Production Monitoring tools help manufacturers increase output and lower costs through automated data collection. Manual tracking creates errors, delays, and missed chances to improve operations.
Digital monitoring provides immediate updates on machine status, operator tasks, and production targets. Your team can make fast changes during shifts once they see performance metrics in real-time. The data shows exactly which factors limit productivity, allowing teams to focus improvements where they matter most. Equipment usage often rises 5-10% after implementation, adding thousands of production hours each year without expanding shifts or adding overtime costs. Your manufacturing operation becomes more profitable through better data-driven decisions.
Smart Cost Reduction Through Automated Data Collection
When you collect data manually in manufacturing, operators or supervisors often write things down on hour-by-hour sheets. They may collect the number of parts made or which activities they are performing, such as setup or secondary operations. However, when you start to collect this data digitally using a platform like production monitoring, the collection becomes more concise and discrete. You can develop a standard for the type of data you want to collect, and since it's in a digital format in a consolidated dashboard, it's more easily shared.
Reducing Effort and Eliminating Errors
Using a production monitoring platform reduces the effort required to collect meaningful data compared to the handwritten approach, where someone has to collect the sheets, enter them into a spreadsheet, and then share that with the rest of the team. It also eliminates some of the errors that might occur when different people enter different information. They might interpret things differently or not get the most accurate counts.
Real-Time Checks and Course Correction
With real-time data collection, you can have real-time checks to understand if the machine or operator is on pace to meet the production goals for that particular shift or day. Supervisors can see this throughout the day, allowing for course correction during the shift rather than waiting until the end of the shift to find out that the recorded data shows they didn't make their production goals.
Imagine if they had that information hours earlier. They could have mitigated the pain associated with that loss of productivity.
Identifying Productivity Impediments
Taking a look at things that specifically hold back productivity is also important. Supervisors and operation leads usually have an idea of what's slowing them down:
Setup
Waiting on material
First article inspection
By engaging with the data and labeling these specific downtimes, you can use discrete, objective information and look at simple KPI-type visuals to understand what is impacting your productivity the most and where you can be most impactful in increasing productivity. This has been a huge benefit of collecting data and labeling downtime.
Reducing Costs and Increasing Utilization
When it comes to reducing costs, the goal is to get more out of what you have in terms of labor and equipment for the time that you have. Picture a typical manufacturing facility that runs at an average of 50% utilization of their equipment. Trying to increase that to 55-60% could result in hundreds of additional capacity hours per month.
By gaining insight into the big impediments to productivity and working to reduce those, you can see significant increases in utilization over time. Even a small 5-10% increase in utilization could net thousands of hours of additional uptime year over year, ultimately reducing costs by eliminating the need for additional shifts or overtime. By being more efficient with the time you have, you can achieve smart cost reduction through automated data collection.
Maximize Your Manufacturing Potential with Data-Driven Solutions
Your manufacturing operations can reduce costs through automated data collection and analysis. Our team guides you through implementing production monitoring systems that link your machines, operators, and managers with real-time updates.
The results appear directly in your financial reports through reduced waste, increased uptime, and better resource planning. Our experts will review your current processes and create a plan for using automated data collection to lower your operating costs. Contact us today to schedule a consultation and learn how production monitoring fits your facilities' needs.