Back in the day of time cards, that was more or less how it worked (minus the commute part) the machine was either at the front door or in the break room, and you’d punch in, then go to your station, set up and start. End of day, you’d pack up, then punch out on your way out the door.
Good cast iron is the true BIFL… It’ll last your life, then your kid’s, then their kid’s, then theirs and so on… It needs to be seriously mistreated and neglected for a very long time until it becomes unusable