Improve Operations to Increase Efficiency

Ask Andi: How to improve operations? Our efforts do not get the needed results. We’re coping, not managing. How do we get employees out in front of the day-to-day?

Thoughts of the day: Improve operations to improve efficiency. What do your customers want? How quickly can suppliers, production, and delivery respond to change orders? Flexibility depends upon quality information. And available tools. Start with planning, knowledge sharing, and financial reporting.

Improve operations to increase efficiency

Answers to problems often come from somewhere outside of operations. Above all, get ahead of it. Anticipate needs. Find the problem source. Solve problems quickly or before they appear.

Firstly, improve communication and information flow. Reach out to other departments for information. Secondly, examine intra-departmental communications. Consider sales, marketing, finance, human resources, and operations.

The function of operations is to produce what the customer has contracted to purchase. Typically, sales are the customers’ point of contact. In addition, follow-up on existing and potential orders. Moreover, research customers or prospects’ needs and wants. Certainly, this information can help operations anticipate changes.

Processes and procedures

For example, finance can provide budget and expense information. And provide much-needed answers. What is the average cost to produce? What price changes are likely to impact production costs? How profitable is the overall operation? Ways to reduce the overall cost of goods sold? Is timing an issue in operations? Are goods going out with insufficient time to reach customers? Or are rush fees incurred? What’s the waste rate? For goods produced and not sold? And material not used? Can we meet future sales with current equipment? Is more training needed?

Human resources are the source of trained labor. For instance, who is responsible for hiring, evaluations, and training? Ask for HR recommendations. For example, improving operations performance. Tie marketing recommendations to what customers buy. Certainly, lean on a training plan to prepare operations for future production.

Employee overload or boredom burnout?

Meanwhile, get supplies in time to produce orders. Again, it comes down to communication. Ask marketing to project new product needs. Sales to estimate the timeline to sell. Finance to source and negotiate with vendors. And HR to evaluate existing vs. future skills.

That is to say, managing operations quality requires coordination across departments. Subsequently, set and meet goals. For instance, accurately executing agreed-upon goals. Free up time in operations. Then a shift from fixing problems to anticipating and planning for future needs.

In conclusion, plan operations function with some room to breathe. Likewise, avoid scheduling at 100 percent productivity. But, there will always be problems to work through. Equipment will need to be re-tooled. And people trained. Discuss goals and options. In short, allow extra time in the schedule to work through challenges.  That way there’s time to recover if things go south. Above all, plan ways to improve.

Looking for a good book? Try Operations Rules: Delivering Customer Value through Flexible Operations by David Simchi-Levi.