4 New Year’s Resolutions for the Lean Manufacturing Company
Leave a CommentBUILT Systems isn’t about mass production. We craft exactly what your plant needs to thrive. From day one, we adopted the lean approach in our own factory. We know the importance of removing inefficiency and waste from the manufacturing cycle. The results are products, processes, and customer experiences that continue to improve over time. As the New Year begins, keep in mind these 4 processes to keep your company lean.
Adopt Ergonomic Technologies
It is proven that by maximizing the ergonomic appeal of your workplace, you reap innumerable benefits. The primary benefit being an overall increase in production and efficiency of operations. Ergonomics keep laborers safe. If laborers are working under hazardous conditions, they’re not only more prone to injury, they’re also much less likely to be enthusiastic on the job. This will lessen the likelihood of tasks being completed in full.
Helpful Methods to Adopt Ergonomics
Flexible manufacturing systems include height adjustable mobile workstations and carts. These eliminate both worker fatigue and forklifts from the factory floor. To satisfy the innumerable assembly situations, carts are customized to match the types of loads brought to the line and the function at that point of the process. These carts offer different sizes and designs such as tilting capabilities to enable access deep into a container with minimal bending at the waist and back.
The carts travel to and from the warehouse or dock using an automated guided cart rather than 5-ton forklifts, which can be a safety hazard to employees on the factory floor. As for productivity, no coordination needs to be made between the assembly worker and the next cart coming up to the line. As the employee deals with the cart at hand, the next cart can be brought up at any time to the work area. When ready for the next cart, the worker moves the previous cart out to be picked up by the automated guided cart that happens to pass by the area. Work never slows down or stops to shuttle cart loads. In addition, these carts maneuver easily in cramped areas that would eat up time for even a skilled forklift driver.
Traditional standard workstations in manufacturing are bolted down and require workers to deal with a work surface that is in a fixed position. To reduce the risks of physical strain, we design our tables, bases, benches, and stools so that employees can raise and lower them to suit their needs.
Other products, such as our material handling carts and racks, tilt to present parts at ergonomic angles. Not only will your employees experience increased comfort and well-being, but their overall efficiency and productivity will improve.
Make use of Kaizen Practices
Kaizen practice is a Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement in working practices and personal efficiency. Kaizen is based on the belief that everything can be improved. Every small change over time will add up to substantial changes in the long term. This will make the company an adapting and innovative entity. It can be a much easier and employee friendly way to implement changes as the company inevitably grows.
Kaizen practices reduce the amount of waste – but not the typical type of waste. Kaizen practices streamline the activities in an organization to help the company reach maximum efficiency, as it attempts to decrease resources used, such as time and money.
Utilizing the Kaizen model as a core construct, BUILT Systems designs manufacturing equipment and custom product solutions that are highly adaptable and modular to keep up with the shifting demands of your company’s production floor. As your business implements improvements and tweaks current processes, the products at BUILT Systems will keep pace.
See the results for yourself by discovering the benefits that BUILT Systems can offer you. Contact us to speak with a representative about the many ways our products can streamline your team’s work.
Increase Sustainability and CSR
Sustainability is not only an environmentally friendly approach to business, but it is also an ever-growing trend in today’s society. This includes corporate social responsibility.
While many companies are turning to sustainability solely to follow the wants of their customers, it is beneficial to stay ahead of the game. It is important to continue to be proactive about your sustainability efforts to stay competitive and efficient. At BUILT, we strive to be a worthy partner for customers, suppliers, and employees. With a mindset of continuous improvement, we’re committed to keeping environmental and social sustainability a priority.
Not only do you benefit socially from sustainability practices, but financially as well. By being a sustainable company, you will attract the top talent. Many of the most talented leaders seek a sustainable culture that values corporate social responsibility because of the high commitment it brings to the organization. The employee and community commitment to your organization will make your facility stronger and more valuable in the future by creating a legacy. Becoming a sustainable company will not happen overnight, but there are small steps that can set you in the right direction.
Make Employees the Priority
Your employees are the reason that your business exists. We all know that employees are the most important aspect in business, so why not treat them as such? It is so important to invest in the continuous improvement of not only your business but also your employees. Not only will you decrease turnover and increase loyalty, investing in your employees will set you at a competitive advantage.
Study by Revel Systems
A study by RevelSystems.com found that engaged employees perform 20% better than their disengaged counterparts. Not only that, but companies with engaged employees perform up to 202% better. Happy employees mean high organizational commitment. This means you get employees who want to do the best work to benefit their company. With 31% higher productivity, 37% higher sales, and 3x higher creativity, it is no wonder innovative companies are focusing more and more on their employees.
Study done by RevelSystems.comThere are countless ways to invest in your employees. Along with the obvious training programs and classes, your company could come up with “outside of the box” ways to invest in employees like Google. Google sets aside 20% of work time for employees to work on any project they want. The catch: it can not be a part of their day to day work. By doing this, they allow employees to be creative and come up with new and innovative software’s and products. In fact, many of their best products such as Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Talk came out of this method.
It is clear that processes and techniques are rapidly changing as the industry grows and becomes more innovative. In order to stay relevant in today’s market, it is important to stay ahead of these processes and be able to adapt your facility to new trends.
Stay relevant in the industry with the help of ergonomic manufacturing equipment, Kaizen and sustainable practices, and investing in employees. Start the new year in a competitive position.
Make Your Facility Better at Every Level With BUILT Systems
Sources:
4 Advantages of Incorporating Sustainability Strategies into Your Business. 2015, www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-4-advantages-of-incorporating-sustainability-strategies-into-your-business/$FILE/EY-4-advantages-of-incorporating-sustainability-strategies-into-your-business.pdf.
“How an IPad POS Can Boost Employee Productivity.” Revel IPad POS, 29 July 2016, revelsystems.com/blog/2015/10/01/how-an-ipad-pos-can-boost-employee-productivity/.