Using historical production data, especially when there are automatisms for collecting data from the machines, it is possible to develop models to increase productivity. In addition to the data collected on the shop floor, other variables can be added to these models. These models allow decision making by evaluating the impact of multiple variables on the results.
Manufacturing is negatively affected mainly by poorly designed PPC plans. By improving the forecasting process, manufacturing can work on process stabilization and long-term optimizations.
Factory labor sizing is one of the main benefits of using time series.
Introducing a process of benchmarking competitors’ products, using reverse engineering techniques, can help identify manufacturing opportunities.
A relevant aspect in Competitive Intelligence for Manufacturing is to identify at what level the competitors are in relation to Industry 4.0.
Suggestions presented for the processes of Business Management, Sales and Marketing, Engineering, Quality.
Working together with the PPC, it is possible to map the most relevant indicators to measure manufacturing productivity and act in production processes that are bottlenecks or with low efficiency.
Suggestion presented for the Business Management process.
The continuous need for product renewal is a major challenge for manufacturing. It is necessary to have a development methodology that allows evaluating the production of the new product through a pilot batch without harming the current operation.
A technique with excellent results in the developments is to use the concept of DFMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) to direct the engineering towards the best technical solution in the assembly.
To address the lack of resources for improvements in the production process, one of the alternatives is to hire more people and the other is to work on prioritizing projects with Portfolio Management. This definition structures decision-making for the most relevant projects, avoiding negotiations for specific resources, where affinity between people prevails rather than what is best for the company.
It is common for companies to allocate the professional with the greatest technical knowledge regarding the scope as project leader. And it is even more common that this type of professional profile prioritizes the execution of technical activities to the detriment of project management. it is possible to conciliate the 2 roles: Project Leader and Technical Specialist.
Short-term workshops (~2 days) can be carried out with the main projects selected for the leaders. In this type of event, in addition to learning the techniques, the projects are already planned.
A number of tools can be used to implement manufacturing solutions (DOE, COV, MSE).
The most common applications are to solve quality problems or optimize the cost of the product/process.
After knowing the tools and seeing the results, many companies look for the training of their teams: Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt, Six Sigma for Executives.