Improving productivity is at the top of nearly every manufacturer's list but making it happen can be a challenge. There are some great methods that are proven to significantly improve productivity. One of the best is to measure, analyze and set goals for improvement. Only then can you work toward a logical plan for improving productivity. Then do it again and again until the process is where it needs to be. Here are a few great methods for improving your productivity:

• Increase Productivity with Real-Time Goals
• Monitor Small Stops and Reduced Speed Operation
• Tackling the Six Big Losses
• Reduce Changeover Time Through Training and Awareness

The strategies below depict a few of the many problems our customers ask us to solve and the solutions we provide. Always feel free to call us if you'd like to discuss a specific problem or idea. We encourage you to use our application experience to help you improve your productivity.

Strategies to Improve Productivity

Increase Productivity with Real-Time Goals
PROBLEM	Plant floor employees are informed of production goals when it is too late to act.
STRATEGY	Deliver real-time production goal information to the plant floor. Display a shift or job based goal. Additionally the target can be displayed in real-time as a count based on the product takt time. Actual count can also be shown as well as a calculated production efficiency and much more.
SOLUTION	People respond to information that tells them where they are and where they should be in relation to production goals. Show the goal count, an actual count, a percent efficiency, pieces to goal, the estimated time to goal, a piece or time variance from goal, OEE Performance and more in any combination. Both the 87 Series 4" to 12" and XL Series Production Monitor displays are great choices for delivering real-time production goals to the plant floor.
Monitor Small Stops and Reduced Speed Operation
PROBLEM	Major downtime events appear to be under control however the process continues to miss target production.
STRATEGY	Get a handle on small stops and reduced speed operation (OEE Performance).
SOLUTION	Downtime is normally easy to identify because the equipment or process is simply not running, small stops and reduce speed operation, however is much more difficult to detect. What's worse is that these events, if logged, are often incorrectly logged making it difficult to identify and correct the problem. OEE Performance is a great tool for monitoring manufacturing performance. XL Series Production Monitor displays are capable of showing the number of small stops, reduced speed cycles, the time for each and OEE Performance. The results are often eye-opening when people find the “slow leak” in their production efficiency.
Tackling the Six Big Losses
PROBLEM	We are under constant pressure to make more with less.
STRATEGY	Tackle the Six Big Losses!
SOLUTION	The Six Big Losses represent the most common causes of efficiency loss in manufacturing. Knowing what they are and how to attack them is the key to swift and lasting improvement on your plant floor. XL Series Production Monitor displays expose real-time losses such as Down Time Loss (equipment failure, setup/changeover, etc.), Speed Loss (small stops, rough running, etc.) and Quality Loss (scrap, rework, etc) to enable teams to identify and correct problems when the occur.
Reduce Changeover Time Through Training and Awareness
PROBLEM	Changeover time is hurting production efficiency.
STRATEGY	Reduce changeover time significantly through training and awareness. Display the changeover time for all to see. Additionally, by showing the remaining pieces to goal or estimated time to job completion, operators can determine when to initiate internal set-up procedures. Internal set-up or those items which can be handled while running, is one of the greatest tools for minimizing changeover time.
SOLUTION	Show time to completion by displaying either a pieces to goal count or an estimated time of completion based on the current run speed. Also display the changeover in-process time for all to see. Set goals to reduce the time required and use color-coded data to show the allowed changeover time in green and time overage in red. The 87 Series 4" to 12" and XL Series Production Monitor displays are great choices for reducing changeover time.