There are many ways to increase production throughput. There’s designing the product for easier manufacturing, engaging the use of automation for certain processes and even re-arranging the factory floor to move materials more efficiently. But there’s another method to increase production speed and it doesn’t take nearly the investment these other projects cost: removing paper-based information flow from the floor.
Retiring paper reporting, tracking and ordering processes may seem like a trivial change but when a firm digs into the details, the benefits can certainly put it on par with large physical investments to a manufacturing facility.
When the continuous improvement spotlight is focused on paper-based reporting, the costs of the process become clear. Moving information on the floor using printed or handwritten forms means someone has to fill out those forms and others have to make sure they get to where they need to go. That takes time. Not only is it time your workers are spending on paperwork instead of making parts, it’s manpower removed from finding and making the efficiency changes necessary to the production process. It’s also time wasted waiting for news of machines going down on the floor, running processes on one job when they should have been running another or just waiting for word parts are needed at a certain idle work center.
Using a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) like MV2 is the first step to reducing lost efficiency from phantom costs that rob throughput like the ones mentioned above and more. The benefit is an MES gets its data directly from the machines and operations on the shop floor. These systems are designed to provide that data in real-time to managers without soaking up workers’ time, suffering human error or waiting for someone to bring the status to the office.
MV2 can go a step further in not only providing pre-set alerts when critical issues are broached, it can send this data beyond the desktop to shop floor dashboards, tablets and mobile devices. Even on the go, a production manager can have production metrics at their fingertips and make decisions that keep facilities operating at their most efficient. This data visibility provides the velocity manufacturers need to get the most out of their operations.
If you’re looking for greater production efficiency and throughput without having to invest in new equipment or re-arrange the shop floor, it might be time to think about how data flows through your operation. Contact us today to learn more about moving to digital production management with MV2 Manufacturing Execution System.
Thank you for sharing very helpful post.