Paperless manufacturing, one form at a time.
Start with the paper that hurts most, the traveller, the downtime log or the 5S sheet, and replace it with a record on the job. Keep printing where paper still helps: a traveller can carry a barcode the station scans.
The traveller, now a record.
The paper traveller carries the routing, the counts and the sign-offs, and it gets lost, stained and retyped. With paperless manufacturing software the job itself is the traveller: its routing, time, counts, defects and signatures live on the record. Where a physical copy still helps, a PDF template prints one with a barcode or QR code that the station scans to load the job.
Print what still helps
PDF templates cover production orders, production jobs, inbound documents and inbound items, built from 13 widgets on A4, Letter or label sizes down to 50 × 30 mm.
Scan to load
Load a job has a Scan control, and Complete Stage can ask for a confirmation scan of the job barcode, so a printed traveller still feeds the digital record.
Paperwork in batches
Print Labels and Generate Traveller run on many jobs at once, as one merged PDF or a ZIP of up to 1,000 records. Large batches run in the background.
What paperless manufacturing replaces.
Paperless manufacturing means capturing production records digitally at the point of work, instead of on forms that are filled in, filed and retyped. The aim of a paperless factory is not zero paper; it is one record that nobody has to copy.
| The paper | What replaces it in Bulk | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| The traveller or job sheet | The job record: routing, time, counts, defects and signatures. Printed from a PDF template with a barcode where a copy helps. | Production and Documents |
| The customer’s PO, retyped | Inbound OCR reads the PDF, spreadsheet or photo into lines and jobs. | Inbound & OCR |
| Time sheets per job | The Job Timer at the station, split across the jobs loaded together. | The job’s time entries |
| The tally sheet | Good, bad and inspection counters, one tap per part. | The job’s Output view |
| The downtime log | Pause reasons at the station, categorised as availability, performance or quality losses. | OEE & Analytics |
| Defect tags and NCR forms | Quality issues opened from the station; NCRs and CAPAs (in beta) linked to them. | Quality |
| 5S, safety and pre-use checklists | Scheduled audit templates with photos, signatures and scores. | Audits |
| The training binder | Training records, certificates and the versatility matrix, with expiry dates. | Training |
| The invoice typed from the job sheet | An invoice built from the order’s finished jobs. | Invoicing |
Checklists that score themselves.
Clipboards for 5S, safety walks and pre-use checks become audit templates: Pass/Fail, Yes/No and numeric items with a pass band, photos and signatures. Runs are scheduled daily, weekly or monthly against an area, or bound to a machine; each is scored, a failed item can raise a task, and any result exports as a PDF report.
Evidence on the record
Photos from the tablet’s camera and drawn signatures attach to the answer they prove, and an item can demand a photo or comment when it fails.
Versioned checklists
Publishing a new version of a template archives the old one, so every result stays tied to the checklist it was run against.
Ready for the auditor
Export Report turns any finished audit into a PDF. The template library has free paper versions to start from.
Going paperless without stopping the floor.
Plants that stall on paperless try to replace every form at once. Bulk is installed one app at a time and rolled out one workflow end to end: one line, its traveller, its counts and its checks, run alongside the paper until the team trusts it. The lists you keep today come in by import, from customers and parts to routings and open jobs.
One app at a time
Install Production for the traveller, Audits for the checklists or Training for the binder first. An app brings the apps it needs with it.
Import what you have
CSV, XLSX or XLS files up to 50 MB: customers, parts, routings, processes, production jobs, projects, tasks and consumables.
Keep the archive
Old records do not need migrating. Scan them into site folders in Files, public or limited to named people, and start the new record from today.
Every form, one record behind it.
The paper forms of a plant all describe the same jobs, machines and people. In Bulk they become views of one record, so a fact is written once.
- Inbound & OCRThe customer’s paperwork read, not retyped.
- DocumentsPDF templates and site folders.
- ProductionThe traveller, timer and tally at the station.
- AuditsChecklists with photos, signatures and scores.
- QualityDefect tags become numbered issues.
- TrainingThe training binder as live records.
- InvoicingInvoices built from the finished jobs.
Questions, answered.
What is paperless manufacturing?
Paperless manufacturing replaces the paper forms of production (travellers, tally sheets, downtime logs, checklists and sign-offs) with digital records captured at the point of work. In Bulk those records sit on the job, from the customer’s order to the invoice, so nothing is filled in twice.
What are the benefits of a paperless factory?
No retyping between the floor and the office, job status you can see without walking the floor, records you can find in seconds when a customer or auditor asks, fewer lost travellers, and evidence such as photos and signatures attached to the check they prove.
How do you go paperless in manufacturing?
Pick the form that causes the most retyping, usually the traveller or the downtime log. Replace it for one line end to end, run it alongside the paper until the team trusts it, then move the next form or line. Import the lists you already keep rather than rebuilding them.
Do we still need to print anything?
Sometimes, and that is fine. PDF templates print travellers, orders and labels (4 × 6 in, 100 × 50 mm and 50 × 30 mm) with a barcode or QR code the station scans, so paper that still helps feeds the digital record instead of replacing it.
Does paperless manufacturing need a tablet at every machine?
No. A station is any tablet or PC with a browser, at one machine or shared between a few, and a bench can use a Peaking Station to book jobs in and out by scan. Boards run on any TV. Every station needs a network connection, as Bulk has no offline mode.
Are signatures in Bulk 21 CFR Part 11 compliant?
Bulk makes no Part 11 or electronic-signature certification claim. It captures drawn signatures where they matter on the floor: at Complete Stage for steps that require one, on audit signature items, and on pre-use overrides.
What happens to our old paper records?
Keep them as an archive. Scan what you need into Files, in tenant-wide or site folders that are public or limited to named people, and start the new record from the day each line goes live.
Is there a free template to start from?
Yes. The template library has free PDFs such as the production log, machine downtime log and 5S audit checklist, each of which maps onto a record in Bulk.
Bring your worst form. Retire it.
Start a free trial, rebuild the paper form your team hates most in Bulk and run it on a real job. No card needed.
