Built for this category
Not a generic HR tool with a checkbox for your industry. The workflows, terminology, and reports match how your operation actually runs — because the platform was designed for it from the start.
Manufacturing
HR, Shift Attendance and Payroll for Manufacturers in Africa
Fingerprint clock-in at the gate, day and night shifts, overtime approved before it is paid, casual and contract workers on the same payroll, and safety training and PPE tracked for every worker.
6
capabilities
12+
African markets
USD
pricing · local currency view
Mobile · Web · WhatsApp
self-service
Fingerprint devices at the gate
Shifts, including night shifts
Overtime approved before it is paid
Casual, contract and permanent staff
Safety training that chases itself
PPE, uniforms and tools
Tap any capability to see the detail · or scroll for the full picture
SiteForce · from Emeran Systems Ltd
Daily-paid crews checked in by a supervisor? Look at SiteForce.
SmartHR Africa pays casual workers from approved timesheets alongside your permanent and contract staff. If your casual factory crews are taken on by the day and checked in as a group by a supervisor, SiteForce, also from Emeran Systems, is built for that way of working.
- Foremen check whole crews in and out with GPS from their phone
- Overtime worked out from check-in times
- PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and Housing Levy, with M-PESA bulk payouts to the crew
- Labour, materials and equipment cost per project
Connected to payroll
Every event in this module — attendance, leave, timesheet, equipment, incident, performance — flows automatically into the next payroll cycle. No spreadsheet reconciliation, no double entry.
African by design
Statutory rules maintained for all 54 African countries, bank payment files in each country's format, WhatsApp delivery, multiple languages, offline-capable mobile app for field workers.
The problems we hear most
If any of this sounds familiar,
If any of this sounds familiar,
you're in the right place.
These are the recurring conversations with buyers in this category. We built the platform to retire each of them.
The night shift crosses midnight, the overtime sheet is handwritten, and payroll either pays whatever the supervisor wrote down or spends a week arguing about it.
Casual workers are taken on by the day at the gate. Their names, ID numbers and days worked sit in a notebook, and nobody is sure who was paid for what.
One worker signs in two friends at the gate register, and the factory pays for hours nobody worked.
First-aid, fire-warden and machine-operator certificates expire unnoticed until an inspection or an accident brings it to light.
Boots, overalls and tools leave the store against a signature on paper. When someone resigns, nobody knows what they still have.
Every month the payroll has to get tax and social security right for permanent, contract and casual staff alike, and the returns have to match the payslips.
What's built in
Features your team will actually use.
Specific tools for this category — not generic HR repackaged. Each card describes what the feature does and how it fits the way you work.
01
Fingerprint devices at the gate
Connect fingerprint biometric devices and their punches flow into attendance. Each punch belongs to the enrolled worker, so one person cannot clock in for another. A device's history can also be uploaded from its export file. Supervisors and HR can record attendance by hand when a device is down.
02
Shifts, including night shifts
Define each shift's start and end, grace period, break, working days and overtime threshold, including shifts that cross midnight. Assign workers to a shift from a given date; lateness and overtime are worked out against their own shift.
03
Overtime approved before it is paid
Overtime is worked out from attendance against the shift. A supervisor or HR approves it in full, approves fewer minutes, or rejects it. Approved overtime is paid in the next run at the weekday, weekend or public-holiday rate you set, and the rates can differ by country.
04
Casual, contract and permanent staff
Record each worker's employment type. Pay monthly staff a salary, and casual or contract workers a daily or hourly rate for the days or hours approved on their timesheets. Contract end dates are tracked, with a report of contracts about to expire.
05
Safety training that chases itself
Make safety and compliance training mandatory for the whole company, a department or a job title. New starters are enrolled automatically and reminded until they complete it. Certificate expiry alerts start 90 days ahead, and a training audit pack PDF is ready for an inspection.
06
PPE, uniforms and tools
Record every item issued to a worker and its condition. Returns are logged with the condition on return, and items still out appear in the exit clearance. A lost or damaged item can be recovered through payroll in instalments, where the country's law allows.
Go deeper on attendance, shifts and fingerprint devices and on training and certificate tracking.
Why modules aren't enough
Every event is wired to the next.
Most HR systems sell modules as separate products — and then your team spends every month reconciling between them. SmartHR Africa is one system. Each event in this category flows automatically into the right downstream process.
Fingerprint punch
Attendance record
Device punches arrive in attendance against the worker's shift, with hours, late minutes and overtime worked out automatically.
Overtime
Payslip
Overtime waits for a supervisor or HR. Approved minutes are paid in the next run at the weekday, weekend or public-holiday rate.
Approved timesheet
Casual worker pay
Days or hours approved on a casual worker's timesheet are priced at their daily or hourly rate and paid in the run, with statutory deductions.
Mandatory training
Enrolment and reminders
New starters in the targeted departments or job titles are enrolled automatically and chased until they complete the course.
Unreturned PPE
Exit clearance
Items still assigned to a leaver appear in their exit clearance, so the store gets them back before the final settlement is paid.
Disciplinary case
Warning letter
Cases follow your disciplinary ladder, from verbal warning to dismissal, with a hearing where the stage needs one and a warning letter to download.
Where this matters most
Live across 12 African markets.
Statutory compliance, local-currency payroll, and salary disbursement options in every market we support. Click through to your country page for in-region pricing, statutory rates, and a calculator.
Most factories use a fingerprint device at the gate: each worker is enrolled on the device, and every punch is matched to their record. Where there is no device, a supervisor or HR records attendance for them in the web app. Staff who do have smartphones can use the mobile app.
Yes. Mark the shift as overnight. A clock-in at 22:00 and a clock-out at 06:00 the next morning are one shift, and hours, lateness and overtime are worked out against that shift.
From attendance: time worked beyond the shift's overtime threshold, above a minimum number of minutes you set. Each day's overtime waits for a supervisor or HR, who can approve all of it, approve fewer minutes, or reject it. Approved overtime is paid in the next run at your weekday, weekend or public-holiday rate. For salaried staff you can give time off in lieu instead of pay.
In SmartHR, give the casual worker a daily or hourly rate. Payroll pays the days or hours approved on their timesheet: the worker submits it in self-service on the web or in the mobile app, and a supervisor approves it. Their tax and statutory deductions are worked out in the same run as everyone else's. If your casual crews are daily-paid and checked in as a group by a supervisor, SiteForce, our sister product for casual crews, is built for that: bulk check-in with GPS from the supervisor's phone, overtime from check-in times, and crew payroll.
A fingerprint punch can only come from the enrolled worker, which ends signing in for a friend. Punches from the mobile app carry a GPS position and, if you require one, a photo for the supervisor to check. Attendance entered by hand is recorded as manual, so you can see which records did not come from a device.
Mark the programme as mandatory and choose who it applies to: everyone, certain departments or certain job titles. Eligible workers are enrolled automatically, including new hires, and anyone who has not completed it is reminded at 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. Certificates with an expiry date trigger alerts from 90 days before they lapse.
Only where the employee's country allows it. A loss or damage deduction is set up as an order that payroll recovers in instalments. Which kinds of deduction are allowed is set per country, and where the law limits total deductions (in Kenya, two-thirds of wages), payroll applies that limit or warns you.
Those of the worker's country, for permanent, contract and casual staff alike. For Kenya that is PAYE, SHIF, NSSF and the Housing Levy, and statutory deductions are maintained for 54 African countries. Each run produces the statutory reports and a bank payment file in your bank's format.
Pricing
Simple USD pricing.
Pay per employee, monthly, from the starting prices below. Local-currency price on every country page — converted at our locked monthly rate.
Starter
Core HR for growing teams
From
$3.00
/employee/month
Starting price · no monthly base fee
- Employee records & profiles
- Leave management
- Web attendance with GPS
- Document management
- Employee self-service portal
- Mobile app access
- Email support
Most Popular
Professional
Full HR + payroll, statutory compliance built in
From
$5.00
/employee/month
Starting price · no monthly base fee
- Everything in Starter
- Full local-currency payroll
- Statutory compliance (PAYE / NSSF / NHIF / etc.)
- Performance management
- Recruitment & onboarding
- Expense claims & loans
- Training & certifications
- WhatsApp & SMS notifications
- Priority support
Business
Multi-country operations, full automation
From
$8.00
/employee/month
Starting price · no monthly base fee
- Everything in Professional
- Multi-country dashboard
- Projects & timesheets (NGO/donor reporting)
- Biometric device integration
- API access
- White-label option
- Dedicated account manager
- SLA-backed support
See pricing in your local currency on any country page →
See it work on your data.
30 minutes with our team. Bring your countries, your headcount, and the questions your finance and HR leads keep asking — we'll walk you through every module relevant to your operation.