People think of the human race as being in a post-industrial age. However, the reality is that the industrial age never ended. Other layers just came into play along with it.
Industry still plays a vital part of our lives, and it’s being constantly and necessarily improved still.
If you are working in tech for industry, you already know how small increases in productivity can multiply down the line and lead to large increases in the bottom line at the end. From selecting the right ball transfer unit to the right pallets to the right inventory system, the devil is in the details.
What are some of these details, you may ask? Well, we’ll be happy to discuss a few here:
You can never analyze your workflow enough
Constant innovations in tech mean constant new possibilities for workflow. It’s worth being on top of this, because many innovations that may not seem like much at first glance can wind up being real game changers for your operation.
Look at what may be missing in your workflow as a good starting point. If you’ve never done so before, chart it out professionally. Include every detail you can think of. Then come back to it in a couple of days and include more detail. Repeat this process a few times to make sure you’ve got everything.
Also, never leave out the possibility that that great innovator may actually be you at some point in the future!
You can never train your employees enough either
It’s surprising how often neglected this aspect of running an industrial operation is overlooked.
Even long standing employees who one would think have things down to an efficient routine often experience drift, or are not on top of changes that have been implemented. If this is the case, it’s up to management to do something about it; don’t expect employees to just wake up and fix it for you one day!
This also means, if it’s your implementation, part of your job is to make sure everybody in the organization understands what changes, and what they need to do about it. It’s never the employees’ fault if they are uninformed or under informed. The onus is on you to communicate clearly and effectively.
Training your employees properly pays for itself in terms of the time lost extremely quickly. There is no excuse for not being on top of it.
Fix your floor plan
This is another place where many industrial operations get stuck in a rut. It’s very easily to be using the same obsolete design someone a whole generation ago would have also rightly called obsolete.
Don’t be afraid to experiment. Getting it right or making it better in the long run will also make up for the temporary loss of time and productivity.
Walk the floors to get real life experience of things you have implemented, and see how they look from an employee’s perspective. This will have the added benefit of bonding with people and boosting workplace morale.
