There are plenty of areas within a manufacturing business where technology can be used to make or initiate improvements. Technology is there to make life easier, certain functions quicker, and working time more productive. Although not all technology can be adapted to every business, there is a fair amount that can be, but you must make sure that those employees whom you want to use the technology that you provide are well trained in its use and will not abuse it in any way.
#1 Software to help keep on track
One of the main big headaches in manufacturing is that of being able to hit deadlines. Often the near miss of a deadline in manufacturing can come at some sort of cost, either in reputation or financial penalty from the customer. However, there is a way around this, or at least so that you and your planners will have ample chance to smooth things over with your customer or arrange a new deadline.
This is to install some workflow management software and have it accessible to all of your production staff as well as your planning and office staff. Making sure that all of your production staff know how to use it before its release onto your shop floor is a must, as the main point of this is so that your employees can add notes in real-time as to the location and condition of the order. This way, should there be any hold-up, either with rework required or downtime on the line or, for that matter, lack of components for the order, any planner involved will be able to see it and alert the customer to the possible delivery delay.
#2 Hardware to keep work moving
When talking about the world of manufacturing, it is important to keep assembly lines working. This can be relatively easy with a flow line with employees that work at a similar or the same rate as each other, but more manufacturing sites do not work or cannot work on a flow line basis.
Having your manufacturing operatives wandering around the shop floor either dropping off work to another worker, collecting work from a colleague who is not next to them, or physically looking for work is not a good way to run a manufacturing business. In fact, you are spending a lot of money on time that is not billable to the customer.
This is where it could be well worth your while installing some conveyor belts so that the work is brought to your workers and carried from worker to worker. This means that all the time they are on the shop floor will be the time that they are working, not walking around.
#3 Machinery to keep orders together
It is very important to keep your warehouse smart and organized. Making sure that orders are kept together will save time when it comes to shipping them. One of the easiest ways you can do this is to have a baler situated in your warehouse area. Of course, when using a baler, you will have to make sure that the right-sized baling wire is used. Otherwise, you will be wasting your employee’s time and effort as they try to adapt the wire provided, which will either end up being acceptable or failing in the job. If you are not sure which sort of baling wire you require for the job at hand, it is best to ask the professionals such as Baling Wire Direct, as they will be able to provide you will all of the information that you will require for your baling needs.
If you have yet to install a baler in your business, then you may find that you have plenty of use for one in different areas of your business, not only in the packaging of orders but also in areas such as your recycling storage area.