Strategies for Improving Manufacturing Shop Floor Productivity

Manufacturing businesses are constantly on the lookout for effective strategies to enhance productivity on the shop floor. In today’s competitive landscape, the ability to streamline operations and increase output without sacrificing quality is crucial. With the right approach, leveraging technology and adopting best practices, manufacturing shop floors can see significant productivity improvements.

In this article, we will delve into the strategies that can be employed to optimise shop floor productivity, from integrating Manufacturing ERP solutions to utilising specific NetSuite Manufacturing modules designed to maximise efficiency.

Shop floor management oversees production activities, including scheduling, to enhance efficiency and product quality. It involves monitoring workflows, managing personnel, and maintaining equipment. Additionally, it ensures adherence to safety and quality standards. As a result, manufacturers can reduce waste and improve productivity. In addition, effective shop floor management fosters better communication among team members. Therefore, it leads to continuous improvement in manufacturing processes.

To truly enhance productivity on the manufacturing shop floor, we must first shine a light on the obstacles that hinder progress. By identifying these challenges, we lay the groundwork for transformative solutions. Let’s explore the common hurdles that manufacturers face, which include:

• Inefficient workflows and processes
• Lack of real-time data for decision making
• Inadequate planning and scheduling
• Poor inventory management
• Limited visibility into shop floor operations
• Equipment downtime and maintenance issues
• Project and task time management

As a first step, identifying these challenges is essential for implementing effective strategies to overcome them.

One of the most impactful ways to improve productivity on the shop floor is by implementing a Manufacturing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. These sophisticated platforms offer a multitude of benefits:

1. Streamlined Workflows and Processes: An ERP system automates repetitive tasks, standardises operations, and reduces manual errors, thereby boosting process improvement and efficiency.
2. Real-time Data Insights: ERP provides up-to-date data visibility, enabling faster, more informed decision-making across production and operational teams.
3. Optimised Planning and Scheduling: Integrated ERP modules manage production schedules, ensuring resources are allocated effectively to meet deadlines.
4. Improved Inventory Management: Real-time inventory tracking reduces stockouts and overstocking, enabling better procurement and storage control.
5. Enhanced Shop Floor Visibility: Centralised dashboards offer a comprehensive view of all shop floor activities, including workstations, supporting better operational oversight.
6. Reduced Equipment Downtime: ERP-driven maintenance scheduling and predictive alerts prevent breakdowns, ensuring continuous production.
7. Better Project and Task Time Management: Task tracking and time management tools within ERP systems help align team efforts and maintain project timelines efficiently.

These ERP capabilities collectively drive operational excellence and business growth in a competitive manufacturing environment.

NetSuite’s ERP platform offers a suite of manufacturing modules designed to address the unique needs of manufacturing businesses. Let’s explore some of the key NetSuite Manufacturing modules and how they contribute to shop floor productivity.

The MES module provides manufacturers with the tools they need to execute their plans effectively across different workstations.

Real-Time Production Updates: Provides immediate insights into manufacturing activities, enabling prompt decision-making and issue resolution.

Paperless Operations: Eliminates manual processes, reducing errors and increasing efficiency. It includes functionalities such as:

• Work order management
• Real-time shop floor reporting
• Labor tracking
• Machine utilisation monitoring

Consequently, manufacturers can gain better control over their production processes, implement process improvement strategies, measure key metrics, and improve overall shop floor productivity.

This module is geared towards businesses that require more sophisticated manufacturing capabilities. It offers features like:

• Finite capacity scheduling
• Detailed routing
• Quality management
• Batch processing

Advanced Manufacturing helps in optimizing production schedules, ensuring consistent product quality, and reducing waste, all of which are key to enhancing productivity.

The WIP and Routing module enables manufacturers to define the steps required to produce each product, including the machines, tools, and labor involved. This clear definition helps in streamlining the production process and reducing cycle times.

• Detailed Work Instructions: Provides comprehensive guidelines for each production step, ensuring consistency and quality.
• Resource Tracking: Monitors labour and machine utilisation, aiding in cost management and efficiency improvements.

Quality issues can significantly affect shop floor productivity. The Quality Management module helps manufacturers to establish and maintain quality standards throughout the production process, thus reducing defects and rework.

• Inspection Protocols: Defines criteria for incoming, in-process, and outgoing inspections, maintaining product quality.
• Non-Conformance Tracking: Identifies and addresses defects promptly, reducing waste and rework.

Accurate demand forecasting is essential for maintaining shop floor productivity. This module helps manufacturers to predict customer demand and plan production accordingly, ensuring that resources are utilized effectively and inventory levels are optimised.

• Forecasting: Predicts future demand to align production schedules effectively, minimising stockouts and overproduction by improving scheduling.
• Inventory Optimisation: Balances stock levels to meet demand without incurring excess holding costs.

The benefit for manufacturing shop floors lies in its ability to optimise productivity, reduce operational costs, and enhance decision-making. It ensures accurate tracking of labour hours, enabling better project scheduling, resource allocation, and payroll management. As a consequence, manufacturers can meet production targets more efficiently by minimising idle time and bottlenecks. Real-time visibility into task progress also supports proactive adjustments, improving overall operational efficiency and profitability.

• Accurate Labour Tracking: Captures time spent on each manufacturing process, providing precise labour cost data.
• Real-Time Data Entry: Allows workers to clock in and out on individual orders via mobile-friendly interfaces, enhancing productivity.

These modules collectively drive shop floor productivity, enabling streamlined operations and improved manufacturing outcomes.

In addition to implementing ERP systems, there are several best practices that manufacturers can adopt to improve shop floor productivity:

1. Continuous Improvement Culture – Fostering a culture of continuous improvement encourages employees to constantly look for ways to enhance processes and eliminate waste. Techniques like Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma can be instrumental in driving this culture.
2. Employee Training and Engagement – Well-trained and engaged employees are more productive and committed to quality work. Regular training sessions and opportunities for professional development can lead to a more competent and motivated workforce.
3. Preventive Maintenance – Preventive maintenance programs help reduce equipment downtime and extend the life of machinery. By scheduling regular maintenance checks, manufacturers can avoid unexpected breakdowns that disrupt production.
4. Use of Automation and Robotics – Introducing automation and robotics on the shop floor can significantly increase productivity. These technologies can handle repetitive tasks, reduce labor costs, and improve precision and consistency.

To illustrate the impact of these strategies, let’s look at a few case studies:

1: Boosted production agility with NetSuite Advanced Manufacturing

By centralising production management, scheduling, and data collection, Second Skin gained full visibility into garment costs and traceability—from raw materials to finished products. Consequently, they reduced errors and minimised time wasted on manual processes..

2: Improved visibility with NetSuite MRP and Demand Planning

Using NetSuite MRP and Demand Planning, Nutra Organics improved production visibility, streamlined inventory management, and eliminated manual processes and inconsistent data. Demand Planning improved relationships with third-party manufacturers, reduced delays in transfer orders improving delivery performance.

3: Increased operational forecasting accuracy with NetSuite Manufacturing

By improving operational efficiency and providing a 360-degree view of financial and operational activities, the Adchem team have improved their forecasting functions. Using NetSuite, Adchem can now forecast how much packaging materials they will need based on the opportunities they have in the pipeline and how much is already on site.

Improving shop floor productivity is a multifaceted challenge that requires a strategic approach. By leveraging the capabilities of Manufacturing ERP systems like NetSuite, and adopting best practices such as continuous improvement and employee engagement, manufacturers can significantly enhance their shop floor operations.

The adoption of NetSuite Manufacturing modules specifically tailored to the needs of the manufacturing industry provides the tools necessary for scheduling, streamlining processes, managing inventory effectively, maintaining quality standards, and ultimately increasing productivity.

As technology continues to evolve, manufacturers who stay ahead of the curve by implementing these strategies will be well-positioned to thrive in the competitive world of manufacturing.

Remember, the key to shop floor productivity lies in the seamless integration of technology, processes, and people. With the right systems in place and a commitment to continuous improvement, your shop floor can operate at peak efficiency, driving your business towards greater success.

NetSuite is a full, cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) suite that gives organisations what they need to run efficiently and accelerate seamless scalable growth. Supporting over 41,000 customers in 219 countries and territories worldwide, NetSuite has everything you need to grow, in one place, on a single cloud platform.

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