Improving Productivity
According to Tony’s analysis, the 10% improvement in productivity will cover four main areas. These are time, quality, production and cost. To improve on the time needed to process orders, it is important to ensure all orders are dealt with on time. This can be achieved through the use of on time delivery and make to order approaches to manufacturing and procuring material for the company. This way, it will be possible for the organization to achieve high performance in reducing turnaround time, which is to blame for the inefficiencies currently witnessed (Karim, Samaranayake, Smith, & Halgamuge, 2009). For each of the four areas identified as in need of improvement, the following corrective measures are prescribed.
To improve the quality that is currently seen as lagging at the company, a system of total quality management can be initiated, in conjunction with just in time method of procuring supplies, as discussed above. At the same time, there should be a restructuring of manufacturing processes so that the process improvements at minimal costs. In doing this, the engineering team should focus on the core tasks or processes to achieve maximum results (Jiju, 2001).
The most effective way of improving production is by reducing the lead times, cycle times and work in progress. Lead and cycle times lead to significant slowing down of production. Work in progress is not only costly, but it also slows production is kept for too long. The company should adopt a policy of always ensuring work in progress is dispensed with as quickly as possible, and where possible, before new work is started. This will enable the concerned teams to focus, and therefore channel all their energy towards one company (Chowdary, 2004).
Two solutions can be deployed to help reduce the cost of production. The cost of manufacturing can be managed by adopting Total Productive Maintenance. This will involve a raft of decisions, including process engineering, material engineering, process analysis and other techniques (Yamashina & Kubo, 2010). The second method would be to deploy technology, and enhance efficiency. The drive to reduce costs must be done in concept with the other quality improvement areas identified above. For instance, the cost of production is dependent on efforts to improve efficiency and reduce work in progress, as well as efforts to improve quality. It is expected that these solutions will result in the 10% improvement envisaged (Finkin, 1990).
Areas of non – performance
The level of quality is wanting. The 10% incidence of errors is extremely high, especially since there it has been decided the error rate can be reduced to less than 1%. At the same time, average order processing time is too long. These inefficiencies are highly costly for the company. By reducing error rates and improving order processing time, the company will be able to save on cost, an up its production capacity. This means that time in order processing and the error rate are having grave effects on the entire strategy and productivity of the company.
Performance Analysis
The key performance indicators and key result areas were important indicators for the management to identify where employees were unable to meet the expected performance levels. He measures were found to be poorly aligned with warehouse goals. This meant that they would not help in measuring performance, since employees are not sure on what the warehouse wants to achieve. The KPIs were not SMART, thereby failing to provide employees with clear expectations on their performance. Most of the employees also did not have thorough enough knowledge of their KIPs, meaning that they were unable to have a method of building atop their previous period’s performance.
KPIs and KRAs should be drawn up with the full participation of all involved, especially the employees and their supervisors. This will help them come up with objectives that they are both conversant with. At the same time, these objectives should be SMART. This will assist employees in giving clear directions as they perform their objectives (Lawlor & p Hornyak, 2012).
As previously discussed, performance at the warehouse is wanting. This has had an effect on all the other indicators of productivity. To improve performance, it must be realised that it is a factor of work process factors and human process factors (Joseph, Sasson, Alvero, & Austin, 2009)
One of the strategies that can be employees to better performance is by enhancing interaction between employees. As is clear with the analysis so far, the warehouse’s employees operate in highly collaborative environment. Employees are able to keep each other informed and work collaboratively. As such, they are able to avoid negative relationships. As is widely known, workplace discord is a major contributor of poor performance. Working collaboratively will help employees be more in touch with their KPIs (Richardson, 2014). Employees should closely be involved in all performance measures formulation. This will afford formulators their invaluable contributions, as well as giving the employees an insight of what is required of them. More importantly, they are able to see the measures as their own formulation, rather than an imposition (Markos & Sridevi, 2010).
The performance measures are previously formulated are okay. However, they need minor revisions to align them with what the warehouse actually does. Management also needs to extensively sensitise employees on the details of these measures. This will make them more effective in raising performance standards.
The analysis on employees has established that some employees are performing poorly, because of lack of a clear grasp of their expected deliverables. At the same time, absenteeism is a major issue at the warehouse, and significantly causes delays and additional costs. Individuals considered for training and development need to learn more about interpersonal skills, and learn more about their expected performance. Employees who are managers should also undergo supervisory skills training.
The plan will be rolled out in four phases. The first phase will include managers and supervisors, and will set the ground rules for the training. They will also be sensitised on their roles in enhancing productivity is the four key performance areas. Secondly, other employees will be taken through a series of trainings to better manage inventory and work in progress, enhance service delivery, and improve their interpersonal skills.
To better manage work methods and system processes, it is important to ensure that there is clear alignment between deliverables expected from employees and the work of the company. This involves realigning KPIs and KRAs with organizational strategy. There should be a frequent review of the objectives to ensure their continued relevance to the tasks at hand, and revise them where necessary. Training should be intensified and be made a permanent fixture in the company. This will help the organization in becoming in control of its processes. Performance measures which show that 50% of the employees exceeded performance expectations should be discarded in favour of more factual and realistic measures.
The improvement of performance is intended to be continuous. For this to happen, there needs to be continuous attempts by those responsible to ensure that v employees remain grounded in their KPIs. Their managers also have an important role to play. They should apply their leadership skills to show their employees that it is possible, and better motivate them. Indeed, motivation is one of the most important elements in ensuring continued improvement in performance. Motivated employees will give their all to the organization, and thereby mean that they will more keenly ensure that they meet their objectives in relation to the warehouse.
References
Chowdary, B. (2004). Improvement of manufacturing operations at a pharmaceutical company: A lean manufacturing approach. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management , 23 (1), 56-75.
Finkin, E. (1990). Use Technology to Reduce Manufacturing Costs. Journal of Business Strategy , 11 (3), 51-54.
Jiju, A. (2001). Improving the manufacturing process quality using design of experiments: a case study. International Journal of Operations & Production Management , 21 (5), 812-822.
Karim, M., Samaranayake, P., Smith, A., & Halgamuge, A. (2009). An on-time delivery improvement model for manufacturing organisations. International Journal of Production Research , 48 (8), Published online.
Lawlor, K., & p Hornyak, M. (2012). Smart Goals: How the application of smart goals ca ncontribute to achievementof student learning outcomes. Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, , 39, 259-267.
Markos, S., & Sridevi, M. (2010). Employee Engagement: The Key to Improving Performance. International Journal of Business and Management , 5 (12), 89-96.
Joseph, R., Sasson, J., Alvero, A., & Austin, J. (2009). Effects of Process and Human Performance Improvement Strategies. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management , 26 (3), 43-78.
Richardson, F. (2014). Enhancing Strategies to improve workplace performance. Walden University , Published Onnline.
Yamashina, H., & Kubo. (2010). Manufacturing Cost Deployment. International Journal of Production Research , 40 (16), 4077-4091.
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