There is no doubt that there is ongoing pressure for owners of manufacturing businesses to improve processes and quality to compete in a demanding industry. Never has that been more true than now. 

As the business owner, understanding your organization and the various facets of the business will ensure your success, starting with productivity. Knowing and supporting your team across the board as well as your customer expectations will allow you to work on this one vital area of your organization. This includes your production department, your leadership team, all the way through to your finance and sales teams. How can you improve your knowledge of all departments to start working on 1% improvements in each area on a weekly basis? 

1) Create opportunities for team members to contribute 

Getting stuck in meetings and the constant time-poor battle can stop important analysis and improvements in your business. But this is exactly where your staff can come in. Getting the team involved often results in better buy-in for change and builds rapport and team culture. 

Furthermore, sharing monthly goals with all departments and knowing how each department will work towards those goals is key in discovering any blockages in the chain of progress. It goes further than just encouraging two-way communication and will be key in increasing your knowledge of all facets of your business and in building your connection with your staff. 

How can you facilitate this practice? It will be important to make it an easy and open process by looking at the following: 

• Verbally encourage ideas from all staff levels
• Provide a framework: outline how improvement ideas should be tied to businesses goals
• Use a social forum or a process for employees to make suggestions 
• Recognize all suggestions publicly via official written communication or at monthly catch ups
• Showcase or demonstrate ideas that were successfully implemented and executed

2)  Ask and Listen to Your Customers 

Knowing what your customers are asking, saying, and buying is paramount in any business and this includes the manufacturing industry. Understanding their pain points and joy points can help you focus on improvements and new areas for potential growth as well as how to improve current production. Talk to your front-line team about how they think they can improve the customer experience and allow them to implement these changes and measure the results. Some say a customer satisfaction survey is one of the most valuable documents a business can have. 

3) Practice Prioritizing Your People & Projects  

Business owners are always “busy” but time blocking is a way to be more effective with your time, instead of jumping from task to task without ticking anything off your to do list. 

I hear many business owners say how they get caught up in working “in” the business which means they don’t time to work “on” the business, which is crucial for your success. 

Using a team and task management app is the new diary for business owners these days. These apps are far more advanced where you can set projects, due dates and communicate with your team on progress, changes and new tasks.  

Working with your department managers within an app will help you remain informed across their work and improve your knowledge and connection to various departments within your manufacturing company. 

Being able to check in across the day with your team will help build connection, when done well. It is highly valuable being able to set tasks under projects and assign to team members. You will be able to encourage and provide input and guidance for your team, while being well on your way to feeling right on top of the game. 

Lastly, why not finish the week well with a team meeting and once a month pay for their lunch or something similar? Business owners who connect and demonstrate care and appreciation for their team often find the team are more loyal, productive and happy in the workplace. Staff turnover can be reduced by these small steps of incremental change. So, remember to prioritize your people for greater success. 

Build a strong team for success. If you would like to talk further about success strategies for your manufacturing business, contact me today.