By Henry Brown
When it comes to your manufacturing operations, even if you don’t have a direct hands-on relationship with the running of the floor, you need to make sure that you’re aiming to make it as efficient and cost-effective as possible. Your equipment and especially its operational efficiency are going to play a huge role in that.
Make sure that you’re measuring it
First of all, you’re not going to get a good idea of where loss is if you have no idea how much loss you’re actually dealing with. One of the best ways to figure this out is to measure your operational efficiency. Manufacturing Success offers a look at the metrics that you can use to track your operational efficiency, including specific machine downtime, capacity utilization, on-time delivery, and yield. By tracking these more over time, it’s easy to see what chances improve the operational efficiency of the manufacturing floor and which endanger it.
Finding the sources of loss
Once you are able to measure your operational efficiency, it can become a lot easier to also see where you are making costly mistakes that can lead to loss. For instance, your workflow could require more testing due to bottlenecks and other organizational inefficiencies. You could have certain machines or processes that are more prone to lead to loss than the other parts of the manufacturing floor. Start measuring loss, both in terms of delays and products that aren’t properly constructed to see where you should start focusing your attention.
Choose equipment from reliable partners
High-quality manufacturing equipment is going to help improve your operational efficiency since it’s less likely to experience malfunctions and break down over time. However, all machines are prone to failure, even the very best made among them, so it matters what partners provide those machines. Working with partners like C&B Equipment, you can get access to not only the high-quality machinery that you need. You can also get access to easy repairs, servicing, and the expertise that can help you keep your machines up and running for longer. You should also look at the cost-effectiveness of replacements from different providers.
Training a team to take care of it
When there are problems with a machine on the floor, it shouldn’t necessarily be the responsibility of the partner that provided the machine to fix it. You can also train your own team, specifically, the operators who work with the machine in question, to carry out some light fixes themselves. They should also be actively involved in the preventative maintenance schedules you use to reduce your chances of failure as best as possible. This way, they know their machines much better and are more likely to have a solution in mind when they fail.
Measuring your operational efficiency, finding the sources of loss, ensuring you have high-quality equipment and a trained team that can take care of it can all make your manufacturing floor run much more smoothly. Follow the tips mentioned above and you can create the lean-mean manufacturing machine that leads your business to success.
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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop, he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.
