Buying new automation is a huge step may it be a small or big company as they are highly-priced. The need to compete on a nationwide or even global scale and provide customers the excellent quality products with a cheaper cost drove companies to invest in state of the art machinery. But more than buying it, the next huge step is how to get your money’s worth and maximize your newly purchased machines. For the best automation solutions for your business, visit IntelLiDrives
Machines provide many benefits to the company and its factories. It can double production output in a short amount of time without the need to hire as many workers and lessening the factory’s manufacturing costs. But, after buying machinery, the next step comes in making the most out of your purchased machinery. Without proper planning, buying a piece of machinery is next to useless if not used properly. So, in order to prevent that from happening, below are some tips that can be used to maximize your machinery and drive your business to success.
- Proper training of machine operators and supervisors
One of the challenges often faced when a new machine has been purchased is who will be the people needed to be trained and who will train them. It is vital for the company to thoroughly train their workers especially those that will work closely with the machine. They should be ready in case of sudden breakdowns and day to day calibrations. Training employees help them understand not only the machine processes but also the goals the company wants to achieve. Those goals can also help the company in assessing the performance of both equipment and manpower. It will help the workers to know what goals they need to achieve and what to expect in their future assignments
- Assemble a Plant Maintenance department
In a huge factory where there are numerous machines situated in every corner, it is difficult to track all of them. That is why it is important for an organization to assemble a team or department dedicated to Plant Maintenance. They will be in charge of creating the machine check-up schedules, doing everyday meetings to get updates of the ongoing and new projects and deploying manpower on the projects.
Scheduled and unscheduled maintenance check-ups are essential may it be in small or a big company as common problems that arise in machine troubles are caused by lack of maintenance. The team can incorporate the CLAIR strategy when conducting their routine machine maintenance. CLAIR can be used for the initial inspection of pieces of equipment and it stands for Cleaning, Lubrication, Adjust, Inspect and Retool. It will help to check whether the equipment is on the verge of breakdown which will help the company to assess the situation and apply appropriate countermeasures to it.
- Incorporate Lean Six Sigma in the Production processes
Six Sigma is a framework that can be used by companies in order to achieve a near or error-free production which can be applied both in or out production while Lean focuses on the production processes, intent on increasing its efficiency and reducing waste or defects in the production outputs. Whichever framework the company chose to implement in the production lines can help the organization to produce quality work and reduce the percentage of defects. These two frameworks will help the organization to get the critical issues of the problems that may arise in the production and provide them with solutions that can lessen or completely prevent that particular problem from happening. Reduction of defective products can help save raw material and increase efficiency which could affect the manufacturing costs.
Additionally, Six Sigma and Lean can be applied not only in machinery but also on the people working in it. Analyses such as Risk-Cause Analysis (RCA) and Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) help the company to get the root causes of the problem and evaluating when and where of your equipment and manpower will fail.
There is a reason why companies purchase state of the art equipment for their factories and it is to save money in the long run while increasing the possibility of higher profit. In order to increase the company’s profit, they need to deliver quality work to the market and its customers. But first, they need to take care of their machines as it is expensive when a machine suffers a breakdown, it will not only halt the production but it will also be expensive in repairs. It is important to practice maintenance to prevent breakdowns from happening in the future.
