Dov Amar is the CEO of opyflow, a consulting firm specializing in the supply chain, with 25 years of experience.
getty
If your company has undergone multiple integrations, you know firsthand the struggles of aligning operations and crafting a top-notch network. Achieving optimal performance in a manufacturing network can be challenging, especially when the network consists of multiple sites with different systems and sometimes equipment. However, through targeted strategies and a collaborative approach, it is possible to drive significant improvements in efficiency and productivity.
1. Develop a global methodology.
To do this, you can use a key performance indicator called Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE), which measures the performance of a manufacturing process based on availability, performance and output quality. OEE is a widely used metric in the manufacturing industry and provides a holistic view of a process's efficiency.
Next, develop a detailed methodology for measuring the OEE and trained every site. It may be difficult to compare the results of different sites when each site is measuring OEE based on their understanding.
2. Identify top performers.
By standardizing the measurement of OEE across all sites, you can accurately compare the performance of each site and identify the top performer. This way, you can identify top performers for each parameter of the OEE: the highest availability, the best performance and the highest yield.
3. Improve top performers.
Once your top performers are identified, work with these top sites and their teams to improve their performance. This may involve identifying the losses in the process and addressing potential solutions, improving maintenance processes, reshaping processes according to lean manufacturing principles and investing in employee training.
4. Develop highest standards.
As you improve performance, bring together your site leaders to discuss and review best practices. This can provide an opportunity for the site leaders to share their experiences and insights and for your company to showcase the best-in-class process and its associated benefits. The site leaders’ input and feedback can help improve the best-in-class process and make it more standardized. This type of workshop also creates a commitment to an achievable target, which helps to motivate the underperforming sites to improve.
5. Close the gaps.
To further drive improvement, work with each site to identify any possible gaps between your current and best-in-class processes. This can involve analyzing data on key performance indicators (including OEE), production output and quality metrics. Based on this analysis, you can develop a plan for each site to align with the best-in-class process with a clear timeline for implementation. Be sure to support each site as they work to implement your improvement plans, redesign their processes and leverage the solution provided by other teams in the network.
6. Keep track of your progress.
As the sites work to implement their improvement plans, it's important to measure progress and track performance improvement regularly. This allows for ongoing adjustments to be made as needed and help ensure that the network is moving steadily toward its performance goals. This can help reach impressive results. The bottom line is to achieve standardization across the network and a massive knowledge sharing between the leaders.
7. Continue to raise the bar.
What happens when other sites begin to emerge as top performers and lead the way? To sustain and build on these gains, consider implementing a continuous improvement process where each improvement developed by any site in the network is shared with all members and implemented. This allows the network to continuously realign itself with best practices and push the performance frontier forward.
Improving the performance of a manufacturing network is a challenging task that requires a targeted and collaborative approach. By identifying top performers, standardizing key performance indicators, implementing best practices, developing a standard global process and continuously improving processes, it is possible to drive significant gains in efficiency and productivity. By following these strategies, companies can achieve impressive results and create a high-performing manufacturing network.
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