The work we do is so labor intensive and we don”™t have a lot of money to throw around. I feel like we”™re caught between a rock and a hard place ”“ wasting money doing things inefficiently but afraid to make a substantial investment to improve profits down the road.
Thoughts of the Day: Don”™t try to solve the entire problem at once. Use trials to see what has the greatest impact. Ask vendors for financing terms. Think two steps down the road.
Before trying to implement automation solutions, make sure you have an efficient work process. You may find cost reductions simply by better organizing workflow. At the very least, eliminate glitches so problems don”™t carry over into the new automation systems.
Form a project improvement team of people who are doing the work day-to-day. Ask them to step back and look at how work is handled, from start to finish. Assign a specific group to analyze repetitive tasks and find ways to streamline.
Organize tools, materials and personnel. Make the most commonly used materials and systems the most accessible. Figure out ways to standardize, leading to efficiency with training, ordering and quality management.
Reduce idle time and waiting around by changing the order in which tasks are completed. Consider assigning specialists to handle tricky as well as repetitive activities. Build routines by handling repetitive work at the same time each day, or week, if possible.
Define standards for acceptable work product. Sometimes “good enough” isn”™t. Other times the effort to produce “the best” is wasted on customers who would have been happy with “good enough.”
Find out exactly what customers want and build those requirements into what”™s produced. Consider opportunities to raise prices as delivery speed and quality improve.
If problems crop up repeatedly, find out why. Look for glitches due to lack of material and equipment, as well as the need for training. Higher than expected error rates are warning signs. Once the bugs are out manually, only then is it time to automate.
In today”™s fast changing automation world, solutions are plentiful and can range in price from extremely expensive to downright cheap. Some options work better than others. Many of the end-to-end solutions don”™t produce as much efficiency at each step as smaller, more targeted solutions.
Once the project improvement team has laid out optimum work flows, have them research automation solutions. Suggest they look at smaller solutions to start, picking pieces of the system to automate. Ask them to set up a process for looking at and evaluating options.
Don”™t just rely on proposals to gather input. Find out what works and what doesn”™t by visiting companies and talking with people who are working with tools you”™re considering. Look for parallels to work done in your company. Explore benefits of hand-held tools ”“ for minute-by-minute data gathering and information exchange.
Encourage debate. Focus the team on finding the best solutions. Keep people from getting trapped into defending an option just because they”™ve researched it.
Build a budget and a priority timeline. Don”™t confuse expense with value. Prioritize automation solutions as most likely to reduce waste and make work go easier and faster, resulting in better quality outcomes and higher profits.
Pick one or two solutions to start. Budget money for training and downtime as people learn to do things a new way. Ask vendors for help with training and financing.
Don”™t try to pay for everything upfront. Finance the purchase, giving improvements time to pay for themselves. Predict the return before making the purchase and hold everyone”™s feet to the fire to deliver profits as predicted.
Encourage the team to look ahead three years and debate how work and customer demands will change. Build a timeline and budget to implement changes, taking into account their forecast.
Looking for a good book? Try “Pull Production for the Shopfloor” (Shopfloor series).
Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., www.StrategyLeaders.com, a business consulting firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurial firms grow. Do you have a question for Andi? Please send it to her, via e-mail at AskAndi@StrategyLeaders.com or by mail to Andi Gray, Strategy Leaders Inc., 5 Crossways, Chappaqua, NY 10514. Phone: 877-238-3535. Visit www.AskAndi.com for archived Ask Andi articles.
