The challenges faced by Colombian manufacturing companies make it difficult to travel the path to World-Class productivity: tight times and budgets, increased raw material costs, labor challenges, competition in the market.
These challenges are present in all sectors of the industry, we encounter them daily through our own experiences during both local and international visits. They are evident in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as in multinational corporations. While a few companies manage to overcome these obstacles and improve their productivity, the majority experience slow progress despite having significant growth potential.
There is no reason not to implement the methods and techniques that World-Class companies have used to become what they are today. Replicating their successful procedures can help your company avoid unnecessary risks and achieve similar levels of improvement at a fraction of the cost.
Tip 1: Set Global Improvement Goals.
When planning for growth, it’s common to suffer from short-sightedness or perceive your company as smaller than it truly is. Don’t limit your efforts by setting low-ambition goals that will only yield minimal benefits for your business.
How can you set appropriate goals? Measure your current performance, compare it to the industry leaders in those areas, and then benchmark against companies within your production range. Many companies have increased the productivity of their lines by 20% or more in a short time by understanding where they currently stand and what they can achieve.
Tip 2: Review Your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
In manufacturing, it is common to collect data that will not be used to improve operations. This often happens because the data is unclear or inaccurate, which is a frequent issue when collected manually.
OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) is a valuable standard for driving productivity improvement. This metric reveals your current efficiency percentage, defined as the proportional relationship of Availability, Performance, and Quality. OEE breaks down your losses into these three easily identifiable components, each presenting opportunities for improvement.
For optimal results, successful companies have documented these key metrics in a clear format so that everyone understands them and knows how to measure them correctly.
Discover the 4 indicators tracked by leading manufacturing companies to optimize performance.
Tip 3: Set Specific Improvement Goals for Each Line.
Each production line requires its own specific measurements and improvement plan. To have a benchmark, let’s look at the OEE levels of World-Class companies:
Many food and beverage industries start their OEE indicators between 40% and 50%, far below the optimal level.
Once you’ve measured your indicators by line, you should set improvement goals and create plans to achieve them. An example of these goals for the next 6 months could be the following:
Tip 4: Involve the Management Team.
To achieve significant benefits (a goal that all companies should strive for), it’s essential to bring the management team on board. Their support will be crucial for driving organizational culture changes, managing budgets, implementing reward systems, and keeping the company focused.
Once management sees that increasing productivity is directly linked to the business’s financial goals and has a significant impact on the bottom line, they will actively sponsor the initiative.
If there is demand for this additional production, sales will rise in proportion. If there is not yet demand in the market, the company can reduce overtime or cut shifts, saving a significant amount of money.
Tip 5: Automate the Collection of Your KPIs.
Many plants are hindered by the lack of precise information that would allow them to understand why their productivity levels remain stable but without significant growth. It’s also possible that they encounter so many improvement opportunities that it becomes difficult to decide which problem to tackle first.
Fortunately, there are now software solutions available that capture real-time data, enabling accurate measurement of the KPIs important to your business. These programs will show you the performance of each line, micro-stoppages, and potential machine failures, allowing you to take immediate action and create plans based on real-time data from the production floor.
This is how automatic data capture software works.
Tip 6: Identify Leaders.
It is also common for initiatives to fade away because companies cannot stay focused on them. That’s why it’s recommended to identify “champions” responsible for tracking improvement programs, who educate plant teams so they understand the goals and train them on the tools provided to achieve them.
Tip 7: Share Success.
Involve all factory teams by soliciting ideas to improve processes and procedures, and form a multidisciplinary team that reviews and responds to each suggestion from the production floor.
Implement the best ideas and make the successes public. Establish a reward program that recognizes the contributions of individuals and teams who achieve improvement goals. Recognition and rewards can help transform the organizational culture to a world-class level.
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