In a competitive market, simply keeping pace isn’t enough. To thrive, manufacturers need to aggressively optimize every aspect of their operations – minimizing waste, slashing costs, and maximizing output. The most powerful tool for achieving this level of performance is a data-driven approach, providing unprecedented visibility and control across the entire shop floor.

Understanding Manufacturing Efficiency

While the terms are often used interchangeably, it’s crucial to distinguish between productivity and efficiency. Productivity focuses on the volume of output relative to the volume of inputs. Efficiency, however, encompasses a broader perspective, considering quality, resource utilization, and the overall effectiveness of the manufacturing process. It’s entirely possible to boost productivity while simultaneously sacrificing quality or incurring unnecessary costs. True success lies in prioritizing efficiency.

The Importance of Machine Efficiency in Manufacturing

Machine efficiency means strategically optimizing resources, maintaining exceptional work quality, proactively minimizing risk, and reducing potential losses. By setting clear manufacturing efficiency goals, manufacturers can focus on the “bigger picture.” Efficient resource use, consistently high-quality output, and robust risk management all contribute to dramatically improved operations.

Key Elements to Evaluate:

• Manufacturing Cycle Efficiency (MCE): What percentage of your total production time is truly spent on value-added activities? A higher MCE directly translates to less wasted time and resources, improving your bottom line.
• Capacity Utilization: How effectively are you leveraging your existing production capacity? Are your machines operating at peak performance, or are they sitting idle? Maximizing capacity utilization is essential for efficient resource management.
• Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE): This is a comprehensive measure that combines availability, performance, and quality to give you a complete picture of equipment effectiveness. It’s the key to determining how your machinery is performing at peak.

Strategies for Elevating Manufacturing Efficiency

1. Achieve Real-Time Shop Floor Visibility

You can’t improve what you can’t see. The first step towards improved efficiency on the manufacturing shop floor is to gain real-time visibility into the current data.

• Shoplogix’s Smart Factory Suite: Our software provides an impressive amount of actionable insights for the team. Operators can optimize processes in real-time by reviewing the data collected.
• Data-Driven Bottleneck Analysis: Is your team on track and performing their best? Are there significant problems holding the shop floor back? Pinpoint constraints by discovering real-time data and addressing concerns immediately.
  

2. Cut Waste with Lean Manufacturing Principles

A great way to improve and create higher-quality products is to reduce wasted motion, materials, and unnecessary steps. Take a lean approach and cut as much as you can.

• Implement Lean Principles: Implement lean principles to cut out waste and motion throughout the shop floor.
• Prioritize and Review Work: Take the time to assess the current operations and standardize across the board for the best outcomes.

3. Prioritize Process Optimization

When you prioritize and refine, you create improved manufacturing. Prepare the team for change by establishing training.

• Employee Training: The training of employees and team members is essential for quality results.
• Consider Cellular Manufacturing: Task and process implementation across the floor improves output and workflow.

4. Maintenance Strategy Improvements

Set a maintenance strategy that boosts efficiency and improves the outcome and performance of machinery.

• Preventative Strategy: Consider a preventative stance for equipment and determine how best to respond with actionable, real-time data.
• Software Centralization: Use software to organize maintenance tasks and make the most of your team.

5. Automate

Is your team spending too much time on rote, repetitive tasks? Automation enables your workforce to delegate smaller duties.

• Delegate Time-Sensitive Tasks: Let the workforce focus on more complex duties by automating the lower-level operations.
  

Leveraging Machine Data for Manufacturing Efficiency

Take advantage of machine sensors and data collection to make high-level changes and increase output. Maximize efforts by leveraging the opportunities in these data points.

• Improve Real-Time Action: Take action and make decisions with data that drives peak performance and improves workflow.
• Discover and Delegate Actionable Opportunities: Improve the workforce by delegating automated tasks to boost the potential for the long-term.

Shoplogix provides a Smart Factory Suite to take your business to the next level. By optimizing efforts, manufacturers are setting up the process for significant wins.

Modern manufacturers are setting the stage for success with efficient data, processes, and staff across the shop floor. The team must be ready to dive into this challenge with a strategy and gameplan in place.

What You Should Do Next 

Explore the Shoplogix Blog

Now that you know how to improve manufacturing efficiency, why not check out our other blog posts? It’s full of useful articles, professional advice, and updates on the latest trends that can help keep your operations up-to-date. Take a look and find out more about what’s happening in your industry. Read More

Request a Demo 

Learn more about how our product, Smart Factory Suite, can drive productivity and overall equipment effectiveness across your manufacturing floor. Schedule a meeting with a member of the Shoplogix team to learn more about our solutions and align them with your manufacturing data and technology needs. Request Demo