What we’re seeing right now with manufacturing and COVID-19 is that an already very limited resource — people — are now even more strained and limited in manufacturing production.

Which means now is not the time to simply double down on existing production management strategies and processes that may not translate easily to a remote working environment.

Today, it’s imperative to be as efficient as possible, using the resources you do have, onsite and at home offices, to generate the most value possible for the heart of your company: the manufacturing shop floor.

To do that, manufacturing operations professionals must focus on the speed and efficiency with which orders are flowing through the shop. Managing production onsite is challenging enough, but with a combination of the right strategies, tools, and information, you can have complete visibility of what’s happening on the shop floor (without having to be on the shop floor) to be able to answer:

  • What job should we be working on, shop-wide or in any work center?
  • Where is the job, and how is it progressing?
  • How can I tell when my customer is going to get their order?

We’re conducting a 30-minute webinar on Managing Production Remotely next Tuesday 3/31 and Thursday 4/2 at 11:00 a.m. CST/12:00 p.m. EST.

If you’ve been managing production manually and want to learn a better way to increase production visibility for your team on the floor and at home, this is a can’t-miss event. In this webinar, we’ll share methods, tools, and tips to help you manage production remotely, including ways to know your priorities at at each work center to ensure:

  • Your production management team has a handle on what’s happening now, what needs to happen next, and what you can commit to doing in future
  • Production doesn’t have to run around asking which job to work on next, and fewer people are needed onsite, including expeditors
  • Sales and customer service can also see when customers will be able to deliver a new quote or existing orders

Focusing on improving the flow of production material and processes helps increase the value-add of both machines and people at any time, especially when scarcity of people in production may be what is limiting the overall throughput of your company.