Enforcing Processes an Important Element in Manufacturing Success

Manufacturing News, Source : The Manufacturer US
Published : 08 Nov 2006 23:09

(Following is a guest editorial from Greg DeLaere, CEO of VIA Information Tools, Inc., a commercial application software provider and professional services consultancy.)

For many years our industry has been faced with the challenge of globalization. But it has also been faced with the challenge of enforcing processes.

It is true that discrete manufacturers have moved operations overseas because of cost advantages and to be closer to customers. Those companies that have quickly adapted to this trend effectively have profited.

But globalization itself isn’t a cure-all. Moving operations overseas where labor costs less is not a recipe by itself for long-term profitability.

Indeed globalization is more than a pure labor cost play. Although labor costs are a significant issue in the industry and are a primary motivator for businesses to move operations overseas, the remaining attributes of a business operation cannot, and should not, be ignored.

One such attribute – and in my opinion the most critical - is enforcing business processes. The consistent application of key operating principles and processes in a distributed manufacturing enterprise is a critical element in helping discrete manufacturers save money while addressing labor opportunities.

For years, some companies have struggled to meet their bottom-line goals because their manufacturing processes simply were not enforced in an efficient way. The result has been mislabeled products, late deliveries, poor quality, increased waste and inappropriate inventory to expanded recalls. And this isn’t a new phenomenon – it has been going on for years whether the manufacturers make cars, ships, medical devices, electronics or textiles.

Such concepts as lean manufacturing and Six Sigma have significantly decreased tolerance for errors and missing deadlines. But the entire concept of lean involves a plant’s ability to consistently enforce those processes throughout the global manufacturing enterprise which are changing on a monthly, weekly and sometimes daily basis.

Increasingly the tolerance for errors has waned while complexity and direct material costs have risen. Today’s lines require more connected and informed labor and more technology than ever before. The success of a plant still relies on how well a manufacturer’s customer needs are met - the right parts at the right time, built the right way.

This is why the effective yield of a manufacturing plant’s output today is largely defined by the quality of its process enforcement capabilities. Traceability and sequencing solutions, Dashboard products, change and order management, production monitoring, error proofing and more should be considered within the confines of a manufacturing firm as an a value-add investment and a source of added revenue and increased profits.

An October 2006 study conducted by MESA International and Industry Directions, Inc. indicated that offshoring, and therefore the broad concept of globalization, has both positive and negative impacts on North American manufacturers. While production costs can be lowered and global markets are served more efficiently using this concept, there are also significant drawbacks.

The survey states: “Long lead times generally mean an increase in inventory…and the difficulties of management and knowledge transfer may result in lower quality, less advance visibility and an increase in risk.”

Yet with processes that are properly enforced, these issues can be avoided whether a company has plants in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa or all of the above. Enforcing your basic manufacturing processes with viable software solutions can help control inventory and improve efficiencies, thereby raising quality and offering more access to plant-wide visibility.

With this type of real-time visibility you’ll know what’s happening on your plant floor at all times – and you’ll have the ability to address situations immediately as they arise.

But that can only be done if your processes are being enforced. Globalization in our industry today is about making sure we consistently enforce those processes that yield the highest performance. The companies that can will be leading the manufacturing charge well into this 21st Century – no matter where their products are being made.

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