Imagine a football game with no scoreboard, no coach on the sidelines, and they just keep trying the same play over and over again with no progress.
Doesn't sound like much fun to me, and the stands would likely be pretty empty. Unfortunately, this is the state of many manufacturer's MES systems. They often lack the real-time visibility that shows whether they are winning or losing. How you change things up when things don't go as planned has an impact on the team.
Poor visibility has huge financial and operational impact in the areas of:
Lets dig a bit deeper into the 3 key elements of visibility:
Manufacturing has limited time to execute their production plans to meet customer demands. How they execute the plan determines a win or loss.
Your MES system should tell you the score as it relates to the key metrics, such as Operational availability, OEE, Scrap/Yield and Productivity to name a few. Your ability to know the status of these metrics in the game will greatly impact your ability to rally your team around a common goal.
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" - Mike Tyson
All too often I see manufacturing plants trying to build perfect production plans for fairly weak operations. For example if your OEE is 60%, chances are you're going to miss your production orders pretty regularly. Systems like L2L are built knowing that things don't always go as planned, and you need the ability to readjust and refocus on the fly.
If the the other team's defense keeps blocking your offense, you don't give up. You go back to the drawing board, adjust, try a new play:
I am continually amazed at the lack of confidence many managers have in the aptitude of their people. In visiting plants all over the world I hear things like:
I am continually stunned by their lack of ability to challenge and help all of their employees continue learning and adapting to technology. Here are a few tips for addressing this:
Building processes that are visual can and will help you manage the chaos of the shop floor. There is no perfect plan so be prepared to have to adjust on the fly and your team will be in position to score.
Want to experience the power of real time visibility firsthand? Get your free demo of L2L's CloudDISPATCH to discover a next-generation MES system that will help your plant achieve operational excellence.