One of the most important cogs of communication in the manufacturing industry is data communication; every successful company has a management system for input and output, and for all the factors in between which are tweaked for optimal production efficiency.
We call many of these data collection points KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), and using them is definitive in reaching success as a corporation. Managing them correctly is equally important.
What Are KPIs?
KPIs are a way to quantify data in order to get a grasp on how a company is doing. While there are numerous KPIs used in the manufacturing industry, a few stand out as most important. However, any key performance indicator that allows questions to be answered without causing more questions to pop up is a good KPI. Some of the most relevant key performance indicators include, but are certainly not limited to:
Cycle Time – This is the time it takes for a product to be delivered from the time of order.
Scrap Rate – This is a ratio of produced units that are not of acceptable quality against the number of units produced in total.
Production Volume – This is the amount of products produced over a set amount of time.
Production Costs – This is a comparison made between the amount of revenue that comes in against the cost of operation.
Production Downtime – Production Downtime occurs when no processes for production are taking place.
Capacity Utilization – This is the percentage of current operational utilization.
Overall Operations Effectiveness (OOE) – This measures the performance of any machine, production line, or asset, and is measured as an absolute.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) – This measures the overall use of one, single asset.
Rate of Return – This measures the rate at which shipped items are returned to your company.
Each of these values represents a strain of data that must be formally maintained with a dashboard either internally, or with an associated company, like Andon Visuals.
KPI Tracking Methods Allow Users Hassle-Free Benefits of Data Communication
Key performance indicator tracking methods allow the entire system of data collection to work. More traditionally, one would see a representative meticulously break down the information bars and graphs to relay it to employees, taking more time, and lagging in communication.
Nowadays, KPIs have dashboards, color-coded systems, alerts and review systems that manually crunch all the numbers for you, leaving only the top-down decision making.
The Bottom Line of KPI Management Success: Communication
For example, an executive who wishes to see yesterday’s production can easily do so on an interface that functions on multiple devices. If production reaches a certain low, he or she may opt to receive an alert. From there, one will examine different KPIs to find the precise cause of the dip. Each “ping” of the KPI dashboard is efficient communication that can easily be shared.
After they find the immediate solution, reviewing KPIs from previous days, weeks, or months helps executives find longer resolutions and prevent loss.