Textile manufacturing - whether it is apparel, furniture, seating, home furnishings or mattresses suffers, from a dirty little secret.  That secret is costing manufacturers big time. Up to 50% of precious company resources are devoted to rework and other non-value added tasks.  Is this you? How do you know?

Every factory needs specific insight, processes and technology to reduce  non-value added activities. Really, the core idea of lean manufacturing is  quite simple…relentlessly work on eliminating waste from the manufacturing process. And what is waste? Waste is defined as any activity that does not add value from the customer’s perspective.

Shop floor control software helps you find, measure and report these 8 wastes and helps you stay focused on best practice lean manufacturing processes.  And it’s so simple to remember these 8 wastes to eliminate, using the acronym: DOWNTIME.

1. Defects – Products that don't meet company standards

2. Overproduction - Producing more than necessary

3. Waiting - Idle time between steps

4. Non-utilized talent - Not taking full use of employee’s abilities, skills and experience

5. Transportation - Movement of materials from one place to another

6. Inventory – Supply in excess

7. Motion - Moving more than necessary, not adding value

8. Excessive processing – Performing steps that don't add value

Defects

By reducing defects, you can decrease overproduction, transportation, and excess processing. Defects , by far, is one of the most significant manufacturing wastes. Your shop floor control software should use statistical quality control analysis  in real time to quickly identify defects. 

Overproduction

Having the most negative impact on success, overproduction leads to other wastes such as waiting, inventory, motion, consuming time and resources. Using real-time shop floor control software, you can better understand what your plant efficiency and capacity is for better planning purposes.

Waiting

Waiting for a prior operation to be completed, lack of raw materials, unbalanced workload, all these can be identified quickly, and course corrected immediately using shop floor control software that includes dashboards, KPI’s and reports that allow for real-time insight.

Non-utilized talent

This waste is specific to manufacturing management as opposed to process. If the employee’s movement is aimlessly unengaged moving material around the production floor without adding value, then their effort is  wasted. Additionally, feedback from employees will add to the continuous improvement of the organizations lean manufacturing initiative and allow employees to influence change for the better.

Transportation

Moving product costs money. Transportation  is one of the wastes that the customer doesn’t care about, though it is necessary to the production of their product. This waste leads to increased motion because resources are required without generating value. Using engineering software, based on MODAPTS®, you can create the most accurate rate facilitating ergonomic improvement and methods while improving productivity.

Inventory

Maintaining inventory requires the addition of wastes, motion and transportation. Supply is excess. Inventory is value that is being held at a cost. Anytime a product sits in inventory, its profit margin is reduced because overhead must be paid for it to be stored, raw materials as well as finished goods.

Motion

Unnecessary movement of operators or machines is a waste and doesn’t add value to a product. Inefficient factory floor layouts, improper equipment can also contribute to needless motion. Non-utilized talent is closely related to motion waste.

 Excessive processing

Unclear customer requirements and specifications creates excessive processing and possible repairs and re-manufacturing. Producing products that are beyond or under your customers’ expectations falls into excessive processing and is a waste.

When you think of your factory,  how does DOWNTIME affect you? Do you have an effective strategy in place?  Shop floor control software allows you to find, measure and report the hidden costs of waste in your factory.  Imagine the savings potential and workflow improvements that are possible with real-time factory floor information that not only provides actionable insight but  saves you money as the system comes online. Opportunities to eliminate waste become visible and the bottom-line results impact will transform your factory performance.