What are the biggest challenges in manufacturing operations?

Training of operating personal , continuous improvement programmes like Kaizen six sigma or any other programme to improve all aspects of manufacturing is a sure path to success. This will ensure all performance kpi’s are exceeded to deliver high quality at optimum costs. Good safety systems is another prerequisite for a good manufacturing operation. analysis of statistics in manufacturing will always lead to improvement opportunities .

Adherence to standard procedures, focus of Health Safety Environment is the most challenging in heavy manufacturing industries. It becomes more difficult as we engage more and more service providers or contractors. Things get even worse as the service provider is changed to reduce costs frequently. The senior industrial leaders need to be five times focused in these priorities and invest on systems to achieve the minimum standards on the shopfloor.

Focus more on people than on the KPIs. Help your team members to develop, experience personal growth, treat each other with respect and succeed in their job. Training, consistent constructive feedback and positive reinforcement are key. If they succeed, the company will succeed. 🙌🏻 Quality and productivity should be everyone’s job.

Cost effectiveness can be seen only when there are higher efficiencies / control on wastages and skilfulness. There is no other factor to see a better cost effective product. Just work on above 3 lines and you are almost there. Last but not the least motivation of employees also play a major role here.

Also ensuring safety of the people and products needs to be on the core of what we are doing. As caring for people are in the core of what a sustainable operation does.

As long as lean is viewed as a method/tool rather than a manufacturing lifestyle, it will be very difficult to make it sustainable. It’s not the manager who has to apply it. Quality and productivity is everyone’s responsibility and therefore good training is essential. Whenever I ask people in my workshops what they have to do with a process, their answer is to “follow it” rather than “finding ways to improve it.” Nobody knows better how to improve the job than the people who are doing it. Ideally everyone comes to work with the mindset, “Can I find a better way of doing things today?”

Determining the optimal production capacity to meet customer demand without causing bottlenecks or underutilization of resources is a continual challenge, requiring accurate forecasting and production planning.

Many operations managers sit on a goldmine, which is their workforce and they have no clue how to bring out the best in them. What would it be like if every single worker would come to work with the mindset, “Is there a better way of doing things? Let’s go find it.” If you think this is impossible, I encourage you to think again. Many people in the workforce are underpaid, under appreciated and under utilized. Most people have more talent, skill and creativity than they are ever allowed to demonstrate. 🤷🏼♀️ This would be a great start to promote innovation and creativity.

Many industries nowadays are actually not willing to go for latest technology available in the market. Several possible causes might be not reluctant to change, worries on the reliability, high investment cost incurred or lack of potential candidates that capable to make a move.

I could give a textbook answer but I have experienced that many operations managers experience so much stress that they don’t even think about how their way of thinking, acting and communicating (also internally) could do more harm than good. When we are stressed we become very different people. 🤷🏼♀️ A different perspective and more self-awareness can do wonders. 🤩Before we tell operations managers what they should do, we have to pick them up from where they are (listen to their challenges, understand their perspective) and slowly help them to shift their focus. I love the tremendous opportunity in manufacturing environments and appreciate all the people who do the best they can every single day.

1. Leaders assure that Core Values have been established & that there are regular opportunities to highlight team members exhibiting the CV. 2. Clarify and communicate the company's mission using no more than 3 economic priorities, a deadline, and the reason why the mission matters. 3. Establish a regular cadence of (1) all-staff, (2) leadership, (3) department, and (4) personal priority speed check meetings. These are opportunities to review the company's 3 economic priorities and to ensure that department-level and individual-level activities are in alignment with and support the economic priorities. Having clear & accepted Core Values, a clear mission statement, and activities aligned with the mission statement creates a strong culture!

I think the biggest challenge is that many people in technical professions don’t consider the importance of mindset and communication in a leadership role. Many people in companies still lead with a mindset from the industrial age. Motivation by instilling fear is still an unfortunate reality. There is often a tremendous lack of self-awareness. The role of a manager isn’t to motivate people. However, it is to create a motivating environment where team members feel that they have a voice.

Manufacturing team has to take care of 4M with strong support of 5th M. 4Ms are pillars of any manufacturing plants and with efficient and effectively utilization & management any challenges could be faced and resolved at any given time. 1. Man: People is real assets of the company. With mix combination of experienced and freshers or less experienced team with time to time training on expected delivery would help in achieving desired results. 2. Machine: Predictive maintenance of critical machines and equipment with scheduled preventive maintenance would help to achieve targeted output and ensure good health of them. 3. Material: Optimum inventory level & it's effective management ensure smooth production activities and cost control.

If we are to look closely, these challenges will not end. All are valid, in my experience, it's how these challenges are being taken as lessons and opportunities. Even the proponent of LEAN and TPM like Toyota and Motorola have setbacks and recalls, but they improved constantly and became better than before. No magic formula. It's the people that makes the company.

Although these are great viewpoints and forward thinking perspectives it all comes down to who's running the production lines. Who sets the pace on the warehouse floor? Is he respected by his company workers on the lines. What you need is an employee that has enough tenure to know why the existing processes are in place but is open minded. There are some companies out there that face some tough decisions. Older employees with the company are going to have to embrace to change that the new generation is bringing on. Or they will have no place in the company. Younger employees will have to acknowledge that procedure or process improvements have to be proven and justify before they can be implemented on the workfloor

👉 Supply chain management is a key challenge. In fact, Manufacturers often rely on a complex supply chain that includes multiple suppliers, distributors, and logistics partners. Managing this network efficiently and ensuring timely delivery of materials and products can be a major challenge. Ensuring a smooth flow of raw materials, components, and finished goods can be challenging, especially when dealing with global suppliers and complex supply chains.