Focused factories

I have been absent for along time!I am glad to say that i am now working full time in my own manufacturing and consultancy company and will be posting blogs more frequently as i share my experiences.

I would love to start at the beginning.I am going to zero in on one word."Focus."I had a discussion with a GM for a processing firm yesterday.As we shared our factory experiences we got to start talking about alignment and focus.It was clear that we both agreed that without these two vital ingredients any factory's performance is bound to nose dive,for some fast,and for others a slow decay,almost imperceptible.

How are alignment and focus achieved.The key tool for that is formalising a road map or strategy for the factory that will be the rallying call for all on the shop floor and for those leading the factory.This formal document often called a "Manufacturing Strategy" or in some cases an "Operations Strategy" is more than just high sounding words.It is a complete plant policy guide to achieving continuous improvement.It comes with clear metrics activities and accountability.

A brief example is suitable at this point.An agro processing plant say cotton fibre for example is largely based on large volumes in seasonal runs.The key therefore is high through put.Volumes should be the focus.The next stage would be to define strategy based projects such as ,setting up reliability systems,redefining processing routes,rehiring e.t.c depending on the specifics of the situation.A focus on the volumes objective will achieve greater through put.

Focus and alignment can not be done without.