What You Can Do Now to Improve Your Production Management

January 18th 2022 11:00:00 AM

To stay competitive in any business, you need to keep a close eye on production management. This rule applies to manufacturers of all sizes. Your team members, processes, and machinery all play a crucial role in whether and how well you can compete locally and globally with your competition. 

Making the most of your production processes can be challenging. It’s essential to look at your data to get an accurate picture of where the issues might be in your organization. 

However, you will need to resist the urge to get bogged down by focusing only on your labor force’s hourly output. This may give you a skewed view of productivity, leading to cutbacks in the workforce that will only lead to higher costs elsewhere. Instead, look at several factors, including labor costs, materials, and capital, to measure productivity. When considered together, you will get a complete picture of productivity for your organization.

How to Improve Your Production Management

The suggestions listed here provide a guideline to help you answer production efficiency issues your company is experiencing. Following them will assist you in turning them around to boost efficiency in your manufacturing facility. 

• Identify issues in your current workflow.

If you don’t know where the problems are, you won’t know how to fix them. The first step is to identify these issues. This part of the process is multi-faceted and includes analyzing how your employees, technology, and production processes are currently working together. You’ll also need to include elements such as your inventory and the communication flow into the mix. 

Since this is the foundation for the rest of the steps, expect to spend some time here. You can’t rush the process if you want to get the best result. 

• Update your business processes.

Once you identify the issues with your production processes, please share them with your management team. Start the discussion about developing ideas for improving these variables. These discussions should be ongoing as management works toward finding solutions. Make a plan for evaluating the decisions and changes made. 

• Fund employee training. 

Ensure that new employees have the appropriate training to do their work efficiently and well. Existing team members can also benefit from refresher training, and it’s essential to make this resource available. 

All employees can benefit from advanced skills training offered by employers. Give them opportunities to improve themselves and grow with the company. You will reap the benefits of a more engaged, productive workforce.

• Invest in your machinery.

Your machinery is your bread-and-butter in the manufacturing industry. If it is not working correctly (or stops working altogether), your employees won’t be productive. If you don’t have a plan for preventive maintenance, now is the time to make one. It will cost money; however, you improve your overall production uptime and reduce the number of unexpected breakdowns. 

Provide employees with basic troubleshooting procedures in case the machinery should stop working. They may help pinpoint the source of the problem for the repair specialist. 

• Encourage a collaborative work culture. 

The manufacturing floor will work most efficiently when everyone is working together. Let your employees know that their suggestions and ideas are welcome since they use the machinery. If someone on your team has thoughts about improving things, they should be encouraged to share them with management. 

Managers should be open with employees about the steps they are taking to improve efficiency. Some employees may hear the words, “We want to improve efficiency,” and immediately assume that cuts to the workforce will shortly follow. It may not be possible to share everything with employees. Management should be as precise as possible with employees about the changes and how they will affect their work. 

• Set realistic targets. 

As you start improving production management in your facility, it can be easy to get distracted by the options available. Keep in mind that while you are making changes which will be for the better, you still have orders to fill and customers to keep happy. These factors don’t go away while you are working on the business. 

Start slowly and move forward with optimism. Your venture is much more likely to succeed with this mindset. 

Sage Production Management Software Gives You Complete Process Visibility

A key component to increasing efficiency in production management is to get (and stay) organized.

Sage 100 manufacturing software from Scanco gives you all the tools make-to-stock and fabricators need for complete process visibility. You get progress reports in real-time and better financial reporting to track your entire operation. 

Manufacturing 100 is your go-to option when you want to maximize efficiency. This software allows your team to eliminate manual tasks by adopting mobile scanning to your operation. The barcode data collection system eliminates the human error factor when tracking inventory, timecard entries, status updates, and more. All your data is uploaded directly to Sage 100. Manufacturing 100 is available for Android and iOS-enabled devices. 

Sage Shop Floor is an excellent option for staying on top of everything occurring on the shop floor. Your team quickly collects data on material issue and material completion, along with the number of labor hours. You and your management team can update job statuses with just a few clicks. Sage Shop Floor from Scanco is a user-friendly production management component that is accessible on the Android, iOS, or Windows platforms. 

Would you like to start the New Year by improving your production management efficiency? Contact us today to find out more from one of our solutions experts. If you are still unsure whether these are the right solutions for you, click here to use our handy online matching tool to discover the right ones for your business.