How to Optimise the Output of Your Manufacturing Unit

Are you managing a busy manufacturing unit and struggling to maximise its productivity? Are your resources underutilised?

If these are issues that you deal with every day, then this forum is the right place for you. Here we will look at how to effectively optimise the overall productivity of a manufacturing unit, just by making a few changes in the existing processes.

Whether you are a start-up or a full-grown unit, the one thing that matters to all is the overall output derived from the manufacturing plant. There are lots of factors that contribute to the overall productivity – such as the health of the machinery, inventory management, worker efficiency management and timely maintenance of resources to avoid down time. So how does one take care of all these aspects?

Here are a few factors that contribute towards the success of a production unit:

1. Real-time information recording – With technology driving the way people do business, today there are various tools that can allow plant managers, technicians and supervisors to record real-time data digitally from anywhere and at anytime. This data can then be utilised by everyone in the organisation. Thus, bringing in more transparency and insights.
2. Complete atomization of reports – Effective reporting is essential for optimizing the overall productivity of the unit. A manual report is based on personal observations and analysis, however there are systems that can give you automated reports based on the recorded real-time data. These reports are generated daily and can provide the right insights that boost the overall growth of the unit.
3. Timely maintenance of critical resources – This is a very important aspect of any manufacturing unit. When resources are maintained regularly, they perform better, and the risk of breakdown can be avoided. Plant managers can use the automated reports to plan their maintenance schedule and set specific task alerts in the software.

Technology can make lives a lot simpler. There is a lot of software available on the market, that can help you plan and manage your daily operations.

Let’s look at some of the popular software that are used by both small and medium size production units.

1. Production Planning Software – The only thing that can ensure the success of any manufacturing plant is that no matter what , “the show must go on”. Even an hour of no work can also result in a huge loss for a company, thus it is important to keep it running without any obstruction. To handle this aspect there are a few production planning software apps available on the market. This software can accurately record the amount of resources utilised against the amount of total production generated from the unit in a given period. This data can further be used by plant managers to plan their production schedule and make the most of the resources available.
2. Process Automation Software – Nothing can replace a human mind, so why is automation important? The answer is, automation makes the work of humans easier and more accurate. An automated software takes care of inventory management, resource maintenance schedule, production automation etc. With process automation, managers can use their time and expertise on optimising the productivity and training their workforce, since all the manual work done by them earlier will now be done by the software.
3. Financial Software – When the finances of the company are strong, then any crisis can easily be taken care of. Thus, to make accounting more systematic and draw analysis of the expenditure, there are very effective accounting tools available on the market. This type of software can generate financial reports in the form of graphical dashboards, that can help the company make data-driven decisions for the future.

Conclusion:

Technology can make lives simple and give you the desired result. Further it is cost-effective and if used properly can enhance the productivity and the profits of your manufacturing unit considerably.