by admin | Nov 20, 2023 | Planning & Scheduling, Process Improvement
This presentation will discuss a unique and practical learning framework – VirtECS (Virtually Exhaustive Combinatorial System) – to rapidly (1) enable a high-fidelity model of bioprocessing and (2) search the many possible process schedules to find a high-performance way to operate. VirtECS improves capital efficiency, drives throughput increases, and promotes cost reduction. VirtECS can be used to establish manufacturing social media that promotes continuous improvement, complexity mitigation, and teamwork.
by admin | Sep 2, 2020 | Planning & Scheduling
In our experience, coordinated and open communication has been one of the key factors in improving efficiency at manufacturing plants. However, it’s also one of the most overlooked factors. For the rest of your manufacturing processes to work as effectively as possible, there has to be an improved level of communication. We’ll tell you our top 3 reasons why and how to make it happen at your company below.
#1: Keep Employees Engaged.
Employee engagement and productivity is an ongoing problem for manufacturers. According to a recent study from Gallup, only 25 percent of all manufacturing employees would say that they are engaged while at work; that’s 8 percent lower engagement than the national average. Disengaged employees are much more likely to make mistakes and otherwise work inefficiently. The same Gallup study found disengaged employees cost US employers more than $400 billion in lost productivity every year.
One way to start combatting the issue of engagement is to open lines of communication and give employees easier access to necessary information. Simple actions like publishing the plant’s schedule and creating communication channels shows your team that everyone’s role is valuable to the overall success of the plant. It helps each person understand that they’re more than a cog in a wheel and gives them a sense of purpose that leads to an increased ownership in their work. According to a study from researchers at Michigan State University and University of Minnesota, employees’ sense of ownership for their job is positively associated with both commitment to the organization and improved work performance.
#2: Facilitate Feedback
At many plants, communication between different teams, departments or shifts can be challenging. The buildings are huge, making it difficult to track down individuals, and many employees may not have easy access to a desk or computer at work. The equipment can be noisy and everyone is busy, so it’s not always easy to hop on a computer and send an email when an issue pops up. Without an open dialogue between employees, more errors are missed and problems pile up, eating your team’s valuable time.
Facilitating clearer and more frequent communication between employees at all levels can help create a more cohesive work environment throughout the plant. If everyone at your facility is able to comment on the plant’s schedule and communicate about issues that pop up, employees can point out concerns that are often overlooked, coordinate efforts to address issues and bring new approaches to the forefront. Ultimately, frequent two-way communication makes your whole team’s job easier and keeps the flow of work moving efficiently.
#3: Boost Your Bottom Line.
As we mentioned earlier, employee disengagement is an expensive drain on your business, costing US employers billions of dollars every year. Those breakdowns in productivity result in supply chain mistakes, excessive changeover time and costly remakes. When trying to keep costs as low as possible, these can cause a real problem for manufacturers. However, when communication is more streamlined, it can result in big savings. According to business consulting firm Flint Strategic Partners, open lines of communication have been found to improve manufacturers’ bottom line by 10 percent or more.
Using VirtECS Symphony To Simplify Communication
You may place communication as a priority at your plant, but it can still be challenging to determine how you’ll keep improving it. That is where VirtECS Symphony comes in. VirtECS Symphony is an amazing communication benefit to our scheduling software for advanced manufacturing. It’s a web-based module that allows everyone in the plant to easily access the VirtECS schedule. We’ve worked with clients who have chosen to display the schedule to hundreds of daily users on screens throughout their facility and others who let employees check it on their own digital devices. Each person can toggle between the plant’ overall schedule and their own individual piece of the process, which will help everyone stay fully informed.
In addition, VirtECS Symphony is customizable, expandable and continually updated to keep up with development within the VirtECS technology. It follows industry standard security protocols and is able to integrate customer authentication and usernames to help track comments appropriately. The comment system is also an extremely powerful bidirectional communication mechanism that can embed XML and JSON to power features such as field schedule editing suggestions and evaluation of schedule compliance.
To learn more about how VirtECS Symphony can coordinate distributed schedule activity and enable better communication in your company, shoot us a message at info@combination.com or download our Symphony overview using the form below.
by admin | Sep 2, 2020 | Industry News
Heading into 2020, manufacturers had high expectations for the year ahead. According to IndustryWeek’s report, “The Future of Manufacturing: 2020 and Beyond,” 90 percent of manufacturing leaders expected their revenue to grow this year. This outlook also carried over into long-term industry growth. More than half expect annual growth rates to reach 5 percent or more over the next five years.
To achieve that long-term targeted growth, manufacturers are focusing on improvements that will cut expenses and increase output. In the IndustryWeek report, leaders listed their top priorities as improving their process productivity and response speed.
Improving process efficiency is not just a short-term focus for manufacturers. Industry leaders are also optimistic about the long-term benefits. More efficient processes result in higher profit margins, decreased waste and fewer costly production errors – which is more appealing than ever, because rising costs is one of the top challenges for manufacturers. However, being the most efficient is not enough on its own. As this year has taught us, organizations must be able to adapt quickly to unexpected circumstances.
The Manufacturing Challenges of Covid-19
When this report was published at the start of the year, no one in the industry was expecting to face a pandemic of this size. As additional challenges continue to arise from the pandemic, it has only reinforced the need to address adaptability. In a recent article for AutomationWorld, QAD Director of Consumer and Food & Beverage Markets Stephen Dombroski noted that manufacturers must address constraints in their supply chain and create systems that are more flexible if they’re going to survive another event like this in the future.
One major issue brought to light from the coronavirus pandemic is manufacturers’ reliance on Chinese supplies. According to supply chain consultant Kloepfel Consulting, more than 80% of all US companies rely on Chinese suppliers in some capacity. As a result, many major industries, including pharmaceuticals, automotive, medical equipment and retail, all faced shortages when the pandemic closed factories across China. These formidable supply chain disruptions forced manufacturers to shift their production schedules to focus on other items they produce while waiting for supply shipments. This can be a complicated process, and without helpful tools in place, many companies struggle to adapt effectively.
As the old saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. There have been countless examples in the past of groundbreaking innovations that have come from worldwide challenges. For example, during World War II, conflict with Japan resulted in a US shortage of natural rubber, which they needed to produce military clothing and equipment. In response, companies like Firestone, Goodyear & Goodrich used their combined knowledge of chemicals and production designs to create mass amounts of synthetic rubber that the US military desperately needed. By 1944, their plants were manufacturing 800,000 tons of the material every year. Today, using synthetic rubber has become the standard for most industries.
Looking to the Future of Manufacturing
Manufacturers should take advantage of this time to identify the various disruptions created by the pandemic and put plans in place to address and improve them. IndustryWeek predicts manufacturers that are investing in strategies and tools to minimize supply chain risk and improve their accuracy will be particularly poised for long-term success as we come of the coronavirus pandemic.
Our clients are looking to solve similar issues with our VirtECS planning and scheduling software every day. With the help of VirtECS, they’re able to eliminate waste, reduce idling time, control their inventory and organize resources to maximize their throughput. To get in touch with us about how VirtECS can improve your plant’s efficiency, send us an email at info@combination.com.
