How to Improve Manufacturing Productivity in your Company.

Manufacturing productivity is something that can make or break your business. The more effective your manufacturing productivity, the more money your business can make. Productivity can have a significant impact on your costs, profitability, and also on your ability to remain relevant and competitive in the market.

Productivity is directly influenced by a number of factors covering processes, equipment used, and employees’ character and behavior. Your manufacturing productivity is definitely the level of performance within your company, and regardless of how well you are currently doing, it is something that can always be improved.

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1. Importance of Customer survey to your Business.
2.  Using Performance Appraisals to Improve Productivity and have a Happy Employee.
3.  10 reasons Why Businesses should invest in Digitalization.

As an entrepreneur, to improve productivity, you should be able to know what steps you can take for efficiency, what areas you need to focus on.

1. Benchmark your current state

Before you can make any decisions on how to improve your productivity, the first step is to measure your existing output and highlight issues within your manufacturing operation. This involves looking at procedures, processes, technology and the people tasked with bringing this all together, and methods of communication with resources available to drive improvements.

2. Training your staff

One of the most commonly overlooked ways to improve manufacturing productivity is that of training staff. Depending on your industry and product type, chances are that your equipment and processes are constantly evolving. It may be new product lines or technological advancements. Training staff even those that have been with you for many years can result in best practices being followed more closely and ultimately aiding efficiency. An added advantage is training staff with multiple skills; this ensures productivity does not get impacted at any level of absenteeism.

3. Maintenance

Regular maintenance of your machinery and equipment is crucial in maintaining and improving productivity. This is also where it is important to train and then trust the employees that use these on a daily basis. They will be the first to identify an issue and if familiar with the equipment can potentially fix the issue. Besides this, knowing the signs that something is not running well can be critical in avoiding larger problems. It is far easier to keep a machine running through maintenance and care than it is to repair it once something has failed.

4. Product Knowledge and data is key

Similarly, to training staff on how to operate different machines and various processes throughout your manufacturing setup, knowing the actual products that you are producing can also bring results. Manufacturing efficiency begins with knowledgeable staff, with an added benefit that it can often lead to ideas focused on improvements from the employees themselves.

You should understand more about what’s going on in your manufacturing processes to become better positioned in improving productivity. Collect data regularly and reflect on this information to identify patterns and concerns. By shifting your marketing energy towards the items you can produce with the greatest efficiency, you’ll increase productivity, making and moving more of what you do well.

5. Keep your inventory low

Although most businesses list inventory as an asset, having too much will lead to losses. Keeping too much inventory may interfere with manufacturing productivity by getting in the way and making it difficult to find what you need on time. Prefer having enough materials for what you need and developing a clear and efficient system of communication to order in time when an item is low. This avoids interruption of production.

6. Be realistic

Customer expectations, tight deadlines, and pressure from external factors can lead to distortion of targets and achievements. During these times, it is important that you manage your expectations in a manner that will avoid your staff being demotivated and worsening productivity. As a leader, managing productivity under pressure is always a test of whether you qualify in the area you chose to venture.

Also Read:

1. How to Build a Better Business for the Future.
2.  5 Ways to Protect your Small Business from Fraud.
3. Why Small Businesses are Hiring and set to Push for Growth.

Once you have a clear picture of how your productivity is, set realistic goals that focus on quality outputs, punctuality, and safety measures.

Increased manufacturing productivity results in increased revenue and the opportunity to expand the business, take on more work, increase cash flow or new equipment purchases. Make it a policy to review your processes regularly. New manufacturing equipment, materials, and techniques arrive all the time. Be prepared to adopt those that provide the most value for your company.

Mombasa, Kenya.

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