Regardless of your plant’s size and niche, improving its productivity is paramount to maintaining its competitiveness and growing revenue. Productivity of your manufacturing unit relies on a combination of factors, which include employees, processes, and equipment. Driving improvements, therefore, involve making adjustments to all these processes. So, here are some useful tips to help you get the anticipated improvements:
Examine the Manufacturing System’s Workflow
This is the first and most crucial process when working on enhancing your production system. The goal is to identify bottlenecks that are limiting the overall productivity of your system. Here is how to do it:
- People: Do you have staff with the best skills? Are the objectives of your staff clearly defined? Are they realistic?
- Processes: Here, you need to establish whether the process of your manufacturing is properly optimized. What are the bottlenecks, and how can they be eliminated?
- Technology and equipment: Are your equipment in the best shape? Can your equipment be changed easily?
Remember that you should not simply rush to make changes. First, try to comprehend how everything works and figure out the expected value that will result from changes.
Strictly Follow Scheduled Maintenance
The fastest way to killing your manufacturing unit is ignoring scheduled maintenance. When your industrial system is running, it is subjected to progressive wearing and tearing that slows the overall production over time. If you do not regularly maintain the system, you are likely to incur unexpected breakdowns and extended downtimes. So here are some useful tips for scheduled maintenance.
- Train your staff on troubleshooting and regular maintenance.
- Follow the recommended maintenance schedules.
- Adopt preventative maintenance.
Set Realistic Expectations
Once you invest in manufacturing, it is important to appreciate that it takes time to grow and become the anticipated global brand. If you are in the mining industry, success would mean building a network with reliable suppliers and investing in the latest technology.
It might also take time to build the right organizational culture. By setting clear expectations for both staff and the entire organization, it becomes easy to amplify productivity, revenue, and increase profits.
Invest in Staff Training
In manufacturing, the productivity of your staff is as good as their skills. If your employees do not have the right skills, there is a danger of poor performance. Investing in HR development helps to identify the gaps in your staff skills and promoting teamwork. Further, it helps to demonstrate your commitment to staff career success as a way of persuading them to work harder.
To increase the productivity of your facility, it is important to look at it holistically. From staff to maintenance, do not spare any effort to making everything work. Do not get content with average productivity; use the above four tips for bigger success.