Production Benchmarking- It’s About Improving Business Performance

Measurement of production performance such as delivery accuracy, asset utilization, waste, spoilage, operator efficiency, and productivity are, at the end of the day, just statistics.  The collection of this data becomes most valuable when it is easily accessible and used to improve business performance. 

Accessibility- Data must be available when and where the user needs it

·    Production metrics must be available based on real-time information so management can make decisions based on what is happening in their shop at any moment in time.  The objective is to prevent issues, not just correct them

·    Important data must be highly visible- Information must be presented in a logical format or reports which clearly explain desired metrics.  Consuming time to interpret data is defeating the intent of benchmarking

·    Information must be stored and shared based on industry standards to allow easy integration with other systems.  We all share our data with other departments, customers, vendors and business owners and should not be consuming overhead to facilitate this information transfer 

·    Effective benchmarking systems must protect the user’s original investment as their processes, equipment and jobs change.  These systems must be open and scalable to remain current and cost effective.

How should performance benchmarking improve business?  

The simple answer is that benchmarking should enable growth and reduce operating costs without adding overhead.  To the level these objectives can be achieved, of course, depends upon many factors unique to the user.  However, production benchmarking should provide one or more of the following:

·    Track equipment and operator utilization to optimize equipment loading, throughput and turnaround times

·    Track operator effectiveness to analyze where overhead can be optimized or reduced

·    Eliminate compliance penalties and late delivery fees

·    Provide open information reporting to enable users to verify and prove clients’ compliance and SLA requirements are met

·    Eliminate manual production tracking and data entry costs

·    Reduce spoilage & waste

·    Compare actual performance data with budgetary estimates to improve estimating accuracy

Pat Hoskins, Ironsides Technology, PH (585) 953-3013, pat.hoskins@ironsidestech.com