE or takt time, they spend 15-30 minutes and risk formula errors. These calculators do it in seconds with zero mistakes. Over a year, a manager doing 3 calculations per week saves 40-80 hours.
Where: Tools & Calculators (all free, no login)
Popular calculators:
| Calculator | What It Calculates | When To Use It |
|---|---|---|
| OEE | Overall Equipment Effectiveness (availability x performance x quality) | Benchmarking equipment performance |
| Throughput | Output rate using WIP and lead time (Little's Law) | Capacity planning and demand forecasting |
| Takt Time | Available time / customer demand | Line balancing and pace-setting |
| Cycle Time | Time to complete one unit through a process | Process timing studies |
| Downtime Cost | Financial impact of unplanned stops | Justifying maintenance investments |
| Capacity Utilization | How much of your maximum capacity you're using | Deciding whether to add shifts or equipment |
| First Pass Yield | Percentage of units made right the first time | Quality improvement targeting |
| Safety Stock | Buffer inventory needed to prevent stockouts | Inventory optimization |
Advanced Analytics
What: Deep-dive analysis tools that go beyond basic dashboards.
| Tool | What It Does | ROI |
|---|---|---|
| Pareto Analysis | Ranks problems by impact — shows which 20% of causes create 80% of issues | Focus improvement efforts where they matter most. Stop fighting every fire equally |
| Performance Trends | 30-day rolling charts for OEE, yield, schedule adherence | Spot declining trends before they become crises. Data for every management meeting |
| Manpower Analysis | TOC-based staffing optimization solver — run what-if scenarios | "What if we add 2 people?" — see the throughput impact before spending the money |
| Capacity Planning | Bottleneck analysis with capacity projections | Know BEFORE you're overwhelmed, not after |
| Monte Carlo Simulation | Probabilistic planning — "what's the 90% confidence range for our output?" | Stop giving your boss a single number. Give them a confidence range |
AI Coach
What: A conversational AI assistant (powered by Claude) that answers questions about your process, explains lean concepts, and generates training plans.
ROI: New supervisors have 1,000 questions. Most go unasked because they don't want to look dumb. The AI Coach answers them privately, instantly, in plain language. It's like having a senior operations mentor available 24/7.
Where: Available from the app sidebar (AI Coach button)
Team & Organization Management
What: Add team members, assign roles (Supervisor / Manager / Director), manage multiple facilities under one organization.
ROI: Role-based access means everyone sees exactly what they need — nothing more, nothing less. Supervisors get a checklist. Managers get reports. Directors get trends. No training required to navigate complex dashboards because each person only sees their view.
Where: Team Management
What each role sees:
| Role | What They See | What They Can Do |
|---|---|---|
| Org Admin | Everything — all facilities, all data | Create templates, manage users, set validation rules, configure billing |
| Manager | Team reports, filtered by supervisor/shift | View reports, track action items, export data, run analytics |
| Supervisor | My Day, shift reports, their own data | Enter actuals, create reports, use auto-distribute, complete tasks |
Learning Platform (100+ Free Guides)
What: A comprehensive library of lean manufacturing and operations management guides. Over 100 topics covering everything from 5S to Value Stream Mapping to Theory of Constraints.
ROI: Sending one person to a 2-day lean training course costs $2,000-5,000. Our entire learning library is free, available 24/7, and searchable. Each guide includes interactive teaching demos with 6 tabs: Concept, Try-It, Deep Dive, Advanced Application, Common Mistakes, and Challenge Lab.
Where: Learning Hub
What's covered:
- Foundations — Lean Manufacturing, 8 Wastes, Value Stream Mapping, Theory of Constraints, Push vs Pull, Kanban, Kaizen
- Core Methods — Standard Work, SMED, 5S, Line Balancing, Poka-Yoke, A3 Problem Solving, FMEA, Root Cause Analysis
- Quality — OEE, SPC, Process Capability, Cost of Quality, Layered Process Audits
- Equipment — TPM, Autonomous Maintenance, Preventive/Predictive Maintenance, Downtime Analysis
- Leadership — Leader Standard Work, Gemba Walks, Daily Management, Visual Management, CI Culture
- People Development — New Supervisor Guide, Cross-Training, Shift Handoff, Ergonomics, Performance Management
- Planning — S&OP, Production Scheduling, Capacity Planning, Inventory Management, KPIs
- Project Management — Critical Path, PERT, Critical Chain, Gantt Charts, Risk Management, Monte Carlo
- Enterprise Systems — ERP, MES, PLM, Business Intelligence
- Industry 4.0 — IIoT, Robotics & Automation, Digital Transformation
- Industry-Specific — Aerospace, Automotive, Food & Beverage, Pharmaceutical, Electronics
Quick Reference: Everything In One Table
Bookmark this. Every feature, where to find it, and why it exists.
| Feature | Link | Who Uses It | Why It Saves Money |
|---|---|---|---|
| Process Modeler | Free demo / Full version | Everyone | Finds bottlenecks hiding in plain sight |
| Auto-Assign Staffing | My Day | Supervisors | 10-25% more output, same people |
| My Day Hub | My Day | Supervisors | Consistent execution every shift |
| Shift Reports | New Report | Supervisors | Real data replaces guesswork |
| KPI Dashboard | Dashboard | Managers/Directors | Catch problems in days, not months |
| Pareto Analysis | Pareto | Managers/CI | Focus on the vital few, not the trivial many |
| Performance Trends | Trends | Managers/Directors | Data-driven meetings instead of opinions |
| Action Items | Action Items | Everyone | Nothing falls through the cracks |
| 5S & Safety Audits | Audits | Supervisors | Prevent injuries and OSHA fines |
| Engineering Tracker | Engineering | Engineers/Managers | Right work, right priority, right time |
| Admin Templates | Templates | Org Admins | Standardized KPIs across all sites |
| Team Management | Team | Org Admins | Role-based views = zero training needed |
| Manpower Analysis | Manpower | Managers | Test staffing scenarios before spending |
| Capacity Planning | Capacity | Managers/Directors | Know capacity limits before hitting them |
| AI Coach | App sidebar | Everyone | 24/7 lean expert — no consulting fees |
| Learning Hub | Learn | Everyone | Free training worth $2,000-5,000 per person |
| Calculators (15) | Tools | Everyone | Instant, error-free manufacturing math |
| Glossary | Glossary | Everyone | Never be confused by jargon again |
How Much Does It Cost?
A lot less than the problems it solves.
| Plan | Price | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 forever | Process Modeler (3 processes), 14 calculators, 200+ learning guides, glossary, basic shift reports (7-day history) |
| Pro | $9.99/mo | Everything free + unlimited processes, Monte Carlo, manpower solver, daily playbook, action items, engineering tracker, Pareto analysis, performance trends, full report history. Up to 5 members. |
| Team | $29.99/mo | Everything Pro + up to 15 members, role-based access, manager view, multi-facility, cross-team task assignment, shared templates, Outlook sync, priority support. |
Pro starts with a 7-day free trial, no credit card required.
What To Do Right Now
Don't try to set up everything at once. Here's the fastest path to value:
You don't need to understand lean manufacturing to use this
SymplProcess is built for real people doing real work. If you can use a phone, you can use this. The process modeler is drag-and-drop. The shift report is a form. My Day is a checklist. Start using it, and the lean concepts will make sense as you go. And when you want to learn more, we have 100+ free guides waiting for you.
Stop reading, start doing
Model your process flow, optimize staffing with Theory of Constraints, and track every shift — all in one platform. Set up in under 5 minutes.