No matter at what stage of development your plant is, it won’t grow without inner changes and reconstruction. At some point, your company won’t be able to produce more without spending extra money, time, and employee labor. In this case, manufacturing efficiency improvement is the only way to overcome this bottleneck. You can resort to many options, some of which are quite expensive while others are almost free.
All that is necessary to make your enterprise develop and bring more profit. The result also includes fewer expenses and more productive employees. Down below, you will find essential tips that will help your company reach a new level of manufacturing efficiency.
Check the most fundamental pain points
Even if your business has been running for a decade, there’s always a bottleneck to fix. This refers to the most basic things like employee schedules, manufacturing equipment, and production method. It’s also important to see whether your people are working in the right position. Consider shifting them to another department or changing their work schedule according to new regulations.
Just like human beings, your manufacturing equipment gets older and can break at any point. That’s why it’s important to check it regularly to find possible breaches before they occur during the production process. This sudden disruption may cost your company a fortune before it gets repaired.
After all, it’s never too late to rebuild the way your production method functions. Some obvious inner workflows often require amendments or complete removal. This leads to fewer expenses and increased overall profitability.
Preventative maintenance matters
How many times have you been in a situation when your vitally important piece of equipment breaks and an employee has to sit around waiting for it to get fixed? This is probably the worst situation that can happen at a large and all-processes-linked factory. It will undoubtedly lead to long-lasting downtime and loss of profit. To avoid this, invest in preventative maintenance of your equipment without waiting for it to break.
Apply automation and advanced robotics
Living in a modern world brings a lot of benefits — automation being one of them. To minimize the human factor and improve the manufacturing process, it’s advisable to start applying robotics. The initial cost of this technology is high, yet it earns its keep. It also allows your manual workers to be involved in more active processes instead of performing the same mundane actions.
To begin your journey in automation, check out our high-end RIOS robotics to make your manufacturing flows quicker and less expensive. Let’s look at what machines are already available to set your company on a new level:
- ASTRIA for quick material handling
- DION for food items handling
- LUMOS for quality control
- HERMES for packing SKUs into poly bags
- VULCAN for sorting, packing, and palletizing goods
These advanced robots cope with reoccurring tasks quicker and more precisely compared to a human. Being able to work non-stop, they need neither salary nor holidays.
Invest in your employees’ education
The work isn’t done when a person is hired to do a job. In fact, it’s only a beginning if the company’s head wants them to be productive. To achieve better production quality, it’s important to invest in people working for you. Training and courses are especially valuable when speaking of new manufacturing equipment. Employees should learn the operation manual and safety rules.
Try to control the processes of employees’ education yourself keeping accurate records and refreshing the schedule when necessary. Offer more educational opportunities if a person is ready to obtain new skills or get better at what they already know.
Organize your staff workspace
Watch the whole process of producing a product from the very beginning until it’s packed. There’s a good chance of seeing that your employee’s workspace isn’t organized. To achieve process improvement in manufacturing, only necessary and frequently used tools should be in place. Everything else should be removed or stored in proper order.
Check if a worker does too many extra movements that prevent them from achieving better productivity. If it is so, look for a way to lay out your manufacturing floor to reduce slopping around.
Detect defects and listen to your employees
Even the smallest and unseen at first bottlenecks can result in undesirable expenses and reduced productivity. Measure how much time is needed to produce this or that product. Don’t hesitate to check its quality and search for a possible defect. A particular worker can share their opinion on how this should be produced. Listen to them and try to apply the advice in practice.
Ask your employees if they’re comfortable working on this shop floor. Sometimes, extra air conditioning or heating may be required. Make sure to order new tools if the old ones break or get lost.
Strive to recycle
Whether there’s the slightest possibility to reduce waste or reuse it, make sure to use it. By doing so, you will cut costs and improve overall efficiency. This depends on what your production line manufactures, but there will always be wastes. Taking leftovers or scraps as an example, there’s definitely a way to put them back into the production process.
Every employee should also acquire a habit to sort waste. It’s another point where watching the whole process is vitally important. This rule should be applied to every department if the facility allows so.
Create your production standards
If you want your company to be truly competitive in the market, be different from your rivals. To achieve this, create your standards and working rules. Developing this kind of program requires time and pre-testing. Though, the final result pays off with the following benefits:
- Lower operating costs
- Increased production output
- Improved employee safety
- Faster ROI
- Reduced factory lead times
- Less visible environmental footprint
To conclude, making your way to improving manufacturing efficiency includes not only high-end production equipment. One should also be able to organize the workflows and collaborate with the employees.
