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7 Digital Technologies That Will Transform Your Factory

Posted on by Adam Payne

What is Digital Manufacturing?

Digital manufacturing is a term that describes how technology has changed the way we design, build, and produce products. The connected capabilities of a digital factory present several opportunities for manufacturers to gain scalable agility, flexibility and operational performance.

It brings together Information Technology and Operational Technology, resulting in manufacturing processes that are enabled by cyber-physical capabilities. This convergence ensures companies get actionable insights at a glance, which helps to bridge the gap between isolated processes and operational transparency to increase performance.

Here we look at 7 technologies that can transform manufacturers on their journey to digital

Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a vision for the future of manufacturing that aims to link all devices, machines, and systems together through digital networks.

The IIoT represents a significant shift in how manufacturing will be done in the future. Digital technologies are already changing how products are made and delivered, but the Industrial Internet of Things promises to take these changes further by connecting all aspects of industrial processes, from design to production and delivery.

Industrial internet of things (IIoT) is an emerging technology that has been designed to connect objects such as machines and sensors through wireless networks or wired connections. The purpose behind this is to allow different devices to communicate with each other in order to carry out complex tasks which would otherwise require human interaction. For example, if there was a sensor on a machine which detected that it was overheating then it could send this information back to its central server which would then be able to shut down the machine before any damage occurred.

Big Data and Analytics Tools

Big data and analytics tools are increasingly being used in digital manufacturing. The technology is expected to play an ever-increasing role in the development of products, as well as in their production.

The ability to gather and process data from various sources, including sensors and other devices, is one of the key benefits of digital manufacturing.  When combined with artificial intelligence (AI), big data and analytics can provide valuable insights that enable companies to improve product quality, reduce costs and enhance customer satisfaction.

Manufacturing Execution Software

Manufacturing Execution Software (MES) is a software application used by manufacturers to monitor and control manufacturing processes. It includes all aspects of the production process, from the moment raw materials enter the facility until they are shipped out. MES systems can be used to manage both discrete and batch processes, as well as continuous ones.

Manufacturing execution system is an integrated software platform that automates and integrates various functionalities within a manufacturing environment. It is based on modern IT technologies (e.g. web services, XML), which enable flexible integration into existing production systems and provide easy access to information from external systems such as ERP or CRM systems. MES enables companies to improve their competitiveness by increasing efficiency, increasing throughput, reducing costs, and enhancing quality control by using real-time data from all operational areas of the enterprise.

Check out our very own sister company FactoryIQ MES software here

Advanced Robotics

Robotics is a rapidly growing field with new innovations in technology and capabilities. Advances in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) are making it possible to have smaller sensors and actuators that can be used in small spaces. This means that companies can now create robots that can be used in environments where they could not previously go.

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are also having an impact on robotics. AI has been around for decades, but now it is more powerful than ever before due to advances in computer hardware and software. The combination of AI and robotics is opening up new possibilities for automation that were not possible before due to limitations.

Sensing Technology are also driving changes in how we think about automation. In the past, most sensor technologies were based on electromechanical components like gears or switches that respond when there is a change in position or force applied to them by another object or person. Today’s sensors are based on MEMS technology which has allowed us to develop sensors that can detect temperature changes, motion, pressure, vibration and other physical phenomena. Other advances have seen programmable sensors via the use of apps with multiple actions similar to the Zapier style application for automated task in software, the ‘If this do that’ scenario.

Advanced robotics for manufacturing is the most powerful tool for productivity, flexibility and innovation in the modern factory. Robotics technology is evolving rapidly and the ability to easily integrate new capabilities into existing processes is essential.

Robots are already well-suited for repetitive tasks that require very high precision. But they can also handle a wide variety of other tasks in the factory, including: Material handling, Assembly, Testing & inspection, Packaging & labelling, and more.

Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing is a type of manufacturing process that creates a three-dimensional object based on a digital file. This is done by laying down successive layers of material and then fusing them into place with heat. The technology can be used to produce parts and products ranging from the smallest medical devices to the largest airplane parts.

The technology has been around for decades, but it’s only recently become affordable and available to consumers.

Now that 3-D printers are becoming more common, experts are looking at how they could be used in manufacturing. Many companies are using additive manufacturing to make products or parts that would normally be made by injection moulding or other processes.

Additive manufacturing can also be used to make prototypes of new products in just hours or days instead of weeks or months. This makes it easier for companies to test out new designs before going into full production with them.

Digital Twins

Digital Twins for manufacturing are a new concept that is being widely adopted by today’s manufacturers. The digital twin of a manufacturing plant is a virtual representation of the real-world equipment, processes, and environment. It is a virtual representation of the physical world in which everything can be seen, monitored, controlled, and analysed in real time.

The concept of Digital Twins was anticipated by David Gelernter’s 1991 book Mirror Worlds. Since then, it has become an essential part of industrial applications across various industries.

Digital Twins have the potential to transform businesses by providing valuable insights into their facilities that can help them improve performance and make more informed decisions about resource allocation. These insights provide opportunities for companies to optimise their operations and identify bottlenecks that may affect productivity or lead to losses in revenue.

Augmented Reality

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that overlays a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view. Augmented reality enhances one’s current perception of reality, whereas virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated one.

Augmented Reality and Digital Twin technologies go hand in hand.  With augmented reality, you can overlay your digital twin onto the real world. This way you can see what your machine looks like as close to your real-world environment. This will give you more insight and help you make better decisions about future upgrades.

Takeaway:

The digital era has brought about revolutionary changes to all kinds of industries, and manufacturing is no different. As a tool for improving productivity, efficiency, and quality control, digital technology is becoming increasingly important for manufacturers. Many manufacturers are starting to see it as a valuable asset that can improve their output and their bottom line.

If you need support in anything Growth, Strategy or Operations don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Seven Tips For Being An Effective Lean Leader

Posted on by Adam Payne

Lean Leadership

Lean is about creating a culture of continuous improvement, where everyone—from the CEO to the cleaner—is working together to eliminate waste, cut costs, and improve quality.

Lean is based on a number principles that can be applied at every level. These principles include:

  • Eliminate waste through value stream mapping, one-piece flow and standardised work
  • Reduce cycle time by visualising how things are currently done
  • Standardize everything possible, from processes to parts and equipment used
  • Create pull systems to avoid overproduction (Make-to-Stock vs Make-to-Order)
  • Build Quality In by eliminating defects through prevention instead of inspection (Poka Yoke)
  • Sustain Kaizen (Continuous Improvement)

Focusing on value is your first priority.

The Kaizen Mindset

A kaizen mindset is the basis for lean leadership and practice, which doesn’t always mean continuous improvement.

The idea of continuous improvement is a common misconception. Continuous improvement means that you are constantly trying to improve your processes and products, but it doesn’t mean that you are always making an improvement.

Some people think that they need to be perfect before they can consider themselves “lean” or “continuous improvement leaders.” In reality, lean leadership is about being better than yesterday—and that requires a kaizen mindset.

When you have a kaizen mindset, you’re constantly scanning what’s going on around you, looking for ways to improve: “What can I do right now? What can I do better tomorrow?” It’s not just about coming up with new ideas or projects; it’s also about recognising when something isn’t working as well as it could be and taking steps to get to the root cause and fix it, not just putting a plaster over it!

Leading From The Front, Not The Rear

The traditional command-and-control method of management does not fit within the lean philosophy, but some leaders still struggle to let go of traditional power structures and control mechanisms that don’t serve their people or the organisation very well in today’s working environment.

Some leaders are so accustomed to being the only ones who have access to all the information, they find it difficult to accept that there are times when they need to consult others.

Other leaders are not used to being challenged, so when someone does challenge them, they feel threatened and react poorly, which creates conflict instead of innovation.

Lean leaders know that the only way to truly achieve what they want is by empowering their employees—and by extension, their customers. This also means that you have to empower yourself so that you can lead others effectively.

Identifying Customer Needs For Improved Lean Leadership

Identifying who your customers are and what they value is necessary when you engage in lean and continuous improvement activities.

A good place to start is with a customer-value analysis or voice-of-the-customer. This will help you identify the features and functions that customers truly value, as well as the characteristics that differentiate your product from competitors. In addition to evaluating the needs of current customers, identify potential new customer segments by identifying needs not currently being met by competitors.

Once you have identified certain key features of your product or service, list them in priority order for each of these segments. Then prioritize these features across all segments and compare results—this will allow you to identify potential opportunities for improvement and make sure nothing is left out of your plan.

If possible, involve others from different departments in this process so they can also provide input on how they would rank these factors.

Critical Thinking: Learn To Eliminate Your Problems Forever

It’s easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day grind, and it’s tempting to just focus on what’s right in front of you—especially when there are so many other pressing matters that need attention.

The biggest difference between lean leadership and traditional management is that lean leadership is focused on long-term solutions, while traditional management is focused on short-term results. This means that lean leaders don’t just focus on solving a problem temporarily, but rather they seek out ways to prevent the problem from ever coming up again. This is done by finding the root causes of problems and eliminating them permanently.

It may sound simple, but truly engaging in kaizen requires critical thinking and effort to see past the obvious problems, and focus on the root causes to find long-term solutions that eliminate waste forever.

Kaizen is about eliminating waste wherever it exists, not only in physical processes but also in organisational culture and structure. This means that leaders need to create an environment where employees feel safe expressing themselves freely without fear of reprisal or judgment from management (even if those judgments are well-intentioned).

How The Kaizen Mindset Helps With Business Collaboration

The kaizen mindset is centred on solving problems collaboratively as needed, so no single individual or team plays a more prominent role than others do in generating ideas for improvements.

The Lean Leadership approach is based on the principle that everyone has the ability to improve their own work processes and contribute to business success. This means that leaders at all levels need to be ready to take responsibility for their roles in improving business performance while also encouraging employees to take ownership of their own areas of focus.

Leaders need to realise that by creating an environment where everyone feels comfortable contributing ideas, everyone shares in the responsibility of being able to improve business performance. A key component of this process is creating a culture where employees feel safe sharing their thoughts and ideas without fear of reprisal or negative consequences.

The kaizen mindset is centred on solving problems collaboratively as needed, so no single individual or team plays a more prominent role than others do in generating ideas for improvements that are then implemented for better performance.

How Self-Aware Lean Leaders Succeed

The most effective lean leaders are those who understand themselves exceptionally well. They know their strengths, weaknesses and passions, and they use that knowledge to their advantage.

When you’re a leader, it’s important to be able to balance your own personal needs with the needs of your team. The best lean leaders do this by taking time to reflect on how they personally feel about a particular issue before acting on it.

In addition, they work hard to understand each individual member of their team so they can provide them with an environment that is conducive to success.

Additionally, check out our sister company New Way Growth and their ‘Helping Managers to Lead and Succeed‘ programme.

How To Cut Waste And Increase Productivity By Implementing Lean Manufacturing

Posted on by Adam Payne

Lean Manufacturing is a culture and a strategy. It’s a way of doing things that helps companies improve efficiency, quality, and flexibility. It’s not just about tools and processes—it’s about people, too.

Lean Manufacturing is all about making things more efficient. It focuses on eliminating waste and finding ways to streamline workflows so that the company can produce more with less time and money.

Create a Lean Manufacturing culture

A Lean Manufacturing culture is an environment where people are taking responsibility for their own improvement, the improvement of processes and products, and the overall improvement of the company. It’s a culture built on trust, accountability, and continuous improvement.

In order to create this culture, it’s important to give employees the freedom to make decisions about how they do their job and then hold them accountable for those decisions. This can be tricky if you’re not sure what your employees’ strengths are or how they work best. But one way to develop this understanding is by asking questions like: “What’s been most helpful in improving your efficiency?” or “What practices have helped you achieve your goals?”

Once you’ve identified some of these practices, try them out on other employees! Make sure they’re working before adopting them as official company policy though—you don’t want anyone feeling like they’re being punished just because they weren’t included in testing new ideas before implementation!

Have the Upper Management Lead by Example

Lean is a powerful strategy, but it’s not something that can be implemented overnight. In order to make the most of your Lean efforts and get the most out of your employees, it’s important to have upper management lead by example.

Upper management should be actively engaged in the process of implementing Lean, from the beginning to end. They should also be involved in training new employees on Lean’s principles and ensuring that everyone is working together toward common goals. This will help employees understand how important their role is in helping you achieve those goals, which will increase their sense of ownership over their work.

Upper management should also be willing to let go of their preconceived notions about how things should be done in favour of allowing employees more freedom when it comes time to make decisions about how tasks should be completed.

Train your Team on Lean Basics

One of the best ways to get your team on board with Lean is to train them on the basics.

The Lean principles are not complicated, but they can be difficult to understand if you’re new to the concept. You should prepare your team by giving them a solid understanding of what Lean is and why it’s important before you start putting it into practice.

If your team doesn’t have a clear understanding of the principles, they will have trouble implementing them into their day-to-day work. If, for example, if you try to reduce waste without first explaining what waste is and why it needs to be reduced, then you’ll find that the effort isn’t effective or sustainable.

This is especially true when it comes to engaging your employees in Lean initiatives: if they don’t understand why they should participate in these efforts and how they’ll benefit from doing so, then they won’t be motivated enough to participate fully or consistently.

Value Stream Map – Study the Current Process

The first step in implementing Lean is to study the current process. This will help you identify areas of improvement and determine whether or not you are ready for the changes that will be necessary to make this happen. You can do this by performing a value stream map, which is a visual representation of your workflow.

The process should be broken down into steps. You want to look at each step and ask yourself what can be done to improve it, and how this change might affect other parts of the process as well. It is important to consider how each step impacts other steps, so you can look at all aspects of your operations and make sure that they are working together effectively.

Look for Waste and Remove It (Muda – Waste, Mura – Unevenness, Muri – Overburden)

You can define waste as anything that detracts from the value of a product or service you’re producing from your customers’ point of view. Waste can take many forms, such as overproduction, unnecessary resources, and more. These things need to be eliminated so that organisations aren’t creating products or services that don’t add value.

Muda is any kind of wasted motion, such as unnecessary steps in a process or unnecessary travel between locations. Mura refers to unevenness in the production line—it means one part of the process might be operating at peak efficiency while another part is idle or struggling just to keep up. Muri refers to overburdening people with too much work—this is often seen when you have an employee working alone on a task that should be split between two or more people to match customer demand (TAKT).

Map out the Main Bottlenecks

The main bottlenecks in a process are the aspects of the system that are limiting its throughput.

In order to identify these, you’ll need to first look at or build your Value Stream Map or Process Map and identify where there are bottlenecks. Then, you can work on fixing them by identifying what’s causing the bottleneck and finding ways to remove it. This may involve making changes like adjusting how people work together, reducing change-over times, increasing the Overall Equipment Effectiveness or changing how tasks are assigned (e.g., having workers perform different parts of a task).

Once you’ve identified where your bottlenecks are, you can start working on removing them.

Standardise Everything

This means that you need to define what “standard” means, and then make sure all employees are aware of it and trained to it. Standardising your processes gives consistency in how your team members perform their tasks. 

For example, if you’re a software company and you’re trying to improve efficiency by standardising on coding practices, then every employee should know which practices are allowed and which are not allowed.

You should also standardise your equipment and tools. If multiple employees use the same equipment or tool, everyone should use it in the same way every time.

If your company has multiple locations, then standardising everything is even more important because it helps create consistency between locations. If everyone knows what standards they need to meet at each location, then they’ll be able to work together better across locations knowing the desired quality will always be met.

Develop a Continuous Improvement Mentality

Implementing lean means shifting your focus from your business’s outputs to its inputs. But if you’re going to do that, you need to first develop a continuous improvement mentality.

To do this, you have to be willing to adopt an attitude of continuous improvement and continuous learning. You need to be constantly looking for ways that you can improve how things are done in your office or factory and how they contribute to the overall success of your business.

You also need to be willing to consider new ideas, because one of the main tenets of lean is that there are no bad ideas—only challenges in implementation. If someone suggests something new or comes up with a way of doing something differently, try it out! Even if it doesn’t work right away, you may learn something valuable about how something works or doesn’t work within your organisation.

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Continuous Improvement: The Simple Philosophy That Can Help Your Business Thrive

Posted on by Adam Payne

Continuous Improvement, The 1% rule, or Marginal Gains, whatever terminology you want to call it, they are all similar in philosophy and application. It is the idea of focusing on small incremental improvements to grow your business easily. The most successful businesses are always striving to improve to stay ahead of their competition.

In this blog I’ll explain how the philosophy of small incremental improvements can improve your business. This is a technique that many successful companies use in addition to Lean Thinking – a company’s philosophy of eliminating waste. It has been used for decades and can be found in micro businesses right through to corporate business models across industry and service sectors.

I’ve been a lean Sensei for 25+ years and implemented these small incremental changes in Hairdressers to Big Corporate Manufacturers. By implementing these marginal gains, it’s possible to make a huge impact on the performance of your company in a relatively short period of time. It’s Simple! and the data has proven time and time again that this method works!

You CAN NOT ignore the role of Continuous Improvement in business – and here’s why.

What is Continuous Improvement?

“Be Better Today Than You Were Yesterday, Plan To Be Better Tomorrow Than You Are Today” is a quote I have lived by for 25+ years of my working career.

The 1% Rule is a relatively new contender but has now become a business management philosophy that states that you should focus on improving your product or service by at least 1% every day. It was developed by Sir Dave Brailsford, former performance director of British Cycling, and used as a means to achieve micro improvement in the British Cycling Team. The concept behind the 1% rule is simple: if you focus on small improvements, you can achieve significant results over time.

The concept of the 1% rule in my opinion is based on Kaizen, which is Japanese for “continuous improvement.” Kaizen was first introduced to the Western World in the 1970s by Toyota, who taught that companies should embrace a culture of continuous improvement rather than trying to maximise efficiency one big hit at a time. Kaizen aims to reduce inefficiency in its 3 major forms. These are muda (waste), muri (overburdening work), and mura (inconsistency of work).

When we look at these strategies, we can see how the power of tiny gains really makes a difference.

1% Improvement Every Day 1.01365 = 37.78%

1% Decline Every Day 0.99365 = 0.03%

How does the Continuous Improvement work in business?

The PDCA Cycle, also known as the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle, is a model for continuous improvement that uses four phases to drive process changes through the organisation. This linked to the 3 forms of in-efficiency, muda (waste), muri (overburdening work), and mura (inconsistency of work) gives a superb structure and focus for all employees.

The PDCA Cycle Explained:

Plan: In this phase, you identify a problem or opportunity for improvement. You also create a plan for how to solve the problem or capitalise on the opportunity.

Do: In this phase, you carry out your plan and implement your solution.

Check: In this phase, you review your work to see if it was successful in achieving its objectives and if there are any unintended consequences of your actions.

Act: In this phase, you make adjustments based on what you learned in the check phase and continue with another iteration of the cycle to drive continuous improvement.

By continuously improving your processes, your organisation can achieve higher levels of performance at lower cost. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also helps an organisation achieve its goals faster.

The key to this and building on the marginal gains is to empower everyone to make these short, sharp improvement cycles small enough to be managed at a local level. This will enable them to use their creativity and judgment to find the most effective solution for their teams and customers.

The second aspect of this is that the improvements have to be visible and celebrated. This is not just about being proud of what you have achieved, but also about helping others see what you have done. This creates an environment where people are constantly looking for new ways to improve, which in turn leads to innovation.

The third aspect is that it has to be built into every process in a business. You cannot expect people just to do it because you asked them to – they need processes that encourage continuous improvement across everything they do from how they order stock through the distribution system all the way through customer support.

Why use the Continuous Improvement?

Continuous improvement is a process that can be used in every business setting of all sizes and all sectors, from small businesses to large corporations.

It’s Good for Business

The benefits of continuous improvement can be seen throughout the business world. By using this approach, companies are able to stay competitive while providing better quality products and services at lower prices. This helps them grow their customer base while increasing their profit margin through increased sales volume.

It’s Good for Employees

Continuous improvement is also good for employees because it provides them with job security. If you have implemented a continuous improvement program in your company, then you have created an environment where everyone is constantly making improvements which makes your company more competitive in the marketplace and less likely to be outsourced in favour of cheaper labour costs elsewhere.

  • People feel empowered because they have more opportunities for growth and development.
  • Employees feel more engaged because they feel like their work matters and makes a difference.
  • The company attracts better talent because employees want to work for companies that are doing great things for their customers.

Does Continuous Improvement really work?

Yes! Continuous Improvement absolutely works!

I’ve implemented and completed Lean Thinking and Continuous Improvement Projects in 100+ businesses over my career and have no doubt on the impact it can make.

On my very first project back in the 1990’s we took a machine change over from 480 mins to sub 20 mins, saving a £250K capital expenditure. As Senior Exec I’ve saved £10m+ year on year through the implementation of Continuous Improvement. I’ve seen every employee within a business take pride in completing numerous small incremental changes that compound in delivering a huge result.

In order to achieve these results, you need to be prepared to put in the work. It’s not an overnight process—it takes patience as well as an unwavering commitment to creating positive change at every level of your organisation. But once you’ve seen the first results, you’ll find it’s worth every minute invested!

You’ve only got to read some of our Case Studies to realise the potential.

Takeaway: Challenging yourself and your employees to make small improvements every day can have a dramatic effect on your overall business growth.

The Lost Art of Activity Sampling: A Forgotten Tool in Modern Manufacturing

Posted on by Adam Payne

Activity sampling, coupled with time study techniques, has, unfortunately, become a forgotten art within the realm of present-day manufacturing. As was once meticulously drilled into eager minds, everything eventually comes down to time. It is thus essential to scrutinize the best and most efficient utilisation of time for all our undertakings.

While there are myriad tools available, activity sampling stands out as one of those formidable tools to always have in your armory. It’s a phenomenal method that enables economically studying extended activities or a group of such activities, yielding statistically accurate data.

 

Understanding Activity Sampling?

To delve deeper into the concept of activity sampling, imagine a group of machines, processes, or people observed over an extended period. At regular intervals, the observer records the ongoing activities at random periods of the day/week. Every observation precisely notes what is happening at a given time—eventually building a measure of the percentage of time the activity spans over the hour, day, or any chosen timeline.

This method proves especially useful in estimating the proportion of value-added time to non-value added time within your business processes. Typical observations may cover instances such as machine breakdowns, transportation of material, change-overs, periods of waiting, operating, and paperwork filling, etc. Although these examples tilt more towards manufacturing operations, the method is equally vital in examining back-office processes and identifying potential time-consuming activities to boost personal productivity.

 

An Example Activity Sampling in Action

Let’s take a practical example to understand these observations. Consider sampling the activity of ‘packing’ involving three people/processes. The activity is conducted over two hours at random times of the day/week, with observations taken every two minutes. The results can be illustrated visually to represent allocated percentages for each task.

 

Packing Process 1
Packing Process 2
Packing Process 3

 

This analysis provides an opportunity to identify possible improvements to work smarter (and not necessarily harder). The process can be augmented by a spaghetti diagram to emphasise material and person movements, detailed time study work, and process mapping.

When analysing, one may notice that Packing Process 2 showcases no computer time within the two hours. Upon further inquiry and understanding, one realizes that Packing Process 2 batches their paperwork before processing it in one hit. Activity sampling would help identify this difference wherein the observation percentage compared to the other two processes would have been higher.

The Benefits of Activity Sampling

Activity sampling presents numerous advantages. It offers unbiased results and can be paused at any point without compromising the results. It’s a technique that can be mastered even with limited training. It allows teamwork to be studied and compared. Given its economical nature, it’s also less time-consuming than many other traditional time-study techniques.

A Final Word

Today’s competitive and fast-paced world demands sharp insights and efficiency across the board. The lost art of activity sampling, if recovered and embraced, can play a critical part in maintaining competitiveness and driving consistent improvements in productivity for businesses in any industry.

So, the question beckons. Are we ready to rediscover this lost art to maximise our potential and fulfil our quest for increased productivity and efficiency?

Productivity – SMEs Making Slow Progress

Posted on by Adam Payne

UK Productivity and the SME focus

I do find it interesting in reading reports on UK Productivity and the SME focus on how there are a lot of SMEs making slow progress in this arena.

If we step back, which some reports have eluded to… the SME government funded programmes have always been based on growth and employment opportunities (NOT Productivity) so is it any wonder we have some issues. Growth and employment is an excellent focus and most SMEs want more, albeit it does bring its own set of issues and problems.

Additionally in reviewing the Growth and Employment Objective, I also question some of the programmes themselves. When I see that surveys have been completed across their customer base and the customer has highlighted they want Strategy and Tactical Planning, Continuous Improvement, but have been sold Website upgrades, Public Relations, etc. (again though this is aligned to the programme output of growth and employment??? Wrong objective, wrong KPI perhaps???)

Have we shot ourselves in the foot with the focus on Growth and Employment? In some respects, possibly, but we can do something about it? If we accept that’s it’s a problem of course.

Do we need to focus internally? Absolutely, if you want to drive productivity this is where the focus needs to be. (regardless of whether its operations, sales, back office)

Growth

Growth is far easier with operations that generate predictable and repeatable results. If they are not stable (least waste way of working) we will now exacerbate the effect on our already poor operational processes and performance (ie: Productivity)

Productivity is only one of the key KPI’s within a business, along with On Time Delivery, Quality, Cash, Profit, etc.. each may have a gap that needs to be worked on.

Each KPI (key performance indicator) needs to be monitored, managed and actioned.

The equation y=f(x) is one I always remember

Y: the outcome or outcomes, result or results, that you want

X: the inputs, factors or whatever is necessary to get the outcome (there can be more than one possible x)

F: the function or process that will take the inputs and make them into the desired outcome

Change the X and you change the Y (limit the variation in X we limit the variation in Y)

#manufacturing #ukmanufacturing #manufacturinguk #gbmfg #ukmfg #smeuk #sme #producitivty

BullS*^t Sales Tactics – Don’t Do it!

Posted on by Adam Payne

I was stood at Exhibition Floor Layout today trying to find a particular company I had arranged to meet, I began to notice and listen to the conversation of 3 Sales People next to me, they seemed to be from the same company or team (I’m assuming here, which I should never do, but they were acting together), they were pointing at individual companies and talking negatively about each one, and organising amongst themselves how they were going to approach and try and rattle each one of them, not a care on who was in the vicinity listening to their negative connotations.

Now, I’m not for this, in fact I think its BS tactics, lowest of the low and it surprised the hell out of me. My view is if you’d put half as much energy into working with your potential Customers, finding new customers, listening to customers, you wouldn’t need to do this, as you’re a level above, operating on a higher plain. You could also have the potential of working collaboratively on accounts you may not dream of getting.

For me, if you’re operating with these sorts of tactics you’ve lost as an individual and a business. If you want to compete and win, do it through Adding Value to your Customer or potential Customer.

Thoughts?????

Comments:

Lesley Russon:

Competitors are only annoying if they are winning your percentage of your targeted business. I always believe if you watch your competitors you can learn about their weaknesses and strengths and you can only learn how to focus and target your own SWOT’s to learn and improve how you manage your business. I am assuming (as I don’t have all the facts) but it they had a good leader they would teach them marketing intelligence and how to act on it ??

Steven Taylor:

Never talk down your competition, ensure your company performance is the best it can be. These so-called salesmen will only sell by undercutting prices and over promising. Short term gain only with very low profit margins and no future

Rebecca Morgan:

When we collaborate, we all improve and push standards higher for ours and our customers’ benefits.

Simon Lane:

Probably learned their tactics from the protagonists in the debacle otherwise known as the Conservative Leadership Elections

Wayne Wilding:

Trash talking competitors has no value to your prospects/customers. Negative language will put people off you, and bore them. They do not want to hear why the other lot are bad, they want to know why you are good. Trash talking makes it seem like you have nothing else to offer.

And, if nothing else, mentioning your competitors might just remind your prospect/customer about them. You might find your customers giving them a call as soon as you leave.

#ukmanufacturing #ukmfg #customerfocus #sales #customervalue #addvalue

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Make It Ugly!

Posted on by Adam Payne

Expose the Problem for What it is – Waste, Cost, In-Efficiency

Always find it interesting how we accept things in our manufacturing processes, we’ve highlighted it as an issue so many times, but it hasn’t been resolved or it has always been like that.

Example, we are part finishing product due to a number of issues, so our part finished inventory is through the roof, which brings in a whole host of risks, trace-ability, control of stock, increased logistics handling. These then become the norm within our operations, and we forget to ask why as they a now becoming hidden.

We need to highlight these situations in such a way that is looks F^kin Ugly to everyone… (not introducing another step in the process of putting part finished stock back into store)…leave it where it is, piling up (nice, neatly and Safe as not to be damaged) but certainly enough to get people questioning WHY? And TAKING ACTION?

Highlight through SQCDP Process Confirmation, KPIs, get the right people in front of it and as close to where the work is being done.

#ukmanufacturing #ukmfg #leanmanufacturing #manufacturing #lean #improvement #getthingsdone #growth #operations

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OEE Update

Posted on by Adam Payne

Lately I’ve been asked to comment and give talks on OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) and the missed opportunities within Manufacturing, I include Logistics with this as well, under the OLE measure (Overall Logistics Effectiveness), so decided to do an update. (Original article ‘Click Here‘)

OEE as I’ve previously stated is one of the key KPI’s (Key performance Indicators) I always use in helping me understand the problems and issues within my production operations.

Industry Standard is between 45% and 65% OEE, that means there is an whole other factory waiting to be tapped into and used more effectively.

Below is a short video of an excel spreadsheet I decided to put together that gives some automation and storage of information for use, test on a bottleneck process or production line/cell, if you would like a copy of the spreadsheet, please fill in the form below and I’ll send it to you.

My belief with OEE, is test first, develop your front line team in understanding the technique and highlighting the problems, you can then go fully automated at a future date, but do not miss the step of developing your team.

I’m sure someone can make a better job of the excel automation than me, but it’s there if you want it.

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