How to Increase Productivity During the Manufacturing Process

Regardless of the size of your company, increasing productivity can help you to lower costs while improving efficiency.  This is definitely true if your business is involved in manufacturing.  Improving productivity on the manufacturing floor requires making changes to your processes, your employees, and your equipment.  If you can improve efficiency in these three areas, you will notice a large difference.

In this article, we’re going to look at some of the things you probably haven’t considered, but should.

1. Invest in Your Employees

One of the most important things you can do is to invest in your employees.  After all, they will only be able to perform as well as their education allows.  The manufacturing industry is constantly changing, and if your employees all studied 30 years ago, their skills are not going to be up to date.  To help combat this, it’s a good idea to invest in courses for your employees.  Not only will this improve their skills, but it will improve their efficiency as well.

2. Get Smarter Tools

Technology has advanced massively over the last ten years, and the new machines are more efficient than ever.  And, although innovative machines like CNC mills and water jet machines are expensive, they often pay for the cost within just a few short months.  After that, you will start to see your profits increase as efficiency is improved.  Remember that you will also need to instruct your staff on how to work these machines, and show them how to troubleshoot any issues.

3. Encourage Collaboration

Do you really need to complete every part of the manufacturing process in house?  Or could you sign a deal with the local extruder manufacturers for your silicone, rubber or plastic extrusions?  Likewise, do your employees all need to be kept separate working on different parts of the process, or would they work better as a team?  Think about ways that you can encourage collaboration in your workplace and introduce them.  This is a surefire way to increase productivity.

4. Have a Maintenance Budget

As you probably already know, one down machine can lead to a complete halt in production.  Because of this, it’s important to have a maintenance budget.  Train your employees on how to troubleshoot issues with the machines they are using, or have a maintenance company on speed dial that you can call the second you have a problem.  There is a clear link between preventative maintenance and downtime, so this is one area you do not want to neglect.

5. Have Realistic Expectations

Finally, it’s important to have realistic expectations.  Don’t promise a client that you can send an order out in one week, if you usually do it in two.  Not only will you not meet your goals, disappointing the client, but you will also cause undue stress to your staff as well.  This could lead to safety protocols being ignored and dissatisfaction in your ranks – two things you want to avoid at all costs.

If you keep the above advice in mind, you should be able to improve the manufacturing process in your company.