Written by: Paul Van Metre & David Vuyk
The manufacturing process consists of many unique steps, team management among the most important. A robust system for critical information transfers is a MUST for success. Facilitating a smooth flow of information throughout the organization is foundational to long-term success in the industry. Confusion leads to mistakes and a loss of working time.
At the heart of many business processes is the ability to facilitate data transfer to various team members. In the sales process alone, you have information flowing from a salesperson to the customer, then from the customer back to sales, then on from sales to estimating, at which point estimating may reach out to various vendors before a quote is sent and a corresponding PO is accepted. All of that information transfer, and we haven’t even started production planning yet!
A Proven Machine Shop Data Flow Optimization Process
At Pro CNC (our shop where we built ProShop), the team would schedule what was called a war-room planning meeting to kick off a new project. The details of the war room planning process are actually built right into ProShop because of its effectiveness. With the relevant planners, programmers, and project managers in the room, they could break down exact project requirements so that nothing got missed throughout the manufacturing process, and all of that information had a specific home in ProShop ERP. Eventually, the programmer and planner would need to relay information forward to the production team. Perhaps information would yet need to flow between different shifts before completing production and getting the QC team involved. Assuming QC goes well, then information would need to flow down to shipping and receiving and eventually accounting.
But we’re still not done! Invoices for raw materials and services pertaining to our completed job will still need to get paid. We’ll need to maintain our records and documentation for regulatory compliance and auditors. Ultimately, the data may flow further to be used in our KPIs, metrics, and dashboards.
Operating on assumptions has a VERY limited success rate. Consider your organization.
- Do your business processes facilitate the entry (only one time!) and flow of critical information?
- Is this information centrally stored, organized, and accessible without any duplication (like multiple systems or spreadsheets)?
- Do you have historical data that can be reviewed at a later date or shown to an auditor?
- What mechanisms do you have to optimize shop floor staff, implement process improvements, and accept feedback?
Benefits of Improved Shop Data Flow
When information transfer isn’t managed well, it results in waste. Project managers need to repeat themselves several times over. Too many planning meetings are required each week to keep the team aligned, and despite all of that, certain team members still remain confused about project requirements. When managed poorly, this results in increased scrap rates, low productivity, and poor on-time delivery numbers. It turns into a chaotic mess.
A system for managing the flow of critical information throughout the production process can provide a host of benefits, such as:
1. Increased Efficiency:
When information is centrally stored and accessible, less time is spent searching through email correspondence, written notes, or trying to recall what was said during a customer call. When team members have the information needed to execute on the job, they spend less time asking questions about what to do next. The team spends less time in planning meetings going over the details. All of that freed-up time can get redirected to value-added tasks.
2. Increased Quality of Outcome:
Your goal is to fulfill ALL of the requirements of the project. Beyond manufacturing components to specification, you need to get them out the door on time and in compliance with customer requirements. When sales are able to effectively communicate project requirements to everyone downstream, everyone benefits.
3. Increased Customer Satisfaction:
Nobody enjoys driving away from a fast-food window only to find out that they got your order wrong. Similarly, when we miss the mark as manufacturers, we damage the customer relationship. When information pertaining to specific customer requirements is properly recorded and stored, we are better able to consistently meet those requirements and increase customer satisfaction.
4. Enhanced Data Security:
When you have a process for managing the flow of information throughout your organization, you also have the opportunity to build in provisions for data security. Whether you work in highly regulated industries, need to demonstrate CMMC compliance, or simply want to protect intellectual property, a robust system that controls how you access, read, write, and store critical information can enhance your data security posture.
5. Effectively Manage Change:
Be it organization-wide changes or simply changing customer requirements for a specific job, having a system for information transfer can help manage those changes. As new information pours into one part of the organization, that new information can then be disseminated to the relevant parties. When managed in a digital system, it can take place in a way that is both effective and time-efficient. When changes need to be applied to a job that is mid-process, getting this new information to the production floor quickly is paramount so that everyone is on the same page and customer expectations are met.
6. How Can ProShop Help?
ProShop effectively manages the data migration process. It was designed on the principle that you should only have to input a critical piece of information once. ProShop’s workflow lends itself to carrying pertinent information from sales throughout the production process. This includes shipping, making that information available to those who need it in a seamless way.
Since ProShop was designed and refined in a regulated contract manufacturing company, built-in data stream optimization was fine-tuned. Subsequently, these features are entirely absent from most ERP systems. A client who came from a different “Job” ERP system entered part numbers 18 times from quote to shipping. ProShop does it all with one simple entry.
Team members can input suggestions for process improvement along the way so that repeat jobs are continuously improved upon. Specific customer requirements can be input and applied to all customer work orders so that those requirements are consistently met. ProShop clients have enjoyed increased throughput, decreased scrap rates, and increased on-time delivery metrics. As a result, information transfer systems are firmly in place. Optimize data flow using our ERP data migration process, and our team will support every step of the implementation.
ProShop SAFE allows for customizable access to company files so that information is handled in compliance to the CMMC standard. Building enhanced data security provisions into ProShop allows you manage the flow of information across the organization while meeting regulatory requirements.
If you have any questions, get in touch! We’d love to discuss how ProShop can help you manage the flow of critical information across your organization!