Analysis of a Manufacturing Company: Productivity and Process Improvement

Analysis of a Manufacturing Company: Productivity and Process Improvement

Introduction

The paper discusses about the concept of productivity and process improvement in accordance with the case study of Plasit-brack product line. The concept of productivity and process improvement is implemented in the manufacturing concern in a holistic context. The paper attempts to analyse the current condition of the Plasit-brack product line in relation to its current productivity and seeks to improve the productivity by 5%.

Discussion

Companies must become more competitive and this need to innovate, not only, adapting and using new technologies, investing in new production processes, goods and services but also reorganizing its human resources and management method. More and more organizations decide to improve the quality of their products and services, aiming at customer satisfaction. No doubt, this is not an easy task. The competition is increasing and customers become more demanding (Steiner, 2002). The company needs to develop a culture focused on continuous improvement, process systematization, staff participation and teamwork. This inevitably brings the management processes and their subsequent management documentary (Bedeian, 2004).

Current Analysis

Overall, the current capacity utilization at EMC is 92%. This ranges from about 75% in the blanking machine groups to about 93% in the plastic molding groups. Currently, all departments are running just one 40 hour shift and Assembly, packaging and packing are near 80%, while the finishing processes are around 88%. Improve quality through systematic elimination of problems and improvement Continuous process inevitably leads to improve the productivity of the company and the welfare of their employees. This is why most departments will add some overtime on a weekly basis as needed to stay up with orders. Additional shifts require additional employees. It costs money to hire and train them. Plus employees earn a 15% shift premium as everyone wants both to be involved to do their work and feel a useful contributor. A structured and systematic process for analyzing, troubleshooting and process improvement, using graphical techniques, facilitates teamwork and leads to better solutions than an unstructured.

Improvement Steps

Companies need to constantly adapt and improve their business processes, but often find obstacles in applications and systems installed, they are not prepared to exploit new opportunities and adapt to changes in an agile way (Neal & Hesketh, 2000). Employers highlighted as an important step forward technologically advanced systems acquisition that will:

Update the management plan, control and supervision of the company, so that employees are clear about what to spend the time they spend doing their job,

Provide employees the tools and processes that will help them optimize their performance,

Cooperation with suppliers and customers to respond more quality to the needs of consumers,

The possibility of achieving economies of scale and the opportunity to access a direct sales and new markets (Steiner, 2002).

The BPM (Business Process Management), with its focus evolved and advanced technology, has emerged as the key element to provide organizations that agility and flexibility to respond in an effective way to new challenges and market opportunities (Miles & Snow, ...