In manufacturing, waste and losses are to be avoided. Both reduce the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). To remain competitive in the marketplace, manufacturers must increase their productivity. In manufacturing, productivity means money. This means that the more an industry produces in a short period of time, the more money it makes. Let us explore in depth six ways to increase productivity in manufacturing.
What productivity means and its importance?
“Productivity is commonly defined as a ratio between the volume of output and the volume of inputs. In other words, it measures how efficiently production inputs, such as labor and capital, are being used in an economy to produce a given level of output.” OECD Library.
In simpler terms, productivity measures the quantity produced relative to the number of resources needed to produce it. Therefore, the formula is as below:
Manufacturing productivity= Output/Input
An increase in productivity can only be achieved if all business processes are constantly optimized so that the output is permanently greater than the input. If this ratio is no longer intact, then the industry is threatened with difficulties. In most cases, outputs will be goods and services produced, for which inputs will be employees, money, equipment, and other items.
Productivity in Manufacturing is very important because it:
How to increase productivity:
There are many ways to increase productivity, but the 6 best ways are:
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Automate simple tasks:
Automate simple tasks:
The automation of simple and repetitive tasks increases productivity in production because it leads to the reduction of manual work and therefore, the reduction of faults, which can occur when humans perform tasks. This does not mean that robots will replace humans, but automation helps humans concentrate on other important or difficult tasks.
2. Track important KPIs:
Important KPIs like availability, performance, and quality can be used to measure and analyze the growth and the productivity of an industry. It can also be used to improve its OEE and efficiency while measuring performance and giving insights on what to correct or upgrade. With the help of, for example, a Clariprod Controller, important KPIs will be tracked in real-time to provide an up-to-date OEE at all times.
3. Real-time fault monitoring:
In order to avoid downtimes or faults, it is important to monitor the production. Monitoring systems in the manufacturing facilities improve overall process outcomes and increases production capacity. It also helps identify bottlenecks, and save time and money by improving the production throughput rate.
4. Communicate well (performance reports, cellphone alerts):
Communication is very important in manufacturing because it increases productivity, especially when everyone working there works and communicates transparently. Poor communication and the deterioration of the information flow lead to increased complexity in the supply chain and production because it is not easy to access real-time information. To communicate better and increase productivity, it is important to implement systems like automated performance reports after every work shift and real-time alerts on cellphones to keep in touch.
5. Use data to its full potential (get insights from it):
Using data in the manufacturing industry helps improve the OEE because it is possible to compare current production with historical data to track improvements easily. This allows you to transform data into actions!
6. Reduce waste:
The production of more products does not mean that those products are good enough to be sold to customers. Industries must be able to have quality control systems to monitor product quality to reduce waste to the minimum. This way, there will be more output and higher productivity.
So, productivity is a very important factor in manufacturing and shouldn’t be neglected because it procures many advantages to manufacturers. Taking care of this factor will provide benefits to manufacturers and help them be competitive in the marketplace.