For manufacturers, signing a new customer or receiving an increased production order should be cause for celebration. But if an increase in business leaves you wondering if your plant will struggle to keep up with production and deliver orders on time, then you’ve raised a new set of problems.
If work-in-process is backing up, machines are sitting idle because components or materials aren’t available when they’re needed, or scrap and rework are creeping up, you need to resolve those issues before they begin to hold your facility back.
Management can collect production data, but data alone doesn’t give them a clear picture of what causes a bottleneck, an equipment breakdown, or a quality issue. They need clear answers about where to focus their improvement efforts to achieve the greatest impact.
That is the kind of situation where a manufacturing operational assessment can help.
These issues are rarely due to a single machine, process, or person. More often, they are interconnected. Manufacturing operational assessments give a company an opportunity to take a big-picture view of how their operation works, and identify the biggest performance gaps they can target to start seeing improvement.
Regardless of what type of manufacturing you do, there are some clear signs your plant needs an assessment that you should be on the lookout for.
What Is a Manufacturing Operational Assessment?
A manufacturing operational assessment, sometimes called a plant operational assessment, is a way for companies to take a structured view of the way their operation currently works. It gives management a chance to not only identify performance gaps, but to isolate their likely causes and develop a plan for improvement.
At its core, a manufacturing operational assessment seeks to answer three questions about a factory: Where are we now? Why are we falling short of our goals? And what should we change first to improve?
That last question is fundamental to the process.
An assessment should do more than simply identify a problem. Management may know that equipment downtime is an issue or that the scrap and rework rates are too high, but they may not know which problem is costing them the most, and they may not know which problem to tackle first. An operational assessment can provide that guidance.
A plant operational assessment can range in scope from covering a specific manufacturing process or a particular product, to a comprehensive review of a company’s manufacturing operations. The scope of the assessment can depend on a company’s specific situation, goals, performance gaps, and operational complexity.
Manufacturing Operational Assessment vs Manufacturing Operations Audit
The terms “manufacturing operational assessment” and “manufacturing operations audit” are sometimes used interchangeably, but in practice they can serve different purposes
An audit generally focuses on determining whether or not a specific process meets defined requirements, standards, policies or procedures. For example, an audit may be used to evaluate whether a food manufacturer is meeting established food safety standards.
An operational assessment is generally broader in scope and focused on finding areas of improvement within a process. During a plant operational assessment, the assessor might review the process, how it is carried out on the shop floor, gathering performance data, and examining material flow. They may interview employees and managers so they can understand how the operation is performing, as well as why it is performing that way.
The assessor will take their findings and develop recommendations for targeting the biggest opportunities for improvement with a detailed action plan.
What Happens During a Plant Operational Assessment?
During an operations assessment, any number of areas can be looked at. Things like production flow, scheduling, capacity, quality, equipment downtime, material flow, workforce utilization, and many other areas are all potential subjects of an assessment, depending on the needs of the organization.
Assessments ultimately identify the current-state of these areas, performance gaps, root causes, and improvement opportunities. The assessment will prioritize the most important opportunities for improvement, recommended actions, and a roadmap for implementation.
The course of a plant operations assessment typically follows a specific order.
-
Set Goals and Scope
An assessment starts by identifying what problems are apparent, and what management wants to improve. The scope will dictate which parts of plant operations will be examined.
-
Establish a Performance Baseline
To understand where your performance currently sits, an assessor will review the production and business metrics relevant to your goals, such as throughput, lead time, scrap/rework, downtime, WIP, and others.
-
Observe the Operation
The assessor will walk the plant floor and observe how the actual processes are being executed, rather than rely exclusively on reports. They may examine work-in-process, bottlenecks, workstation organization, material movement, standard work and other aspects of the operation.
-
Identify Gaps and Root Causes
From the observations, an assessor can connect symptoms to underlying process problems. For instance, an assessment might reveal that late orders are being caused by bottlenecks rather than scheduling problems
-
Prioritize Opportunities
Not every problem deserves equal attention. Solving certain problems may have a greater impact on overall performance than others. The highest-value opportunities should be identified and targeted first.
-
Build an Improvement Roadmap
A roadmap for improvement will offer specific recommendations that prioritize the most impactful improvements, as well as “easy wins” that can be implemented quickly.
The Biggest Signs Your Plant Needs an Assessment
Manufacturers often know when something is wrong with their operations, but they don’t always prioritize taking action. If your plant is experiencing any of these issues, it might be a sign that your plant needs an assessment.
You’re Fighting the Same Operational Problems Over and Over
Recurring problems like late orders, bottlenecks, equipment downtime, and quality issues can be a strong indicator that your facility can benefit from an operational assessment. When these issues go unaddressed for months or even years, it reduces a plant’s efficiency and ultimately costs time and money in lost opportunities.
Growth Is Exposing Capacity and Process Problems
More orders should be good news, but growth can also expose weaknesses in capacity, material flow, layout, and standard work. When your company struggles to keep up with increased demand, it can be a good time to consider a plant operational assessment.
You Have the Data, But Not the Answers
Some manufacturers capture significant amounts of data, create dashboards, and measure them OEE scores and other metrics, but management still doesn’t understand what is driving poor performance. A manufacturing operational assessment can go beyond the data to identify the root cause of poor performance.
Different Departments See Different Problems
When departments aren’t aligned on what’s holding back the operation, they can assign blame to each other without ever understanding the root cause. Production blames scheduling, scheduling blames purchasing, and purchasing blames suppliers. When no one can agree on what is holding back the operation an independent assessment can help narrow down the source of the performance issues.
Lean Improvements Aren’t Translating Into Sustained Results
Lean manufacturing can be one of the biggest drivers of improvement, but if you’re running 5S events, Kaizen events, visual management, or other lean initiatives and not seeing the improvements stick, a broader lean manufacturing assessment or operational excellence assessment can help you build a sustainable improvement system.
How an Assessment Becomes an Improvement Plan
The goal of an operational assessment isn’t just to identify what’s wrong, but to give your team a clear understanding of what needs to change, and what they need to do to get there.
The assessment findings should lead to an improvement plan that focuses on the actionable steps that are likely to produce meaningful results Depending on the results of the assessment, this might focus on reducing lead times, increasing throughput, improving on-time delivery, or reducing scrap and rework.
The goal is to connect each recommended action to a measurable business outcome.
An assessment gives you a baseline for where your current operation is, which can be used to establish improvement priorities. Based on your improvement priorities, you can implement targeted changes and track the results over time. The metrics you choose during the assessment can help measure whether the changes are producing the expected results against the baseline, or if more adjustments are needed.
That is where working with an experienced manufacturing consultant can be beneficial. Manex can help your business by tailoring a manufacturing operational assessment to your business’s performance gaps and financial objectives.
Depending on what the assessment reveals, Manex can help your organization implement an improvement plan ranging from lean manufacturing to value stream analysis, process mapping, 5S, Kaizen events, and more.
The assessment isn’t the finish line, but an essential starting point for building a more efficient and successful manufacturing operation.
Ready to See Where Your Opportunities for Improvement Lie?
Every manufacturer has inefficiencies that can hold it back. The key is to identify which deserve the most attention and can deliver the biggest performance impact. A manufacturing operational assessment can help you identify the gaps affecting your operation and develop a roadmap to addressing the most important opportunities.
With over 30 years of experience helping California manufacturers improve from within, Manex can help you identify the right opportunities to address to improve your performance.
Contact Manex today to discuss how a plant operations assessment can help your organization reach the next level.
