GEA's Global HVAC Technology Blog

Many small and medium sized companies want or need to change the way they manufacture due to increased production capacity, increased profitability and/or increased market share.

This realization requires the start of a journey that begins with the development of a roadmap to outline how to get from where you currently are to manufacturing process improvement goals that you want to attain. However, this is difficult because rarely (almost never) do small to medium size businesses have the data to know where they are with respect to the current state-of-the-art methods as it applies to manufacture technology needed to compete and be profitable in today's business environment. They seldom have the human capital to devote to a journey focused on manufacturing improvement. The investment in using a consultant can be the answer. A consultant can quickly help define the road map, provide the metrics, conduct staff training in the latest manufacturing thinking and be a resource at key steps and when a bottleneck is encountered.

The journey begins with understanding "Where are we today?" Most companies have limited manufacturing process performance data (metrics) and process control documentation. The first step therefore becomes collection of data where it is not in place combined with an accurate plant layout.

Next, is data collection focusing on documenting each process in the manufacturing process, the required operator skills, the process technique information, the tools (hand & machine) needed, the cycle time by operation and the materials (including purchased parts). While collecting this information it provides a perfect opportunity to ask each operator if they have any suggestions to improve the process or eliminate non-value-added activities.

While this is happening, which may take many days, weeks, or even months, the organization's leadership must look at what their manufacturing goals are. Be aware "Where do we want to be?" initially is only a conceptual goal. Until the data is collected and analyzed which road map to use is only conceptual. Remember, during data collection don't wait to implement a good idea until all the data is collected and a road map direction is selected.

The benefit of a consultant is in analyzing the data to help in the development of the road map. Remember, the roadmap shows how to get from "A" to "B." And as with any roadmap there are restraints which can include; available capital for equipment and tooling, floor space, and work rules to mentions a few.

The road for an organization wanting to change will start with the data collected from "Where are we now?" This data must be timely and accurate (not necessarily precise). The data must be analyzed with the "Where do we want to be" in mind. With this analysis should come estimated costs, estimated time to complete, and, at least one (1) alternate route. These roadmaps should be presented to the organization's leadership who should question the costs, the time required and will the investment to produce the goals discussed at the beginning of this document.

There will be trade-offs: Less Time required à More Expense, for example. Conversely, Less Expense à Longer Time to Achieve. And there will be a need for focused people (or person). (Again, there may be a need for temps for some of these tasks).

Once the roadmap has been laid out, both conceptually and on paper, and accepted by the organization's leadership, it must be presented to ALL who will be affected. There should be training for ALL to understand the benefits of the changes that took place. There must be periodic update meetings for the people to see/hear of the progress of their efforts including the consultant's contribution and what is left to be accomplished.

The transition begins! The journey along the roadmap must be coordinated and frequently monitored for roadblocks, and even detours needed to allow you to reach the goals defined in the original plan.

The question that will be asked, "Were we successful in attaining the goals set out to be accomplished?" "This requires that metrics be defined at the beginning of the journey and that at the start of the journey you know the performance level of each selected metric. It is also important to continue measurement during the journey of improvement to confirm that progress is being made. Here are some manufacturing metric examples.

1. Did we reduce the man-hours to produce the product?
2. Were we able to produce more product using the same or less floor space or even reduce the required floor space to allow expanding the product offering without adding capital investment?
3. Were we able improve our on time delivery metric or even reduce our manufacturing cycle to become more competitive?
4. Are we seeing reduced rework and fewer customer complaints?
5. Did the consultant teach us so we can continue to improve on our own?
6. Did the process succeed in improving the communication between Engineering, Purchasing, Production Control and the factory team?
7. Did the effort overall improve the profitability of the business?

Yes, I called it a road map, but your continuous improvement journey must not end at the end of the initial road map (perceived by management frequently as a project). Successful projects breed the impetus to revise the goals and metrics and work toward further improves in the original selected metrics.

Editor's Note: CR4 would like to thank Mike Koza of GEA Consulting for contributing this blog entry.