5 Ways to Increase Production Efficiency

Every manufacturer implements standard operating procedures to optimize business operations. Sure, the operating procedures may differ from company to company depending on their short-term and long-term strategies. However, one goal is the same for every manufacturer – achieving the highest level of production efficiency. It’s safe to say that SOPs support production efficiency since it helps optimize supply chain operations, satisfy customers, and ensure employee safety. However, increasing production efficiency is challenging for most manufacturers. This article lets you in on some helpful tips to increase production efficiency.

5 Ways to Increase Production Efficiency

1. Optimize Processes

If you have worked in a managerial role, you must have heard, “but this is how we always do it!”. Sure, there must have been a time when a process worked great for your business. But as your business grows, you may find that these legacy processes no longer work for you. Improving and optimizing business processes according to the latest trends is vital to achieving the best gains. It is essential to invest in resources that can help sustain and enhance core production activities. Look for areas that can be redefined and reorganized. It might translate into challenging the status quo, but do so!

2. Monitor the Production Line

Evaluating every aspect of the production line is key to improving production efficiency. It helps you identify bottlenecks in people, processes, and equipment. A good starting point is to measure the average number of products in a specific time interval. In addition to reviewing the production line, you must measure capacity utilization and OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency) to ascertain that production lines operate optimally. These metrics will help estimate the cost of downtime if and when it happens.

3. Keep up with Technology

Do you know every modern company has technology debt? To illustrate, if you aren’t providing your team with the right tech tools to be efficient, you are more likely to lose employees and customers. Investing in technology can be expensive as it is an upfront investment, but taking the plunge will help you create a competitive edge. In other words, you need to maintain your technology and tools and update them on time to maximize efficiency and keep your workforce happy. It is also vital to assess how different inefficiencies in technology could be causing operational bottlenecks.

4. Look for Production Bottlenecks

Production bottlenecks are usually a result of people, process, or equipment inefficiencies. Identifying and categorizing production bottlenecks is an essential step towards maximizing production efficiency. Training your production team and continuously improving processes is a great way to minimize bottlenecks resulting from people or processes. On the other hand, a well-designed preventive maintenance program can significantly improve equipment dependability and availability. 

5. Identify & Minimize Wastage

Minimizing production wastage is something that most manufacturers overlook in their mission to improve production efficiency. While some sources of production wastage may be obvious, others may require a deeper look at the production cycle and setting KPIs. For instance, wastage caused by machinery due to inadequate cooling isn’t apparent unless you have an established process to monitor OEE. Identifying root causes for wastage and eliminating them will help you minimize wastage and improve your production throughput in the long run.

The Bottom Line

Production efficiency is key to improving profitability and the success of any company. Identifying inefficiencies and bottlenecks will help you implement improvements and ensure that people, processes, and equipment operate optimally.