The cost of downtime in manufacturing can be significant and affects your bottom line, your reputation and customer satisfaction. Thankfully, there are ways to boost your production resilience and maximize uptime, from preventive maintenance to contract manufacturing solutions. Below, we break down the true cost of manufacturing downtime.
The average cost of downtime across manufacturing facilities is anywhere from 5% to 20% of the plant’s productive capacity. Focusing your efforts on honing your strategies for production resilience can save you a lot of time and money. But there are some hidden impacts that you can improve:
Identifying some of the most common causes of downtime can help you find inefficiencies or vulnerabilities in your operations. These include:
Let’s explore some of the best strategies for resilient production in manufacturing.
Planned downtime allows you to keep your machines well-repaired, make upgrades or allow for changing tooling. The cost of time and paused production is worth it to keep your equipment operational for longer by solving minor issues before they disrupt production.
You can also use AI and the Internet of Things for predictive maintenance, which monitors and predicts the condition of your equipment in real time, rather than relying on time intervals for maintenance checks.
Cross-training your staff or regularly rotating production roles can help you create a more broadly skilled workforce. A well-versed team supports production resilience by having more skilled individuals you can rely on. You can also train all staff to proactively identify and report minor issues with production to help address potential causes of downtime sooner.
Collecting and analyzing production data is crucial for spotting inefficiencies and anticipating disruptions. Artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced analytical tools can be part of this solution, providing predictive analysis and condition monitoring.
These solutions allow you to refine your production process and boost operational efficiency by streamlining various aspects of your manufacturing business.
Another way to cope with potential disruption caused by equipment breakdown is to carry spares of parts or expendables that commonly break down. In addition, having the skills to perform more common maintenance or repair tasks within your company is a bonus.
Modernizing your manufacturing equipment to include automation can help maximize your production efficiency. There are various types of automation, including programmable automation, which is great for producing large batches of items quickly. You can also implement AI and predictive algorithms to help you optimize your inventory to meet forecasted demand, helping to manage the risk of material shortages.
Outsourcing your manufacturing services from the engineering stage to shipping can help you reduce costs and boost production resilience. This helps by diversifying your risk by having multiple locations and manufacturers. Should equipment breakdown or a power outage occur at one facility, you still have another in operation to manage the disruption.
With strategic partners, you can balance redundancy with efficiency, using extra resources from strategic partnerships when you need to meet increased demand and scaling back when necessary.
Look for the following when selecting a contract manufacturer to boost production resilience:
Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) for operational resilience can help you focus your production strategy. These can include mean time to repair (MTTR), which you can calculate by dividing the total repair time by the number of repairs you have to make in a given period.
Another KPI to track is overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), which combines availability, performance and yield scores. The overall percentage score monitors the total amount of productive manufacturing time. It helps you track the losses or inefficiencies you have in each area.
Consider creating a business continuity plan (BCP) to prepare for risks and vulnerabilities your manufacturing operations may face and return to normal production levels more quickly. Assess the risks, prepare some emergency procedures, including how you will communicate with staff and employees during this time. As part of your BCP, include guidance on supply chain management during disruptions, with alternative suppliers, for example.
To support your manufacturing agility and resilience in the long term, you can combine the resilience strategies we outlined above, using data analysis and embracing AI to help you stay nimble during disruptions and save downtime.
While you can implement many strategies to help boost your production efficiency, from cross-training staff to investing in automation, your business may still lack the manufacturing capabilities it needs to deliver a project cost-effectively.
This is where a dependable contract manufacturer like PBZ comes in. With over 75 years of experience delivering high-quality products in high volumes, we provide a one-stop shop for metal manufacturing, engineering, assembly, finishing and logistics, which can shorten overall manufacturing lead times.
Call PBZ Manufacturing at 717-721-5350 or submit our contact form, and one of our team members will get back to you within 4 business hours!
Manufacturing is in our DNA. Since Paul B. Zimmerman opened his small welding and repair shop in 1947, we've remained true to our roots: metal manufacturers serving in the Spirit of Christ. We're committed to carrying forward the service and business principles that brought us here. We're also passionate about advancements in technology and continuous improvements to meet your needs. It's why we have expanded our manufacturing and assembly capacity and added new flat and structural lasers.
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