In our conversations with our clients, current and future (let’s stay humble and say “potential”), we often come across the topic of changing habits. Especially in production manager’s workflow. And that’s a good thing.
Before they began using Prodsmart, our client’s production data was written in paper and then only later, sometimes weeks and months later, it was inserted in a database or in a basic spreadsheet. This would make the production manager’s job, beyond making sure production goes on without trouble, to keep production data updated. For the production that has been done. After it’s done. Using the good, old and unreliable human memory. And so recurring to data that, almost by definition, is also unreliable.
After they begin using Prodsmart, production is mostly managed inside the system itself. Who does what, when and where is information that is set in the system in advance and workers only have to insert what they did as soon as they’re finished. Like they used to do on paper. But with instant data delivery and performance analytics. And the information is going to be accurate because it is continually being verified. And validated throughout the production process by everyone involved. If someone makes a mistake inserting the number of units or parts that they’ve made there’s no problem at all. Later in the line, someone will notice the mistake in parts or units they have to work on. Then they will ask the production manager to correct it with the right number of pieces. And finally the person that made the mistake will be informed that they made a mistake. And will try not to make the same mistake again but knowing that if he does it’s OK. There’s no mistake that can’t be corrected. Caring about data integrity starts a process of continuous operational improvement in your factory.
The job of the production manager is not to keep the company historical record. The software does that for you. Her job is but to look after the current state of the company and make decisions about it. In other words: to manage.
