How to improve your manufacturing business' productivity

How to improve your manufacturing business' productivity

Top tips to increase your company's yield

Through the last century, manufacturing processes were transformed with the rise of the factory and, in particular, machine production facilities. Now, as we near the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, manufacturing and production are again being overhauled, this time through the rise of automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

Nonetheless, while computers and autonomous production systems are making a significant impact on companies' output, there are still some basic rules you should follow to maintain the highest levels of efficiency in your manufacturing business. Here are just a few ideas to improve your company's productivity.

Start at the beginning and review your processes 

Time is money, and the more products you can produce in a given time, the greater your efficiency will be. Rather than just assuming your current processes are the best they can be, take some time out to review them.

A great way to do this is by speaking to the employees on the ground to pick their brains and get ideas where they might see room for improvement. After all, as a manager/business owner, you likely don't spend much time actually on the work-floor, so be sure to listen to your staff's ideas – the ones actually doing the job. Alternatively, if you don't have time, consider bringing in a warehouse consulting firm to liaise with your staff and identify potential problem areas. Common points of concern include:

·       Staff: Are you using the best skills of your staff in the best places?

·       Equipment: Do you need to update or replace tools of equipment used by your team?

·       Processes: Are there areas where you could improve efficiency and reduce waste/downtime?

Integrate more with technology 

If you haven't already, look at integrating more technology into your facilities. AI and automation are revolutionizing manufacturing and can massively reduce your overhead. Any time-consuming, repetitive tasks currently handled manually by humans could be automated to reduce errors and production time. Also, think about using software for similar repetitive tasks in the office environment to free up both time and resources.

Check staff training and education

It is vital your staff fully understand what's expected of them – both from a safety and manufacturing point of view – so be sure that all workers are adequately trained. When hiring new employees, put them on a training course to bring them up to speed and check existing personnel's knowledge of procedures. Also, if you install new equipment, ensure your entire workforce is appropriately trained in its use.

Establish a maintenance schedule

Downtime, through maintenance, may seem like a huge waste of time, but it is considerably easier to fix small errors as they occur than wait for the machinery to develop a fatal fault. Agree on a regular maintenance schedule with your staff to stay on top of any developing issues and avoid a complete shutdown. There is a reason people say, "A stitch in time saves nine," – commit to regular care and upkeep of your equipment and machinery.

5 Ways to Work Smarter Not Harder

How to work smarter, not harder

Are your to-do lists taking over your life? Do you feel as though you are working for every available hour, but not seeing results? Are you desperate for more views on your blog or sales in your business but feel that it’s never going to happen? Are you asking yourself how you could possibly fit more in, or do more, to make things work? Well, often, to get the best results, we don’t actually need to work harder. You might actually find that your business is more successful, and you enjoy it more if you do less. 

Typically, how you choose to spend your time, and which tasks you decide to tackle, are more important than how many you get done, or how many hours you work. If you are struggling to fit it all in, or you’ve had enough of working hard for nothing, here are five of the ways that you should be working smarter, not harder, and certainly not longer. 

Get into a Great Routine

Great routines are one of the easiest ways to get more done in less time. When you have a routine that works for you, whether it’s what you do when you first get up in the morning, how you start your working day, or how you organize your household, it helps you to manage your time more effectively and means that less time is wasted wondering what to do next.

Routines help you to feel good, to save time, and to work more effectively. They also mean that you never have to think about what to do next, whether you have got what you need, or how you are going to do your work. 

Of course, your days aren’t all the same. But, filling them with routines makes fitting other things easier too, while knowing that you won’t run out of time. A positive morning routine can help you to start your day well, and to be more productive when you get to work. Everything else often seems easier from there. 

Have a “One Day” List

To-do lists are a brilliant way to organize your time and get more done. They also help you to prioritize what needs to be done most urgently and to segment your day. But you may find that if you write everything that you need to do down, it gets a little overwhelming.

So, instead, have a today list, and maybe even a weekly list, and then a “one-day” list. Fill this with things that you do need to do, but that doesn’t have a deadline, or that can wait for a while. When you get some free time, or something off your today list gets canceled, look at your one-day list. This way, you still get it all done, but you put far less pressure on yourself. 

Focus on Continuous Improvement 

You may already be familiar with the meaning of continuous improvement, but if not, put simply, it’s the practice of continually improving your business or doing things every day, to improve your business. It’s about never resting, or taking things for granted, and trying never to do anything which could damage your business. Keep this practice in mind, and before doing anything, ask yourself if it will help with continuous improvement, or if you are wasting your time. 

Start Saying No

Often, the best way to get more out of your time is to start saying no. If you say yes to everything anyone else asks of you, you soon run out of time, or begin rushing the things that you need to do. Remember, it’s ok to say no, it’s ok to prioritize your business, and sometimes, it’s even ok to say no simply because you need to rest. 

Actively Manage Your To-do Lists

Every time a new task comes in throughout the day, don’t simply add it to your already overflowing to-do list. Take some time to think about where it belongs. If you can do it in less than two minutes, get it out of the way as soon as you can, and don’t even bother writing it down. If it’s going to take longer, ask yourself if it needs to be done today, whether it can go on tomorrow's list, or if it could be added to the one-day list. 

Finding ways to get more done in less time is a dream come true for many of us. But it’s not impossible. Being more selective with what you do, and sometimes doing less, allows you to enjoy your work, to give it more focus, and to see far better results. Don’t feel like you have to do everything, instead, do what you reasonably can, but do it really well.

3 Ways to be Productive During Quarantine

How to be productive during quarantine

When 2020 began, few could have predicted that only three months into the year, a global pandemic would sweep across our nations, and consequentially, create long periods of self-quarantine. While not the ideal situation, there are many positive ways this period of time can be used to grow and gain new skills or experiences, all while helping ease your mind of stress during isolation. Below are just a few of the many ways you can positively use your newly discovered time. 

Learn a New Skill

Whether it’s learning a new language, cooking different styles of food, painting, or any other skill you haven’t had the time to perfect in the past, now is the time to expand your expertise. Whatever the subject area may be, there is a rapidly increasing number of digital courses or other educational videos available online to aid in your growth and development. Diving into that new field now could offer great benefits for the future.  

Work on Your Passion Project

Are you a writer that has put off finishing your book? Do you love design, but haven’t found the time to finish your own pieces? If you have a skill already that you have always wanted to put to use, this time can be greatly beneficial to push your projects into motion. Start by creating a step-by-step plan tailored to your project and then manage your time around meeting the steps you have outlined. Blocking out just a little bit of time each day to work on personal ventures can go a long way towards your ultimate goals. Making and hitting realistic milestones will offer a true sense of achievement and positivity to your life. 

Reconnect With Others 

It’s very easy to become disconnected from friends and family over time, especially with distance. It seems you often look up and realize you haven’t talked to a particular person in months or years. With most people now spending much more time at home and inside, this could serve as an ideal time to reconnect with loved ones. It could be a video chat or a simple phone call that may not only help re-establish a relationship but also make quarantine feel a little less isolating.

 Whatever your situation is, there are plenty of options to help make the year better, more productive, and healthier. Taking the time to find something that fits your goals and personality can make all the difference!

2 Ways To Increase Your Company's Productivity and Performance

How to be productive

Medium-sized companies have a hard niche to work within many American markets, but the right performance plan can not only help companies like yours thrive, but it can also take them to the next level, allowing them to become major national brands. The biggest part of the challenge is that businesses in this class are large enough they no longer qualify for the perks and preferential terms found in programs for small businesses, but they also tend to lack the deep reserves of assets and additional income streams that provide economic power for major national corporations. The solution to this dilemma is simple, though. It's about adopting the right tools.

Efficient operations without a lot of extra fat in the budget have the ability to scale up more quickly by building reserves and funding growth with the money they aren't spending on redundant services or legacy processes. If you haven't provided your team with the next-generation technological tools to elevate their performance, you're not going to reduce redundancies and really see a return. Here are three of the most important things to keep up to date as you grow your business.

1. Your ERP Suite

Working with a cloud-based, flexible enterprise resource planning solution like Microsoft Dynamics ERP can save you a lot of money over older systems, especially if your current ERP has to be run on an in-house server. Adding server hardware and infrastructure maintenance to your IT expenses means more labor for their upkeep, as well as higher utility costs related to running those resources, security costs to prevent fraud or intrusion, and many other additional expenses and investments. When you contract with a cloud provider who can build you a custom ERP on a common framework, you get efficient operations and support without the need for all the extra equipment, which can help you streamline your operation now and keep costs down into the future.

2. Your L&D Program

If you aren't investing in professional development, you aren't cultivating your next round of leadership from within your corporate culture. That makes long-term growth and organization-wide adoption of your mission goals harder to achieve, and it also means settling for a less skilled and productive workforce than you could have. If you haven't invested in any additional training, now is the time because online learning tools have made it easier than ever to make those resources available to workers at an efficient price point. If you currently have an L&D program but it's not online, consider what adding a digital component could do to up your institutional participation.

Build Your Company's Future From Within

Providing your team with the tools they need to grow is the key to making your whole business growth. It's just as true when it comes to training as it is when it comes to efficiently manage resources to push out customer orders, and it's the key to reaching the next level for many companies.