Don't Reinvent the Wheel!

Assess current performance, adopt Best Practices and

engage the entire organization to improve upon them!

In today's competitive marketplace, plant managers must

continue to look for ways to improve operational
effectiveness. Based on our experience in plant operations
worldwide, below are 20 Best Manufacturing Practices
utilized by world-class companies to meet increasingly
demanding customer expectations and continually improve
operating performance.

Excellence in each of these areas can improve your

competitiveness, but collectively, they produce a synergistic
effect that will give your facility a real competitive edge.

The 20 Best Practices

1. Lead Time Reduction
There is a plant-wide initiative to measure and continually
reduce lead times. Non-value-adding steps in the mfg.
process are gradually eliminated and dock-to-dock velocity
is increasing.

2. Streamlined Flow
Where appropriate, a demand-based flow or "pull"
production strategy is adopted, using kanbans and demand
flow techniques, to produce to order rather than to stock.

3. Quick Changeover
Quick changeover methods are employed to increase
equipment availability and respond quickly and economically
to changing schedules and customer needs.

4. Cellular Mfg. (Focused Factories)

The facility is structured into product- or customer-focused
work groups housing all operations to manufacture a family
of products. Office operations are similarly structured to
increase accountability, response time and quality while
reducing inventories and backlogs.

5. Empowered Teams
Employees are multi-skilled members of motivated, capable
work groups with clear roles, responsibilities and
performance standards.

6. Cross-Functional Teamwork
There is a high level of teamwork and coordination between
organizational units and strong internal customer-supplier
relationships.

7. Associate Involvement & Commitment

Shop floor employees routinely solve problems, suggest and
implement improvements and are committed to world-class
performance.

8. Process Reliability
A formalized system is in place to maximize equipment
uptime and reduce variation in product quality. Overall
Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) measures are at world-class
levels.

9. Continuous Improvement
Employees are engaged in CI and/or Kaizen Events on a
regular basis. All teams meet to set goals, solve operating
problems and implement corrective action.

10. In-Process Quality

Product quality is built-in at the operating level. Employees
have the ability and the authority to make product quality
decisions in process and quality management tools (SPC,
error-proofing, etc.) are in place.

11. Seamless Shift Operations

Continuity, consistency and communication are maintained
across shifts. An effective 24-hour management system
provides the necessary support for all shifts. Shift schedules
satisfy both operational and employee needs.

12. Standard Operating Procedures

The plant is ISO (or QS) certified. Operating procedures and
quality standards are consistent and a formalized process is
used to ensure sustainability.

13. Goal Deployment

Key performance indicators and shop floor goals are in place
for each area, developed at the operating level and tied
directly to plant goals.

14. Visual Management Systems

Plant and team scoreboards and other visual means of
controlling and improving operations are used throughout
the plant. Operational status information is available quickly
and accurately to anyone who needs it.

15. Incentives, Rewards & Recognition

There is an effective incentive and recognition system that
promotes continuous improvement and rewards outstanding
individual, team and plant performance.

16. Plant Safety, Loss Prevention & Housekeeping

Effective training & awareness, thorough incident
investigations and a 5S organization program ensure an
orderly, efficient and safe workplace.

17. High-Performance Leadership

All levels of plant leadership provide coaching, training &
mentoring to subordinates, encouraging peak performance
and employee involvement.

18. Supplier Partnerships

The organization collaborates with a few key certified
suppliers to continuously improve material cost, quality
& delivery, benefiting all involved.
19. Cross-training & Multi-skilling
Multi-skilling in each area provides the needed flexibility.
Training of all personnel, including the plant leadership
team, is a key priority.

20. World-Class Performance Measures

Performance metrics measure performance against world-
class standards, are generated and controlled by shop floor
personnel and are successful in rallying the entire
organization toward higher performance levels.