by Ponlakshmi | Apr 29, 2024 | Industry4.0 | 0 comments
Manufacturing is an ever-evolving industry with daily challenges. Manufacturers encounter unexpected production issues, often at inconvenient times. These issues significantly impact the manufacturing industry. Industrial production managers sometimes face a shortage of solutions when dealing with complex operations. They might spend sleepless nights trying to solve these typical production problems. The significant challenges in manufacturing will make them reconsider potent strategies. Hence the new landscape of digital transformation demands rapid change from manufacturers. Their responsibility of monitoring & overseeing production increases to solve the existing & emerging production problems. This article outlines manufacturers' key concerns and offers solutions for operational excellence.
Be it any manufacturing industry, handling & managing inventory is immensely critical for industrial growth & creates various production problems. Inventory management forms the foundation of the supply chain. It involves supervising and inspecting purchases from suppliers and customers. It entails managing & safeguarding stock storage & controlling the available product quantity for sale. Lastly, it encompasses fulfilling orders. Managing inventory effectively is crucial, regardless of its location—whether it's in a warehouse, multiple sites, or consigned and drop-shipped from suppliers. Improved inventory management directly impacts cash flow positively and reduces expenses significantly. Understanding the recurring challenges in inventory management has become crucial. Industry leaders are actively seeking solutions to address these issues & enhance customer satisfaction.
Several typical challenges encountered by the manufacturing industry regarding inventory management include :
Inaptly located material – This will eat up a great deal of time of manpower and it is tough to identify a product among stocked.
Out-of-date material – Failing to recognize and utilize obsolete materials will lead to an increase in expenses and waste of the material.
Excessive stock – Poor stock control & management by the managers.
Stock Theft – Shortage or theft of inventory material lead to production downtime or delay.
Manufacturers rely on global suppliers for their need of raw materials to complete the manufacture of their products successfully. Counting further parties such as contractors, vendors, or other parties, to their supply chain will substantially shoot up the prospects of miscommunication & blunder. Managing various parts of a product happens across different global locations. The production itself extends to multiple locations, either nationally or internationally. The thing is manufacturers must make sure that their supply chain is functioning properly.
The stumbling block is that the diverse manufacturing teams that may be operating throughout the territory or the globe don’t recognize where they are in the process. Manual updating will not be the correct solution. This is because they may miss out on things & also it will be more time-consuming. Lacking an effective means of communication hinders teams from understanding real-time production updates. This lack of clarity makes it impossible for all teams to promptly react to changes in the production schedule.
Quality control in manufacturing is an essential factor. The top-quality outcome generates unwavering customer loyalty. It drives a requisite & crucial contribution to ROI and profitability. Keeping an eye on the equipment/products around the clock is immensely paramount to carrying on a healthy inventory. The faults or imperfections in products will fail to meet customer expectations. This can harm a business's reputation. Hence, finding defective material is essential for fixing the production problems or replacing it with another. Today, manufacturing industries perform this task manually every day & this consumes a lot of time. Hence, the precision real-time data on bad quantity in the production line only will help in avoiding the production of rejects.
Managing manufacturing downtime poses a major challenge for all production managers. Most manufacturers lack focus on understanding the true cost of machine downtime. This oversight contributes to industry-wide costs remaining in the billions of dollars. Not keeping track of your repaired equipment can lead to significant losses. For instance, if a crucial part of your manufacturing equipment breaks down or fails at a key moment in the production process, you will lose substantial costs with an extensive impact on your industry’s bottom line.
A minor alteration in the shop floor's production line can impact production performance. It can lead to serious production problems. An optimal shop floor operation strengthens performance. This ensures sustainable efficiency in the production process. And this seals the commitment to a robust shop floor performance.
To ensure production efficiency, it's crucial to measure the essential shop floor metrics. Every product manager aiming to enhance production must gather & analyze relevant data or metrics. Perfect metrics offer operators vital insights into their production floor, highlighting weak spots. Manufacturers rely on this information to continuously revamp and enhance production. One such important metric is the OEE. It has become an important measure for many manufacturing facilities as a way to examine shop floor productivity. It is a combination of 3 commonly used measures such as availability, performance, & quality. Availability is the detection of the number of times industrial assets are functioning to provide added value to the production process against being down. Performance is how optimal the assets are operating at their maximum speed of production. Quality is a measure that reflects the rejects as a percentage of production. Without OEE measurement, manufacturers encounter challenges like misunderstandings on the shop floor. This ultimately leads to poor production efficiency.
Instead of implementing multiple solutions, providing a comprehensive solution that addresses all shop floor challenges would be more advantageous for manufacturers, saving both costs and time.
Our all-encompassing Smart Factory solution offers manufacturers complete control over their production line at their fingertips. Our solution streamlines every facet of the production process, guaranteeing operational efficiency and heightened productivity.
Now, let's explore how our smart factory solutions can effectively resolve the previously mentioned issues.
As an inventory tracking system, our solution enables manufacturers to effectively manage inventories, thereby boosting overall efficiency and performance in manufacturing operations. With precise inventory monitoring, manufacturers attain enhanced visibility into material movements throughout the production floor, enabling efficient management of work-in-progress (WIP) flow and averting overstocking or shortages at any production stage.
To address communication barriers on the production line, a viable solution involves accurately accessing real-time production data. This access enhances performance and operational efficiency. Therefore, our solution aids manufacturers in obtaining immediate insights into the production process. From raw material availability and forecasting to finished goods, they possess the capability to monitor every aspect, facilitating streamlined manufacturing operations.
With our solution, you can proactively determine reasons for rejecting parts/components based on quality standards. Additionally, our system enables identification and removal of products/components not meeting predetermined quality criteria during manufacturing. Manufacturers can monitor rejected items, capture data on rejection types and frequencies, and gain insights into root causes of quality issues, ultimately enhancing product quality.
To eliminate downtime, a significant drain on manufacturing profitability, ensuring machine reliability is paramount. Our software, serving as a machine maintenance system, empowers manufacturers to preemptively identify reasons for downtime. Operators can promptly report any machine issues, including malfunctions or performance declines, providing detailed maintenance descriptions and specifying the involved machines.
Moreover, manufacturers can schedule and execute routine maintenance tasks on production machines to maintain optimal functionality. Our solution aids supervisors in identifying early signs of potential problems, allowing them to schedule maintenance proactively and prevent unexpected breakdowns, thus maintaining uninterrupted production. Additionally, supervisors can establish advanced alerts to anticipate issues and adjust plans accordingly.
Our Smart Factory solutions aid manufacturers in enhancing shop floor performance through real-time data analytics and predictive maintenance capabilities. They enable comprehensive monitoring of equipment status, production processes, and resource utilization. With an intuitive dashboard and customizable alerts system, operators swiftly gain insights into production bottlenecks, equipment downtime, and quality variations, empowering proactive decision-making to optimize efficiency and minimize disruptions.
Furthermore, predictive maintenance features proactively detect potential equipment failures, facilitating scheduled maintenance activities, reducing unplanned downtime, and ultimately enhancing overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
Therefore, utilizing our Smart Factory solutions enables manufacturers to attain heightened productivity, improved quality, and strengthened operational resilience on the shop floor.
To witness the transformative potential of our Cloud Smart Factory solution in optimizing your shop floor, book a demonstration today!
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