Production Optimization

Don’t fall victim to the Hawthorne Effect - introduce changes within your company that will be long-lasting.

Until recently, the congruent idea surrounding manufacturing was that outsourcing operations to lower-cost developing nations was the ideal methodology. Companies quickly got on board with this ideology and unfortunately did not consider the long-term effects of this decision. As developing countries became wealthier, labor costs rose, regulations were imposed and the cost of production increased. Suddenly, the benefits of outsourcing vanished. As a result, some manufacturing companies who retained their factories began dusting off their machinery, rehiring personnel and trying to bring production back home.

With this shift came the realization of why we outsourced in the first place: American factories are not as efficient as they should be. Massive amounts of money are spent on developing new products, but little time is spent on the procedures to actually run the factory. However, the desire to change the process and resources to do it slowly are mutually exclusive. The Hawthorne effect points out the danger in relying on short-term impacts of new procedure employment and manufacturing fads. Lack of long-term planning will cause a manufacturer to quickly revert back to the ineffective status quo. 

Fortunately, a multitude of companies offer their services to help install long-term planning to optimize your product operation. Software programs and consultations may be implemented to maximize your efficiency.

Best-in-Class Production Optimization features:

• Assistance in evaluating and developing new operations to improve product cost, quality and performance
• Real-time data collection for complete analysis of manufacturing procedures, including managing labor, machines and orders
• Long-term profit planning devices to maximize production

Top Considerations Before Buying Production Optimization consultation:
Nothing is a quick fix. Look for companies that offer long-time optimization through consistent and steady analysis of your manufacturing processes.

Key Providers:
1. GEA Consulting offers HVAC Consulting to assist in improving product cost, quality, performance, and reduce shipping cycles. GEA consultants work with clients to increase operating efficiency and guarantee an explanation of all technical issues to promote informed, long-lasting decisions. Feature of the consultation and analysis includes: crisis resolution, environmental strategies, start-up planning and overall company quality improvements. Founded in 2003, GEA Consulting consists of a group of engineers, managers and technical specialists, who specialize in providing an unprecedented level of experience to the HVAC manufacturing and business industry.

2. Unlimited Worldwide SCM by Perforce manages assets globally and links all team members under a collaborative umbrella system. Regardless of the number of users, this system supports sites with millions of changes and terabytes of versioned data. It is easy to install and administer and does not require a third-party database of application server. Perforce Software is a privately held company with headquarters in Alameda, California and international offices in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.

3. Actio's Actio Regulator is an online substance inventory tracking and regulatory reporting system that manages the real-time inventory tracking of hazardous substances used in the manufacturing process throughout facilities across an enterprise. Specifically, it features SaaS products for manufacturers to comply with environmental regulations. They provide supply chain materials information management down to the chemical substance level. Actio Regulator, recently released a new version, which lets manufacturers calculate chemical inventory, usage, emissions, scrap and waste and distribution volumes, all with a simple interface, analysis and reporting. Actio’s products are designed to help manufacturers avoid fines, carry out green goals, reduce risk across the supply chain and improve product globalization.

4. Couple Wonderware InTouch HMI Visualization and AarchestrA-based Wonderware System Platform by Invensys Systems, Inc. for your complex HMI/SCADA system. This comprehensive system provides HMI visualization and geographically distributed SCADA through an easy configuration and implementation from inception. It has virtually unlimited scalability for data collection and analysis for various systems and open access to historical data. Invensys Operations Management is a leading provider of automation and information technologies, systems, software solutions, services and consulting to global manufacturing and infrastructure industries. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, its solutions are used by more than 40,000 clients around the world in over 200,000 plants and facilities.

Production Optimization
Definition: Production Optimization relies on company flexibility and the desire to make changes or adjustments to products and processes in order to make the system more efficient.