Productivity is a common buzzword in the business place. In manufacturing, productivity is everything. Every dollar put into any manufacturing process is only as meaningful as the resultant output. 

Essentially, the more you can produce in any set duration, the money you make. 

Even when things seem to be going well, there is always room for growth regarding the things you can do to reorganize how you work and remove production obstacles to increase input. 

Here are five key ways to increase productivity at your facility. 

Leverage an ERP or MRP

These two software systems are closely related. However, the difference between ERP and MRP systems lies in their scope. 

While both support manufacturing processes, one does much more than that. An MRP focuses solely on the manufacturing itself. On the other hand, an ERP provides a broader range of solutions. These include accounting, business intelligence, project management, customer relationship management, and sales. 

Provide Easily Accessible Digital Communication Tools

Manufacturing comes with numerous moving bits and pieces. This includes workers some of whom are off-site and non-desk workers. 

A key thing to consider is how to ensure they work in tandem with overall company goals. Communication is central to this. 

Allowing your workers access to systems, they need in their line of work is one way to increase productivity. A simple way to do this is to integrate mobile solutions and cloud services. This ensures information is available to them just as it is to other workers. 

Commit to Scheduled Maintenance

One quick way to slow things down is to overlook scheduled maintenance. As you might already know, downtime for planned maintenance costs manufacturers much less than downtime from breakdowns does. 

Ensure to schedule preventive maintenance. This should be slotted using information from your floor and workflow processes. 

In addition, train employees on regular troubleshooting and maintenance procedures. 

Maintain Optimal Inventory

Too little or inadequate inventory places you at risk of increased stoppages as you run out of required items. This reduces productivity and gets costly over time. 

This makes optimizing inventory a key factor in manufacturing. One of the things you can do is use inventory tracking software that notifies you of shortages. 

You can also allow vendors to access your inventory and make automatic supplies.

Recruit, Build, and Train a Diverse Workforce

With few millennials and generation Z considering careers in manufacturing, the field is facing a widening skills gap and a shortening workforce. 

Companies, therefore, need to create innovative, creative hiring initiatives and invest in training and skills development for their workforce. This will ensure enhanced production capabilities. 

Final Say

High production rates are the lifelines of manufacturing. Ultimately, these ensure increased revenue, the opportunities to take more work, expand, scale, pay better wages and make new equipment purchases.