August 16, 2022 General

The four essential components of shop floor management

A production facility is a work environment, a workshop, a place where goods are produced or raw materials are processed. Whatever the chosen definition, shop floor management, or the management of a production facility, refers to the control of the processes taking place there.

This article discusses the definition of this process to help you understand this concept and its importance to your business.

Definition of Shop Floor Management

Shop floor management, or the management of a production facility, refers to the control of production processes and the creation of added value through the active presence of managers on site.

The Shop Floor Board is used to collect all data from the production chain in order to manage and improve production.

The main objectives of production management are to continuously improve objective performance indicators and optimize process flows.

To achieve these goals, production management distinguishes between four essential components.

Shop Floor Management: the four essential components

Production management consists of four central components, listed below, and an additional fifth component:

Owner
Communication
Visualization
Troubleshooting

1. Management

Managing the actual production facility is an essential part of management. As is generally the case with process management, there are helpful methodologies and schools of thought, such as the LEAN approach.

The LEAN concept and its variations – Lean Thinking, Lean Manufacturing, Lean Management, ErgoLean, etc. – go beyond the isolated application of a methodology or toolset. Rather, it is a philosophy or mindset for continuous improvement.

According to the Lean Enterprise Institute The core idea of this model is to create the maximum possible value from the customer’s point of view, with the smallest possible resource consumption and by utilizing the knowledge and skills of the people performing the work.

2. communication

Communication is indispensable in today’s world. Whether in private or business life, nothing works without communication.

In production management, communication is a basic requirement; without it, it is not possible to do the daily work, and certainly not to achieve excellence.

Therefore, the manager should assume the role of a communicator and communication trainer to avoid misunderstandings and promote self-organization among employees. Consequently, it is important to regularly refresh relevant knowledge through shop floor management training in order to continuously adapt to the team’s circumstances and develop social skills.

3. Visualization

Having key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor production management is another prerequisite that helps managers achieve better processes.

Important questions:

What is the team’s mission and goal?
What key performance indicators (KPIs) are used for measurement?
Discrepancy between current state and goal?
What specific processes are involved, and what problems arise from them?
What measures are planned to solve these problems, and what improvements can be implemented?

While these questions serve as a starting point, it’s important to consider that indicators or KPIs should be defined according to the SMART principle. The most important figures should meet the following requirements:

They should be specific (S = Specific)
They should be measurable (M = Measurable)
They should be achievable (A = Achievable)
They should be realistic, reflecting the company’s actual situation, and not set unattainable goals (R = Relevant).
They should be time-bound, meaning they should be reachable within a specific time frame (T = Time-Bound).

Furthermore, the parameters to be measured should be easy and straightforward to visualize. Therefore, the availability of an advanced reporting tool, such as… SAP Business One Its offering can be a great support for proper production management.

4. Problem solving

It is fundamental to proceed systematically in order to solve problems permanently. It is important to use straightforward methods.

Furthermore, the methods should be appropriate to the educational level of all employees. It is not enough to cover problem-solving approaches in a single training session.

Solving a problem independently is a learning process for employees that takes time. Various methodologies can be used for the problem-solving process, such as W. E. Deming’s PDCA cycle.

He was born in the 20s by Walter Andrew Shewhart invented by a US physicist known as a pioneer of statistical quality control.

The PDCA cycle is so named because of the English names of its individual phases:

P for «Plan» or to plan
D for «Do», to do or implement
C stands for «Check» or to check, analyze or verify
A stands for “Act” or to act in order to correct errors or defects.

In fact, you can only produce high-quality products if production management includes a precise definition of the processes, continuous monitoring, and an early response to errors.

Advantages of production management for companies

Since this is a continuous improvement approach, it offers many advantages with significant strategic value for the company. These include, in particular: