For most manufacturers, increased productivity means increased profit. We recently read an article from Electrek titled “Tesla now operates the most productive car factory in the US,” and it got our wheels turning. We’ve been considering what productivity is, what it means, and what you can do about it in this series of posts.
There are a variety of helpful implementations a factory can use to drive productivity (and efficiency) improvements. A few of these are internal, such as investing in employee upskilling, implementing a planned maintenance schedule, and improving communication. But there are many others that an excellent manufacturing automation partner can help you accomplish.
- Review workflow: While you can try to do this internally, legacy thinking could stand in your way (i.e. we’ve always done it this way, even if we don’t know why). Thus, it could be helpful to bring in a team to walk through the entire workflow and consider what is possible.
- Monitor the right metrics: A great deal of manufacturing equipment is not used at full capacity, either due to inefficient processes or because the plant manager doesn’t have the right data. An automation partner can help ensure you get the right data from your equipment so that you can calculate overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) or total effective equipment performance (TEEP).
- Reduce waste: There are a number of ways to control waste, many of which have been mentioned already. However, it is worth noting that with the right controls and monitoring in place, you can have details at your fingertips that will help you reduce defects. For example, with appropriately batched traceable part numbers, you can pull defective parts sooner to save time and money.
Stay tuned for our final post in the series where we’ll share productivity best practices.
(In case you missed it, here’s a link to the first post in the series.)
When you are looking to make genuine business improvements, it’s important to partner with someone you can trust. Wes-Tech keeps you at the forefront of productivity and efficiency advancements by implementing best practices across manufacturing automation. When you need a partner who can help you drive towards higher productivity, on time and in budget, we’re here for you.
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