November 25, 2024

Understanding Production Efficiency

In understanding production efficiency, we refer to the amount of time taken to complete a certain task. That task could be a home project or an employee conducting a task or fulfilling his duties. Many times, you measure this term in relation to industrial or manufacturing companies. How much product do you create or process in a certain time period?

In this article, we'll look at this topic as related to these types of industries, including productivity from the maintenance department. Included in this discussion:

• Key factors.
• Strategies for improvement.
• The relationship between preventive maintenance and production efficiency.

Maintenance's Impact on Production

Maintenance seeks to return assets, especially equipment, back to a baseline functionality. Technicians use preventive measures to ensure continued machine reliability and mitigate the risk of breakdowns.

The direct impact of maintenance efficiency on production efficiency lies in its ability to minimize downtime. Logically, when machinery functions optimally, the production process flows smoothly. Subsequently, this contributes to higher output and overall efficiency.

Preventive vs. Corrective

Preventive maintenance (PM) involves proactive measures. These include activities such as routine inspections and scheduled tasks. You want to address potential issues before they escalate.

Corrective repairs can fall into the area of a reactive mindset. You respond to equipment and other asset failures as they occur.

Optimally, you'd want to strike the right balance between these approaches to minimize disruptions in the production process.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Maintenance Activities

Remember, we're talking about the impact on production efficiency. This means maintenance activities need effective practices. This requires organizations to assess the costs associated with maintenance activities against the benefits gained in terms of uninterrupted production. Referring to the above, you're analyzing the costs of PM work and corrective work.

Calculating Maintenance Efficiency

Reports and statistics include key performance indicators (KPIs). Specific metrics in these KPIs include:

• Mean time between failures (MTBF).
• Mean time to repair (MTTR).

These metrics aid in identifying areas for improvement. You fine-tune one strategy to help the operations of another department.

Technological Solutions

Technological advancements play a pivotal role in enhancing maintenance efficiency. Companies find great value in computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS).

The software provides a centralized platform for organizing maintenance activities. Asset, inventory, and work order management all have their areas in a CMMS. The system offers real-time insights into equipment status, maintenance schedules, and historical performance data.

How does a CMMS help us understand production efficiency? First, it will help you organize the various aspects of maintenance. Assets, inventory PMs, and work orders. Second, with numerous reports, including those from above, you’ll see areas of improvement within the maintenance department.

With these reports and implementing changes, you’ll see not only improvement in the company’s operation productional efficiency, but in maintenance technician "wrench time" efficiency.

PM as a Catalyst for Production Efficiency

You cannot overstate the importance of prevention measures. Inspections, lubrications, cleaning, replacement parts, etc. Supervisors create these tasks based on manufacturer recommendations or to stay compliant with regulations.

These jobs reduce incidents of unplanned downtime because they tend to catch issues before they become major problems. PMs help keep safety hazards to a minimum. They extend the lifespan of assets. They keep them more reliable.

Organizational Structure and Workflow Optimization

Efficient production processes rely on organizational structure and workflow optimization. Companies seeking to enhance operational efficiency must align maintenance and production operations. This involves better communication.

This means collaboration. Proper training on production personnel to operate assets. Proper training for technicians who conduct PMs and repairs. Interaction from production to submit work requests. Prioritization of work orders from maintenance managers so that the department doesn't neglect critical equipment.

Employee Training and Skill Development

Of course, efficiency means continuously developing skills of employees. Technology and business evolve. Companies must invest in training programs to stay up to date with all the changes.

Employee training contributes to the overall efficiency of the organization. The more you know, the better decisions you’ll make. You'll learn better techniques and methods.

In maintenance, that means staying up to date on news ways of conducting PMs and repairs. Perhaps expanding the usage of the CMMS into other areas of the company. Technicians learning more skills for more versatility.

Question and Answers

How can organizations achieve optimal efficiency in both departments?

Review current operation strategies. Invest in a quality CMMS. Use the system to organize maintenance. Update procedures and look for areas to improve.

Efficiency in maintenance helps production efficiency. However, on the production side, you also eliminate waste. This includes:

• Streamlining workflows.
• Minimizing downtime.
• Optimizing resource usage to produce goods with the least amount of resources.

What defines inefficient work? In maintenance, this comes as a result of several factors:

• Insufficient inventory.
• Unskilled worker.
• Lack of good communication.
• Lack of effective quality review.
• Unforeseen circumstances. An example of this might be a flat tire. The technician delays reaching the job site and finishing the job in the estimated time.
• Over-maintenance. Too much attention interrupts production. It also risks the equipment working against itself. For instance, over-lubricating. You might have leaks or having not enough friction for parts to work.
• Under maintenance. This risks emergencies and unplanned downtime.

On the other side, inefficiency comes from:

• Using more resources than required.
• Unskilled workers.
• Misuse of equipment. Examples: Overusing assets. Under-utilizing the equipment. Trying to force the machine to do something different than its original design.

How do companies measure efficiency?

Review the section on reports and KPI metrics and other reports. On the production side, you study the actual rate of output to the standard or best-practice rate of output. You analyze KPIs for asset reliability and repairs. Metrics include production rates, downtime, and resource utilization.

What is the difference between production efficiency and allocative efficiency?

Both production and allocative efficiencies assess how closely demands meet outputs. However, production efficiency focuses on the optimization of production processes to make goods with optimized costs. Allocative efficiency, in contrast, addresses whether a company produces the right amount of goods to meet market demands.

Conclusion

We've talked about the connection between maintenance and production. In the long run, production edges out maintenance for importance. The product must come first.

However, understanding production efficiency means you don't neglect maintenance. Preventive measures can enhance efficiency all around.

Using a CMMS helps with maintenance efficiency. Organization of all aspects of the department, including purchasing, comes from proper use of a CMMS.

Take steps to improve your operational efficiency for both production and maintenance. Follow the above tips for production. For maintenance, call Mapcon Technologies at 800-922-4336. Ask for a free demonstration of a superior CMMS to get you on the path to maintenance management success.