Manufacturing Management: Six Tips To Improve Your Process

If we talk about Europe and the US, the ‘industrialization era’ lasted only 80 years, from 1760 to 1840. But the impact it made on the economic and technological growth of human beings as a species was something truly magical. 

In 80 years, industries and giant manufacturing plants spread through continents, taking production speed to new heights. Of course, with the right production management policies, Britain took over the world in terms of industries and good large-scale production. But was it production management or some secret free SKU generator that only Britain and its allies had?

We were kidding. Although the sudden industrial rise of Britain back in the early 1800s was indeed something that most of the nations thought was the result of some future technology or stuff like that. The British also enjoyed being the center of the industrial world, but their progress had nothing to do with some secret technology from the future.

Years later, today, we understand, was the critical area that led Britain to the heights of industrial growth. We are talking about manufacturing management techniques and how you can adapt yourself to the same level of development by following six easy steps.

1. Harvest the power of 5S’s

A term originated in ancient Japan, and the 5S’s are five basic rules and critical areas that can help you boost your workshop productivity within a matter of hours.

• Sort everything according to a specific serial number.
• Straighten every tool and equipment at a specific place.
• Sweep the production area whenever necessary.
• Standardize every bill your production unit is spending on from the start of the day to the end.
• Sustain any material that’s left and can be used again.

2. Keep your staff happy

Think about it, is there any way possible to hit your target production goal for the week if your staff is not cooperating with you? In other words, you can’t practically work as long as there are no employees to work with.

Try to keep your staff happy, don’t unnecessarily burden them, make sure they get the well-deserved break, and pay on time. As much as you are going to act cheerful with your staff, you don’t need to worry about the weekly production target not getting hit.

3. Only keep the inventory you need

Do you know what the number cause of a workshop failure is? Keeping inventory in reserve more than what you require. When it comes to manufacturing management, you need to maintain maximum cash in your hand for any future ups and downs.

But once you invest too much in stocking inventory alone, there’s no way you can get cash out in time to save yourself from a significant upcoming cash flow crisis. The better the cash flow will be, the longer you will be able to remain productive.

4. Mastering the art of supply chain management

This was something the British were truly master at. Like today, they faced the same issue of managing the orders and shipments when most of the charges were made in collaboration with overseas suppliers and shipping giants. But we don’t see the British supply chain management model failing at any point.

Make sure that whatever kind of consignment you are shipping is watertight because there’s a very high possibility that your overseas shipment will be passing through large water bodies on its journey. Also, create a small set of policy rules to ensure that the shipping partner knows what to do if some package goes missing or is damaged.

5. Selecting the right supplier

As manufacturing management in charge, this is one of your key roles. It would help if you made sure that the supplier you are choosing for all the raw materials is suitable for your business set up according to its scale.

Here’s a tip, try to negotiate with suppliers that may seem expensive for your business. In the world of manufacturing-based business, quality is everything that will matter in the end game.

6. Hire some interns

Do you know what the best thing about hiring recent high school/college graduates as interns are? They are always so passionate and full of wild ideas that can take your business and manufacturing capacity to new and unknown heights. Plus, being interns, they always work with everything they have got.

You may think that hiring young interns is not a great idea as they will hardly have prior experience dealing with manufacturing management-related issues or stuff like that. But that’s why interns are essential, as they will always come up with new and efficient ideas to deal with problems.

Final Note

This might surprise some of you, but production management and manufacturing management are more or less the same, but they both do have some significant differences. Fortunately, colleges are now treating both the domains separately when it comes to one p[path you need to follow in your Business Management studies.

Production management is more oriented towards raw materials and products. You will deal with every kind of equipment, strategies, labor, etc., and you can put in to make sure the end products are of top quality and are in the required number.

On the other hand, your role as manufacturing management in charge doesn’t confine you to products alone. You will be responsible for everything related to products and managing the whole environment and employees of a workstation to hit the weekly manufacturing goal.

As manufacturing management in charge, you will be expected to put the best of your expertise and knowledge towards streamlining and expanding the manufacturing capacity of your workshop. 

Don’t worry if you don’t have much experience; think about manufacturing workshop as a large home you have to manage while keeping a friendly and productive relationship with everyone working under you. It is that simple.

But make sure to keep a record of everything you are spending the money on. It will be pretty helpful in the future in case of any dispute.