Increasing Productivity on The Factory Floor – Part 1

To remain competitive and increase profits, businesses need to continuously work on improving productivity. For manufacturers, this is especially important because the more products you make, the lower your overhead, and the higher your profits.

At the end of the day, improving productivity on the factory floor relies on the efficiency of employees, equipment and having the right processes in place. In this two-part blog, we look at six ways to increase productivity on your factory floor.

Herewith the first three ways in which productivity can be increased on the floor:

Examine your existing workflow

Improving productivity begins with looking at existing workflows to find out where it is operating as efficiently as possible and where you need to improve. Analyse the people, technology and processes required for production–as well as the procedures, communication tools and resources available across the company.

Update your business processes

Once you’ve identified the pain points in your workflow, work with your managers to develop improvement plans for your business processes. Re-assign underutilised resources to different areas on the manufacturing floor, manage budgets accordingly and invest in ISO certification wherever necessary. Regularly evaluate your performance and then work your changes and adjustments in accordingly.

Invest in smarter machines

Whether it’s in the office or on the factory floor your employees can only be as efficient as the tools and techniques they’re working with. While new technology solutions and equipment can be costly to implement initially, investing in smarter machinery can have positive long-term effects and go a long way toward improving productivity.

See part two of this post where we look at the next three ways to increase productivity in your manufacturing operation.