Manufacturing units throughout the globe may still run on legacy systems and old technologies, which may cause them to lag in progress. The success and profitability of a manufacturing company depend on its overall operating efficiency, which considers the speed of production, rejects or wastes, and downtime. While this metric has been hailed as the biggest KPI for such production units, any discrepancy may point toward a faulty manufacturing workflow. Not only does this lead to losses in the short and long term, but also leads to safety hazards, underutilization of resources, and high attrition rates. So what can a manufacturing manager do to keep these metrics under control? Here are five tips to help!
- Inspect the issues as a team: When a crisis hits the production and assembly line, it’s not just one person’s problem. The issue of an improper workflow needs to be addressed from the inside out. Managers need to ask all the relevant questions, such as:
- Are the right people working for this production line?
- Are all the processes working optimally?
- What are the roadblocks in production processes that need to be addressed?
- Do you have a plan to overcome these roadblocks?
- Are you supported by the right technology? Does it meet your standards, or does it require augmentation?
- How can these changes affect the business?
- Focus on employee training: One of the aspects that manufacturing managers seem to be skimping out on is employee training. However, when your employees do not receive routine training sessions regarding new technologies and process automation, there’s a lot that can go south in between. For instance, lack of training keeps your staff stuck to outdated technologies and inefficient modalities. This may also subject them to work in historic ways that do not contribute to the growth of production. Managers need to focus on training their staff in batches to improve the speed of their workflows.
- Invest in the latest technological tools: Using the latest technology to manufacture your goods can make all the difference. The independent confectionery industry is one of the prime examples of unlocking exponential growth in the last two years. The sweet treats they created for adults were manufactured with such flawless detail that they could keep up with the growing market demand. By investing in the latest technology like the gummy depositor they were able to enjoy economies of scale in a short span of time.
- Focus on machine maintenance: Machinery is a depreciating asset in every company, but it can give you the best performance for the optimal time only when maintained well. Several manufacturing units overlook minor glitches and symptoms that their equipment may need some finetuning, and pay in terms of poor quality production later. To avoid wastage and rejects, it’s important to schedule downtimes to take care of preventive maintenance. This will keep the workflow productive and the quality optimal.
Wrapping Up:
Once you tackle these four elements of production units, your workflows will sort themselves out for the majority of the part. Then, you need to focus on ways to improve automation by eliminating redundancies. We hope that this blog brought you some valuable insights!
