Common `event` (datetime) table for say a manufacturing DB, an anti pattern? There are many different types of events that can happen during a manufacturing process.
E.g.

Built Step1
Build Step2
Test
Checked into repairs
Checkout out of repairs
Packaged
Dspatched, etc.

I see two ways to model each step:

Have separate independant tables. Each table with its own timestamp field.
Extract the timestamp field from the tables, and place it in a common event tables which has say 2 fields:

timestamp field
A column which links it to which type of event it is (which table has the specific details for that type of event).
Could also have a user field to track who did what etc.



Any reasons why not to use way 2 (event table)? It seems advantages for running reports on what events happened during a certain time frame. A way of uniting events in the factory. But my research seems to always point towards avoiding any common function tables.
Having an EVENT table sounds reasonable, particularly if there is a set of attributes common to all events. I would tend towards a more descriptive table name, perhaps MANUFACTURING_EVENT (or some terminology used by people in that industry). I would then have detail tables for specific manufacturing events with a FK relationship to the parent.