An externally-connected shop floor control (SFC) system comprising M shop floor control (SFC) devices is disclosed. By letting each of the M SFC devices be electrically connected between one test machine and one information read-out device, the SFC system is successfully implemented into a production line. Therefore, each of the M SFC devices is adopted to achieve a re-verification of pass record for a test object that is transferred from a previous-stage test machine, and is also adopted for collecting related test data of the test object transferred from a current-stage test machine. As such, the SFC system can be easily implemented into any one type of production line, so as to assist the manager of the production line in data collection, station passing control, manufacturing reports, and control of production efficiency and yield, without spending much cost of human resources and software/firmware developing.

In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to automatically determine packing configurations. In some embodiments, there is provided a system for automatically determining packing configurations for packing items into shipping boxes including a plurality of human operated packing stations; a plurality of robot operated packing stations; a database; and a control circuit configured to execute one or more machine learning models to: execute a first feedback loop; provide adjusted first packing configuration to one or more of the plurality of human operated packing stations; execute a second feedback loop; and determine data corresponding to human operator deviations from the adjusted first packing configuration; and provide the adjusted first packing configuration to one or more of the plurality of human operated packing stations and the plurality of robot operated packing stations to pack additional orders of a first set of items into one or more shipping boxes.

Provided are a system and method for managing work in process at a manufacturing site. In one example, a management device includes an interface to receive a request for a work order that includes one or more components for manufacture, a processor to determine a manufacturing progress of the work order, and determine a time at which the work order is to be completed based on the manufacturing progress of the work order and a status at least one work queue associated with manufacturing at least one remaining component of the work order, and an output to display a work in process (WIP) report of the work order including the time at which the work order is to be completed. According to various aspects, the predicted time of completion for a work order can be provided at the time the work order is placed or soon thereafter.