4 Steps to Improving Productivity
With the continued pressures of output, quality and deadlines to be met,
businesses must engage in ‘preventative maintenance’ and improvement at a
company level. To compete successfully in today’s manufacturing environment,
every part of the business needs to run at maximum efficiency. Having efficient
operations is part of that equation and is vital to staying competitive. Companies
must eliminate inefficiencies, monitor productivity, and continually improve
operational performance in order to keep pace.
Industrial engineering techniques can be used to unlock operational capabilities
and to provide a foundation for sustained productivity levels. The 4 steps to
improving productivity and maintaining these improvements are:
1. Process Optimisation
Processes tend to grow and evolve over time without any real focus on efficiency
or effectiveness. Delays and bottlenecks develop that hamper workflow, increase
processing times and drive up costs. Without realising it, companies achieve suboptimal
productivity levels and have higher operating costs than necessary
Process optimisation helps companies to reduce operating costs, improve capacity
and improve quality and service levels. Some of the overall benefits are:
· Elimination of non-value-added steps
· Improved workflow
· Increased productivity
· Reduced operating costs
2. Training
It is important to provide staff with the proper training to achieve and sustain the
productivity levels by which they are measured. Training and performance
coaching help employees to achieve productivity quotas and to sustain these
productivity levels over time. Proper training also provides companies with:
· Productivity and quality improvement
· Consistent results between staff and shifts
· Sustained performance
Training staff on using the proper procedures allows them to accomplish
productivity goals and sustain those productivity levels over time. This also
eliminates inconsistent results between associates and provides management
with the ability to measure associates objectively knowing they have received the
proper tools.
3. Engineered Labour Standards
Engineered labour standards are a scientific method of calculating fair and
reasonable productivity quotas. Creating labour standards involves measuring
multiple-variable work functions and using workload information and time studies
to determine completion rates. Engineers conduct time studies with operators
that perform their jobs every day.
This improves buy-in from the staff on the floor and incorporates actual work
times rather than theoretical calculations. This method also ensures that the
labour standards take into account specific work factors that are particular to
each operation.
Time and workload information are then compiled in order to calculate
productivity standards for the work functions. This method provides precise time
standards for completing tasks and provides management with quantifiable
productivity
Labour standards help companies to measure all workers on an equal footing and
provide management with the means for effective performance measurement,
feedback, and incentive programs.
Some of the benefits of engineered labour standards are:
· Accurate productivity quotas
· Unbiased performance measurement
· Effective basis for productivity reporting
4. Productivity Reporting
The productivity of an operation is made up of the collective productivity of each
individual within that operation. Productivity reporting provides associates with
quantifiable performance reporting and provides managers with invaluable data
for managing an operation. Effective productivity reporting is a vital component to
any productivity improvement initiative and is the foundation for sustaining
productivity over time.
Productivity Tracking System
A productivity tracking system provides operational performance reporting across
facilities / departments down to an individual staff level. A well developed system
can provide operational charts and reports that are used for performance
evaluations, incentives programs, and productivity monitoring. Some of the
overall benefits are:
· Visibility of Operational Performance
· Quick Views by Facility, Department, Shift, Activity, etc.
· Improved Labour Scheduling
· More Effective Productivity Monitoring
Summary
Process optimisation, training, engineered labour standards, and productivity
reporting provide the keys to drastically increasing productivity levels and for
sustaining these productivity levels over time. A 10-40% operational cost
reduction is not only attainable but is common through the proper
implementation of these solutions.
Machinery Automation & Robotics
1/101 Derby Street
Silverwater NSW 2128
Phone: (61) 2 9748 7001
http://www.machineryautomation.com.au