Managing the critical balance between operational efficiency and profitability whilst trying to find ways to add value to satisfy the demands of increasingly connected and empowered customers is a common challenge for manufacturers. In today’s highly competitive environment, the key differentiator between organisations will be the ability to embrace and adopt manufacturing technology that will support fast, confident decision making and help to accelerate the process.
The role of digital manufacturing solutions in improving operational efficiency to deliver business value, meet customer demand and meet performance targets, is built around 5 key areas:
Administration
- Ensure a consistent and repeatable process
- Ensure operators are empowered with access to consistent, complete and accurate information to be able to support effective and efficient operations
- Deliver timely and relevant information to the point of use, eliminate time spent searching
- Minimise time spent waiting for information, instructions or decisions
- Ensure changes are applied in a systematic and consistent way
- Streamline communication between departments and make it easy to collaborate – a sure way to boost efficiency
Solution: Seamless module and third-party system integration; Paperless job information packs; File revision control; Manufacturing data management; Implementation, training and support services
Production & Engineering
- Ensure the effective planning and control of operation activities
- Effectively and efficiently utilise your manufacturing resources
- Minimise time spent waiting for materials, parts and resources
- Don’t over-process or introduce non-value adding steps
- Identify bottlenecks and take action to remove them and avoid delays
Solution: Finite capacity planning and scheduling; Digital batch card; Prioritised work queues; Planned vs actual KPI reporting; Machine activity monitoring; Non-optimal running condition monitoring
Manufacturing & Operations
- Work on what the customer wants, now. Don’t waste time on work that will end up waiting in stock
- Don’t duplicate effort and get it right first time
- Capture enriched data to share knowledge and help gain deeper insights into performance
- Easily manage, monitor and update multiple resources and jobs
Solution: Prioritised work queues; Operator comments and notifications; Audit trails; Paperless job information packs; Configurable monitoring status grid; Operator dashboard
Management
- Have visibility and awareness of the status of production equipment and resources
- Have visibility and awareness of the status of each works order operation
- Perform resource utilisation monitoring to identify ways to optimise productivity and efficiency – achieving the best possible performance from your existing resources
- Ensure that your strategy, plans and day to day priorities are aligned
- Ensure organisational culture and skill sets need are aligned to existing as well new processes and technologies
- Identify meaningful but ambitious targets – something that stakeholders can get excited about
- Encourage pro-active problem solving and creativity to help support improvement initiatives – make the most of your team’s skills and ideas
- Make the insights available to key personnel to inform and re-enforce critical decisions.
Solution: Live status screens; KPI & reporting tools; Interactive analytics charts; Production history; Audit trails; Seamless third-party system integration; Implementation, training and support services
Seiki Manufacturing System – Supporting Operational Efficiency
As a role-orientated, integrated solution Seiki delivers all the benefits of digital operations whilst minimising the disruption that can occur when introducing new technology into your business. And by starting your digital transformation with your manufacturing operations you’ll be establishing a strong foundation to build upon.
To help drive user adoption the software fully supports the daily work activities, responsibilities and goals of your team. Through familiarity and a simplified experience, Seiki software can help change user behaviours and enforce best practices. It also creates a shared view between teams that will help to develop engagement and trust. Taking some of the effort out of the activities that contribute to operational excellence and achieving manufacturing performance targets will free your team up for creative thinking and value adding activities, which will enable you to engage on a deeper level with customers.
Suggested Further Reading
- Tackling Productivity Losses
- Industry 4.0
- Advice for Implementing a Manufacturing Exection System
- The Manufacturing Technology Centre Change Handbook
