Productivity Improvement Crucial for Business Survival
An effective and successful business will understand the importance of productivity in the workplace.
In today’s business environment, companies need to explore many strategies and techniques in order to remain in business.
Leaders of organizations often think of “efficiency’ and “productivity” as one in the same.
These are two different concepts where efficiency is about doing the same with less while productivity is about doing more with the same. In the last three decades, senior management were encouraged to take an efficiency mindset to their businesses and usedtools such as six sigma, process reengineering and others to determine waste in their operations.
In the current competitive market, businesses are realizing that efficiency is no longer the secret to superior performance but productivity.
To increase throughput, there are several ways that businesses can adopt without compromising quality from removing obstacles to reorganizing the way you work. Listed below are some ways to increase productivity:
Review Existing Workflow
In order to know the areas to be changed, you will need to know how everything works.
Three areas that contain crucial information that can assist in determining the much-needed changes include:
People
Are people with the right skills employed in the right places? Is the project manager keeping the critical pathway on track and visible to everyone.
Are objectives clearly defined, realistic, and safe.
Processes
When were the business processes last mapped? Where are the bottlenecks.
Equipment and technology
Is all your equipment in good repair.
Is the technology you rely on suitable for your current needs? How easy is it to make changes in areas within the business?
Before any changes are applied, understand how everything currently works.
There is still value in the saying, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.”
Organize the Workplace
Reducing clutter and movement saves time.
Reduce movement to carry out tasks efficiently.
Create the ideal layout of tools and materials for the job or process.
Remove those tools and materials that are not needed and will not be used from the workspace.
Design an organized storage to reduce the time in locating materials, documents, and equipment. Excess movement in any workplace is considered a sign of poor organization and can cost you plenty in production time. Techniques such as Kanban (justin-time production) should be considered to reduce delays and increase efficiency.
Train and Educate Employees
NTPC offers a wide range of short courses and tailor made courses to educate and train employees. Employee education and training is an ongoing process.
In some industries, certain types of training are mandatory, such as work, health and safety training for all personnel.
Training on new equipment and technology is required to get the most value.
Employee education is also an excellent retention tactic; new employees take time to become proficient, causing a slowdown in production.
Train all operators when new equipment is installed.
Keep accurate records of training and schedule refreshers if needed. Provide educational opportunities for employees who are interested to pursue their studies to advance or obtain new skills. Training and education should not be limited to equipment only. The organization will run more smoothly if everyone understands policies on workplace harassment, proper communications and safety responsibilities.
Update Processes and Technology
Once the existing workflow have been reviewed and mapped, areas need to be identified where processes and/or technology could be improved or changed.
Automation is a powerful tool for increasing efficiency and reducing error.
There are numerous software solutions that can be utilized to help with scheduling, inventory, and monitoring workflow. Improvements in equipment can enhance production speed and quality.
When identifying new technology and equipment, the total cost of ownership should be thought out properly and how it will affect the bottom line.
Commit to Scheduled Maintenance
The fastest way to slowing things down is by ignoring regular maintenance.
Maintenance can be scheduled as breakage always comes at the worst possible time.
Train all operators in regular maintenance and troubleshooting procedures.
Schedule preventive maintenance at regular intervals.
Identify the best time for maintenance so that work is not affected by using information from the floor and your workflow processes. Don’t delay maintenance. Preventive maintenance ensures that your equipment continues to run smoothly without unexpected downtime or stop work.
Maintain Inventory
All stock need to be stored and an inventory kept to facilitate inventory counts and order schedules. Optimizing inventory is especially important if you are following lean manufacturing principles such as the Kanban technique. Various software is available to track inventory and create automatic notifications of shortages. You may consider allowing vendors direct access to your inventory counts so that needed supplies
are automatically fulfilled. Maintain vendor relationships to gain accountability for the quality of parts and timeliness of deliveries.
Predict the impact of particular shortages and put processes in place to mitigate production delays.
Increased productivity should be driven by deliberate change rather than rapid “fixes” that may help in the short term but cause long-term problems.
Also, increasing productivity that is heavily reliant on employees can result in burn-out and turnover not to mention the cost of safety problems.
A thorough review of current production processes and equipment can uncover hidden bottlenecks that may be easily remedied by a change in the process or new technology.
Maintaining equipment in good repair reduces unexpected work stop orders.
Training and organized workplaces will provide a safe work area and could result in new suggestions from the workers themselves about resolutions for problems they see daily.
Finally, increased productivity results in increased profits and the opportunity to expand the business, take on more work, or purchasing new equipment. Formulate policies to business processes regularly.
New manufacturing equipment, materials, and techniques are continually produced all the time. Businesses should be prepared to adopt those that provide the most value for their company.