A Company Is More Than Its Processes
Manufacturing companies are constantly changing. New equipment arrives. Production volumes grow. Customer requirements become more demanding. New products are introduced. Employees change. Managers change. Markets change.
At the same time, a company must continue to produce, deliver products, meet quality requirements and remain competitive. This is the daily reality of manufacturing.
I have worked in manufacturing and operations for many years, and one thought has always been clear to me: a manufacturing company is much more than its processes, equipment and performance indicators.
Behind every process there are people. Behind every number there is a reason. And behind many problems there is often something that cannot be seen in a report.
A Production Manager may see a delay. A Supervisor may see an operator waiting. A Planner may see a schedule that was not met. A Finance Manager may see increasing costs. A customer may see a late delivery.
Each of them looks at the same company from their own point of view.
The problem is not always that someone does not know what is happening. Sometimes the problem is that everyone sees only part of it.
When a Problem Becomes Normal
Manufacturing companies are very good at adapting.
When something does not work, people find a temporary solution. If a machine stops, someone finds another way to continue working. If a delivery is delayed, someone makes a phone call. If a process creates extra work, people learn to deal with it by setting priorities. If information is missing, someone keeps their own records.
These actions are often necessary. They keep the business moving.
But this ability to adapt also has another side.
A temporary solution becomes permanent. An additional check becomes part of the normal process. Extra movement becomes part of the job. A delay becomes something that everyone accepts as unavoidable.
A problem that was once considered unusual becomes part of everyday work. People stop asking why it happens.
This is one of the most difficult situations for a manufacturing company. Not because people do not care. Often it is exactly because they do care, and they find a way to continue working, using their energy and sometimes putting safety at risk.
The People Who Know the Problem
There is another interesting situation in manufacturing.
The person who knows the problem best is not always the person responsible for solving it.
An operator may know exactly where time is being lost. A driver may know why a particular route regularly causes delays. A warehouse worker may know why material is moved more than once. A Supervisor may know which instruction creates extra work.
But knowing that a problem exists and having the ability to change it are two different things.
A phrase often heard is: “That is how it has always been.”
In many companies, people become used to talking about problems only when they become serious enough, and sometimes critical enough, to bring them to management.
By that time, the company may already have spent a lot of time and money dealing with the consequences.
I believe there is great value in creating an environment where people can identify problems before they become major problems.
Not every problem requires a project. Not every problem requires an external consultant. And certainly not every problem needs its own budget.
Sometimes all that is needed is to sit together and look at the same situation.
The Numbers Tell Us Something
Performance indicators are extremely important. It is impossible to manage manufacturing without numbers.
Production output, labour hours, downtime, quality, on-time delivery, inventory and costs — all of these tell us what is happening.
But a number does not explain itself.
If productivity is falling, we need to understand why. If delivery performance changes, we need to understand what exactly has changed. If overtime is increasing, we need to know where the additional time is being created.
A number is a starting point, or the coordinate of that point. The question is what we do with it.
I have always been interested in the distance between a number in a report and real changes on the production floor.
It is in this distance that many opportunities for improvement can be found.
Improvement Does Not Have to Be Large
There is a tendency to see improvement as a major project.
New software. New equipment. A new process. A large consulting project.
Sometimes these things are necessary.
But manufacturing also contains hundreds of small opportunities.
A better sequence of actions. A clearer instruction. Less unnecessary movement. Better information. A different arrangement of workstations. A decision made closer to where the work is performed. A problem discussed by the people who deal with it every day.
Each of these changes may seem insignificant on its own.
But manufacturing consists of thousands of small operations. When the same small loss is repeated every day, over time it becomes a significant loss for the business.
The opposite is also true.
A small improvement repeated day after day can become a significant breakthrough for the business.
The Role of Management
Managers have an important responsibility for improvement. But I do not believe their role is limited to giving new instructions.
Management should create conditions in which people can see problems, discuss them and take responsibility for solving them.
This requires attention. It requires consistency. Sometimes it requires something that is surprisingly difficult in a busy manufacturing environment: time to think.
A company can spend thousands of hours putting out fires and managing problems without giving even one hour to understanding why the same problems keep happening again and again.
This is not necessarily management's fault. It is often simply the result of pressure from current tasks.
Production must continue. Customers need to be served. Employees need support. Meetings need to be attended, and the things the manager wants need to be discussed.
And then the routine starts again: reports need to be completed.
There will always be something more urgent.
But what is urgent today can prevent a company from seeing what will become important tomorrow.
Looking Beyond an Individual Department
Manufacturing companies are usually divided into departments.
Production has its responsibilities. Maintenance has its own. The warehouse has its own. Transport has its own. Sales and customer service have their own. Finance has its own.
This structure allows the company to operate.
But problems do not always respect organisational boundaries.
A production problem can create a logistics problem. A planning decision can create extra work for the warehouse. The location of the warehouse can affect production time. A customer requirement can create extra operations somewhere else.
Each department may perform its work perfectly while the overall process becomes less efficient.
That is why I believe it is important from time to time to look beyond an individual department and look at the company from one point of view — together.
Not to find someone to blame.
But to understand the connections.
A Different View of Improvement
I do not believe manufacturing companies need another complicated system simply because improving processes is difficult. Nor do I believe that responsibility for improvement needs to be transferred to someone else.
They need the ability to see what is happening.
They need people who are ready to ask questions.
They need reliable and accurate information.
They need the discipline to follow something through until something actually changes.
And they need to look around again after changes have been made.
Perhaps the most important point is the last one.
A change is not the end of the process. It creates a new reality.
The company needs to look at this new reality and decide what it sees now.
Manufacturing never stands still. Equipment changes. The market changes. People change. Customers change. Problems change.
Therefore, the company's attention must also change.
Looking Towards Tomorrow
I believe the strongest manufacturing companies are not necessarily those with the fewest problems.
They are companies that are able to notice problems in time, understand them clearly and respond to them.
They do not need to pretend that everything is perfect.
They need to know exactly where they are. They need to understand where they want to go. And they need people who are ready to take the next step.
This is not a one-time project. It is part of how a company develops.
I am interested in this topic because I have seen how much knowledge already exists within manufacturing companies. Much of it is hidden in the experience of people who work there every day.
Sometimes the task is not to bring new knowledge into the company.
Sometimes it is simply to connect the knowledge that is already there.
I believe there is great potential in this idea. And I believe Australian industry can gain significant benefit from it.
For any company, it would be a source of pride to demonstrate the work of a well-coordinated team that shows how it solves its problems, what goals it has achieved and how it looks towards the future.
Oleg Makhnach