Business 4.0
6 Ways To Improve Productivity On The Plant Floor By: Bryan Christiansen
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usinesses need to continually improve their products and processes to improve the efficient utilization of resources. Using fewer resources to produce the same amount of goods increases profitability, and it’s good for the environment. Improving the productivity of manufacturing facilities is one of the core tasks of the operations team.
OVERCOMING PRODUCTIVITY CHALLENGES Throughout the journey that began with steam engines, the manufacturing industry saw exponential growth in productivity. Most industrial processes boast very good efficiency due to the use of modern industrial tools. This high starting point makes any productivity improvement a massive challenge. In addition to that, hurdles like lack of support, lack of training, and unrealistic expectations from management are some of the challenges plant operations teams face while trying to improve productivity. Despite the challenges, if you want to reach your business goals, you need to improve the productivity of your facility. The following sections cover the six practices you should adopt to achieve that.
Key Performance Indicators One of the biggest challenges in this aspect is the lack of direction to improve productivity. With just an overarching goal of productivity improvement, there are many avenues to achieve it. Trying to improve productivity without anything to aim at is akin to running around in the dark. The first step in the path toward productivity improvement is to state clear, objective, and achievable goals. This is possible by identifying performance indicators for factory operations, and setting a target for the key performance indicators. Now the operations team has a clear
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November 2022
objective to move toward. With that, you will be able to chart the path to improve productivity. Many performance indicators can be identified for a plant operation. You cannot use all of them to improve operations at the same time. You should definitely weigh the different indicators and pick the one that will have the most impact. The impact relevant to your plant might be different than the industry standard, and you should be choosing the performance indicator that aligns and contributes more towards improving your plant’s productivity.
Lean Manufacturing Lean manufacturing is a production process ideology that emphasizes reducing wastage and improving productivity. This ideology finds its origin in Japanese manufacturing facilities and has gained acceptance across the globe. This is due to the effectiveness of implementing lean manufacturing principles to improve productivity.
The five core principles of lean manufacturing are: 1. Engage only in the processes that add value to the end consumer. Every other process is an excess and has to be eliminated. 2. Analyze the materials and processes involved in manufacturing a product by mapping out the value stream. This can be used to remove materials and processes that do not add value. 3. Improving lead times requires bringing down functional barriers. Create flow to carry out processes smoothly, with minimum delay and wastage. 4. Manufacturing products without demand is a waste of time and resources. Create a pull system in the production process that initiates production only when there is demand. 5. Embrace the philosophy of ‘Kaizen’, which means continuous improvement. You always have to find avenues to reduce wastage and improve efficiency.