Free offline work order software for manufacturing
Timeline Factory Manager is a free offline desktop app by Timeline Digital for Windows and Mac, used on one computer. It handles production work orders in a factory, not maintenance or field-service work orders.
Version 1.0.0 · Free · Works offline
Work orders are one of the app's 15 screens, next to sales orders, daily production, stock and purchasing. The Timeline Factory Manager page covers the whole app and the features page lists every screen.
Who this is for
- A workshop or small factory that makes its own products to customer orders or for stock.
- An office that writes job cards by hand and wants them printed with the right materials.
- An owner who wants to see what is in production, what is due and what is late.
- A site where the internet is unreliable, so the records must work offline.
Not a fit if
- You need maintenance, repair or field-service work orders.
- You want a scheduling board, or to assign jobs to machines and operators.
- Operators must record production on their own tablets or computers.
Key facts
- App
- Timeline Factory Manager, version 1.0.0, published by Timeline Digital
- Price
- Free. No account and no sign-up.
- Runs on
- Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), or macOS 12 or newer, Apple silicon (M1 or later)
- Internet
- Not needed. The app sends nothing over the internet.
- Type of work order
- Production: an instruction to make a quantity of one product
- Statuses
- Planned, In progress, Done, Cancelled
- Printed
- Job card and Material issue slip, on A4 or US Letter
- Users
- One computer, one user
What does a work order hold?
A work order is an instruction to make a quantity of one product. It holds the product, the quantity, an optional sales order, a planned start, a due date and instructions for the floor. Its status is planned, in progress, done or cancelled.
- Product
- The one product this work order makes. Its bill of materials sets the materials needed.
- Quantity
- How many units to make.
- Sales order
- Optional. Link the work order to a customer order, or leave it empty when you make for stock.
- Planned start and due date
- When you plan to begin and when it must be finished. The dashboard uses the due date to show what is due or late.
- Instructions for the floor
- Free text for the people making it. It prints on the Job card.
How do you make work orders from a sales order?
Open the sales order and click Make work orders. The app creates planned work orders for whatever the order still needs. Each work order is linked to the sales order, and the sales order shows the quantity in production for each line.
You can also create a work order on its own, without a sales order, from the Work orders list or with the New work order button on the dashboard. Lesson 13 shows Make work orders. The whole flow from customer order to delivery note is on the free manufacturing software page.
How does a work order go from planned to done?
Start it, which reserves the materials or tells you exactly what is short. Record the units made and rejected each day. Complete it, which takes the materials used out of stock and adds the good units to finished goods. Reopen it if you need to correct a mistake.
Start
Start reserves the materials from the bill of materials, for the quantity on the work order. Reserved stock is no longer available to other work orders. The status changes from planned to in progress.
Starting a work order reserves its materials. If a material is short
If there is not enough available stock, starting is refused and each short material is named, so you know what to buy. Order it, use Receive goods when the delivery arrives, then start the work order again.
Not enough material: the app names what is short. Record production
Each day, enter the units made and the units rejected. You can do it on the work order, or on the Daily production screen for every running work order at once. Entries can be edited or deleted while the work order is running.
Enter the day's made and rejected counts on one screen. Complete
Complete shows the totals made and rejected so far and lets you add a final count for anything made since the last daily entry. The materials used, for everything made and rejected, are taken out of stock and the good units are added to finished goods.
Complete a work order: totals so far and a final count. Reopen, if you made a mistake
Reopen undoes a completion so you can correct it. This is possible while the goods from that work order are still in stock.
The cancel rule
A work order with production recorded cannot be cancelled. Complete it instead, so the materials used are accounted for.
A completed work order.
The quantities reserved and used come from the product's bill of materials, described on the free bill of materials software page. Reserved, available and on order stock is described on the free manufacturing inventory software page. For the Daily production screen and the Production report, see the free production management software page.
What is on the printed job card?
The Job card shows the product, the quantity to make, the planned start, the due date, the sales order and the instructions. Below that it lists the materials with the quantity per unit and the quantity required, then a daily production table with blank rows to fill in by hand.
The daily production table has columns for date and shift, operator, good, rejected and notes. The floor writes on the card, and the office types the made and rejected counts into the app. See a sample job card (PDF).
The Material issue slip
The Material issue slip goes to the store. It lists each material for the work order with the quantity required and its unit, with blank spaces for issued, returned and initials, and for who issued and who received the materials. See a sample material issue slip (PDF).
Print both from the work order page. The Job card is also in the row menu on the Work orders list. Each document carries your company name, address, contact details, tax number and logo, on A4 or US Letter, and can be saved as a PDF.
Where do you see which work orders are running or late?
On the dashboard. It counts the work orders that are planned and running, and has two lists for them: In production now, with progress, and Due in the next 7 days or late. Each list shows up to 8 items with a link to the full list.
The dashboard also has quick buttons for New work order and Record production. The Work orders list itself can be searched, sorted and exported to CSV.
What do the work order terms mean?
- Work order
- An instruction to make a quantity of one product. Some factories call it a production order or a job.
- Job card
- The printed sheet that goes to the shop floor with the work order: what to make, how many, by when, with which materials, and space to write down each day what was made.
- Material issue slip
- The printed list of materials to hand out from the store for one work order, with space to write what was issued and returned.
- Sales order and work order
- A sales order is what a customer has asked for and can have several products. A work order is what the factory will make, for one product. One sales order can lead to several work orders.
How do I run a work order? Watch it.
Three of the 27 free video lessons cover starting a work order, recording daily production and completing it. Click a lesson to play it here.
Lesson 16: Start a work order (1:19)
Reserve materials and see exactly what is short.
Lesson 17: Record daily production (1:05)
Made and rejected counts for every running work order.
Lesson 18: Complete a work order (0:57)
Use the materials and add good units to finished goods.
All 27 lessons with written steps · Watch the playlist on YouTube
Written steps for every lesson, including reopening and cancelling in lesson 19, are on the how to use Timeline Factory Manager page.
What does the free edition not do?
It has no scheduling board, no machine or operator assignment, no operations or routings and no barcode scanning. It runs on one computer for one user. Read this before you download.
- No scheduling board
- There is no calendar, Gantt chart, machine and shift planning or capacity planning. A work order has a planned start and a due date that you type in.
- No machine or operator assignment
- A work order is not assigned to a machine, a work centre or a person in the app. The Job card has a blank Operator column to fill in by hand.
- No operations or routings
- A work order is one step: make the product. It is not split into operations such as cutting, welding and painting.
- No barcode
- The app does not scan barcodes or QR codes and does not print labels. Production counts are typed in at the office computer.
The full list from the user guide
- Several users, logins or permissions
- Use on more than one computer, or shared data over a network or the internet
- Online or browser access, a mobile app, or cloud backup
- Machine and shift planning, scheduling or capacity planning
- Job costing, labour costing or profit margins (material cost from the bill of materials is shown)
- Quality checks, batch or lot numbers, serial numbers or traceability
- Barcode or QR code scanning, label printing
- Several sites or warehouses, or stock locations
- Links to accounting software, invoicing, quotations, statements or payments
- Sending email from inside the app
- Multi-level bills of materials (sub-assemblies), routings and operations
- Languages other than English
These are available as custom work from Timeline Digital, starting with a free pilot. Tell us how your shop floor works, or read about manufacturing ERP software and custom ERP software. What the app does and does not do on the material side is explained on the free MRP software page.
Where your production data is kept
Your factory data is kept in one data file on your own computer. The app works fully offline, has no account or sign-up, sends nothing over the internet and collects no usage data. It only opens your browser or email program when you click a Timeline Digital link.
Custom version
Need Timeline Factory Manager across several sites, or built around how you work?
The free edition is an offline desktop app for a single site. When you need it across several sites, in the cloud, connected to your other systems or shaped around your own workflow, we build a custom version for you. The pilot is always free. We start with your most important modules, so you can judge the work before you commit.
How do you download and install it?
Download the Windows installer or the Mac disk image below and install it like any desktop app. A short setup of three steps asks for your company name, your country and formats, and whether to start empty or explore with sample data.
Windows
Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit). The file is Timeline-Factory-Manager-1.0.0-windows-setup.exe, about 111 MB. The installer is not code-signed, so Windows shows "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway. No administrator password is needed.
Mac
macOS 12 or newer, Apple silicon (M1 or later). The file is Timeline-Factory-Manager-1.0.0-mac-arm64.dmg, about 123 MB. Open it and drag the app to Applications. The app is not signed or notarized, so macOS warns the first time you open it.
Version 1.0.0 · Free · Works offline
Full install steps are on the free manufacturing software for Windows page and the free manufacturing software for Mac page.
Work order software questions
Is there free work order software for manufacturing that works offline?
Yes. Timeline Factory Manager is a free offline desktop app by Timeline Digital for Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) and Apple silicon Macs with macOS 12 or newer. It creates production work orders, reserves materials, records daily production and prints job cards, on one computer with no account. Both downloads are on the Timeline Factory Manager page.
Can I use it for maintenance or field-service work orders?
No. Timeline Factory Manager handles production work orders only: an instruction to make a quantity of one product from its bill of materials. It has no equipment list, technicians, service visits or preventive maintenance plans. If you need maintenance or field-service software, this app is the wrong tool.
What is the difference between a sales order and a work order?
A sales order records what a customer wants: one or more products with quantities, prices and a due date. A work order tells the factory to make a quantity of one product. In Timeline Factory Manager, Make work orders on a sales order creates planned work orders for whatever the order still needs.
What happens if I do not have enough material to start a work order?
Timeline Factory Manager refuses to start the work order and names each short material, so you know what to buy. Raise a purchase order, or use Order low stock on Raw materials, then Receive goods when the delivery arrives and start the work order again. Stock is explained on the free manufacturing inventory software page.
Can I cancel a work order?
A work order with production recorded cannot be cancelled in Timeline Factory Manager. Complete it instead, so the materials used are accounted for. A work order with no production recorded can be cancelled, and cancelled is one of the four statuses: planned, in progress, done and cancelled.
Can it print a job card?
Yes. Timeline Factory Manager prints a Job card and a Material issue slip from the work order page, or saves them as PDF. The Job card shows the product, quantity to make, planned start, due date, sales order, instructions and materials, with a daily production table to fill in by hand. Both carry your company name and logo.
Can I schedule work orders on machines or assign operators?
No. Timeline Factory Manager has no scheduling board, no machine and shift planning and no operator assignment. Each work order has a planned start and a due date, and the dashboard lists what is in production and what is due in the next 7 days or late. Scheduling is available as custom work.
When does stock change during a work order?
Starting a work order reserves its materials. Recording daily production shows progress but does not move stock. In Timeline Factory Manager, stock moves when the work order is completed: the materials used for everything made and rejected leave stock, and the good units are added to finished goods.
How do I fix a mistake after completing a work order?
Use Reopen. In Timeline Factory Manager it undoes the completion so you can correct the counts, and it is possible while the goods from that work order are still in stock. Daily production entries can be edited or deleted while a work order is running. Lesson 19 shows how.
Download the free work order software
Install the app, explore the sample data, then raise your first work order and print its job card. If you need a scheduling board, operators recording on tablets or several users, that is custom work: tell us how your factory works and we will say what we would pilot.
Version 1.0.0 · Free · Works offline
About this page
Published by Timeline Digital, the maker of Timeline Factory Manager. Every feature described here was checked against the user guide for version 1.0.0 on . The screenshots show made-up companies from the app's test and sample data, "Acme Metalworks Ltd" and "Hartwell Furniture Works". They are not real customers.
Author
Usama Asif
CEO and CTO, Timeline Digital.
More about Timeline Factory Manager
Timeline Factory Manager
The product page: all 15 screens, screenshots and system requirements.
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The Windows installer and the install steps.
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The Apple silicon disk image and how to open it the first time.
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27 short video lessons, about 34 minutes in total.
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Every screen, printed document and report.
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Products, materials per unit and material cost per unit.
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Raw materials, finished goods, reorder levels and stock value.
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Daily production, rejects and the production report.
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The basic material side: reserve, shortage check and low stock.
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The whole flow from sales order to delivery note.
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