Bridgr Insights

5 Fundamental Guidelines for Small and Medium Manufacturing Companies

When manufacturing companies go through accelerated business growth, they usually face a lot of adaptation issues. During this phase, many of them manage their information using very basic technologies like simple Excel spreadsheets.

They often find themselves lagging behind in their day to day operations. Here are 5 simple guidelines to follow that help small and medium-sized manufacturing companies manage their operation performance.

1- Understand your KPIs

Analyzing and understanding your Key Performance Indicators is essential for growing exponentially. For example, you must understand your cost and quality indicators in order to evaluate your overall equipment effectiveness. Most companies are able to collect all of the essential manufacturing data, but they often fail to interpret the information and translate it into actionable solutions that speed up company growth. By understanding your key performance indicators, it will be easier to reach your goals and manage operations during exponential growth.

2- Know what government regulations apply to your manufacturing business

Government regulations in some industries change every single year. For example, the medical devices industry continuously faces changing regulations regarding the accuracy, safety and waste management processes of the products. The only way to make sure these new regulations are followed is by being completely aware of the operations in every department and recognizing which regulations apply to every part of your business.

3- Monitor your consumer needs

By paying close attention to what your customer wants, you are able to simplify communication with the users and improve their overall experience. Catching up to your customer needs requires carrying out continuous product development iterations based on their feedback.

4- Fix it before it breaks

In manufacturing companies, machinery is of utmost importance as your production relies heavily on their proper function. Having a preventive maintenance schedule is the only way of being certain that your factory components are in the best possible state. In order to keep operating with low costs and maximizing productivity, you must set a preventive maintenance schedule and follow it, so you can fix your machinery before it breaks.

5- Optimizing inventory management

One of the greatest problems in small and medium-sized manufacturing companies is poor inventory management. Having more inventory than needed leads to longer inventory checks and higher inventory costs. This directly affect the management side of the company. To avoid these problems, you need to plan ahead; if you don’t, overstock will often impede you from having extra resources to expand in other areas.

These 5 common problems are keeping manufacturing businesses from reaching the next level. They are limiting the company’s growth and they are one of the main sources for logistic and operational improvements.

If you are an expert in a specific field of manufacturing, learn how to join our team here: Becoming a Bridgr Expert

Cesar Guerra

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