For manufacturing companies that take pride in their quality standards, tracking KPIs in production can be a daunting task. Once people from across departments are involved in production strategies, it becomes difficult to track these metrics.
Manufacturers use many software programs to track production, but sometimes it is hard to know what to keep an eye on. Some systems are simply too expensive and complicated to set up. The good news is that there are often equally effective alternatives without weighing down your business.
Use a Customized Dashboard
You can track KPIs through a customized dashboard that allows monitoring of key performance indicators. The use of a personalized dashboard eases identifying new opportunities or issues by highlighting data trends. It also helps in understanding essential metrics, and informs critical steps during a manufacturing process.
Create a custom dashboard for your manufacturing team using the information you need most—for instance, production numbers, export status, and calendar view. From the dashboard, easily click through daily, weekly, or monthly reports on time production statistics.
Identify Popular Methods of Communication
Communication is a basic necessity for the success of any corporation. We can say the same for methods of tracking. It is essential to choose the most effective tracking and communication method to relay information to relevant members of the production team.
Identifying the primary forms of communication between teams, including both production and non-production groups within a plant, is key to maximizing your KPIs. VersaCall communication methods give you the tools to identify issues and address them in real-time, ensuring maximum efficiency within your entire operation.
Keep It Visual
If you have lots of metrics to track throughout your company, it’s common to lose sight of the big picture. Keeping things visual can help you see what’s going right and what needs improvement. A visual representation of a number is always more powerful than a number staring at you in text form on a computer screen.
Production progress visibility is the key to increasing parts per hour and improving production performance. Proven systems and strategies such as leveling the heijunka boards help bring that visibility to the forefront.
Use a Performance Model
No matter what type of production you’re involved with, manually creating reports on a spreadsheet will only get you so far. With a performance model, you can easily take data directly from your production systems and visualize it in real-time. The option is particularly helpful when visuals themselves translate much more easily into knowledge than numbers do.
Erode Variances Down to Root Causes
It is essential to understand the reasons behind variances to improve performance. The key is to determine whether variances are from controllable, or uncontrollable sources. You can develop and implement a corrective action plan for controllable factors. In the case of market factors, you can still take corrective action when the correlations are understood.
Manufacturing organizations can benefit exponentially from better crucial production tracking metrics such as yield and cycle time. Using lean productivity tools allows you to identify issues and resolve them quickly.
Conclusively, communication plays a crucial role when it comes to production tracking in manufacturing. VersaCall Systems helps you improve communication techniques across your production line and your company as a whole. Contact us today to learn more about our services.
