With such on-site management, success is almost inevitable!

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The production site of a company is the place that attracts the most attention from many frontline managers, and it is also where they spend the most time, as it is only there that problems can be identified and resolved in a timely manner. On-site management is a highly complex field of study. Therefore, someone has summarized this useful guide for today, to serve as a reference for managers in corporate production sites. I. What is a site? 1. A site consists of two elements: “present” and “place”. 2. “Xian” refers to the present, meaning the current time, with an emphasis on temporality. 3. “Field” refers to a place or location, emphasizing its regional nature. 4. When “present” and “scene” are combined, it refers to a specific area with a defined duration of time. 5. For manufacturing enterprises, the site is the production workshop. II. Visiting the site 1. The “three types of busyness” at the site: chaos, recklessness, and confusion. Busyness: On the surface, everyone seems busy, but in reality, they are doing unnecessary things or tasks that are ineffective. (Useless busyness) Blindly: Due to being too busy, people end up doing things mechanically, without a clear direction in their work, resulting in low efficiency. Confusion: Long-term blind work leads to a numb mind and confused consciousness; people don’t know what they are doing all day long, and everything they do is done in a hazy manner. 2. The main concern on site is output volume: analyze the current situation—identify bottlenecks—take measures—resolve problems—increase output (demonstrate capacity). 3. The function of the site is to produce products. 4. Core elements of on-site management: 4M1E – People (Man): quantity, position, skills, qualifications, etc. Machine: Inspection, acceptance, maintenance, upkeep, calibration. Material: Delivery time, quality, cost. Method: Production process, techniques, operational procedures, standards. Environment: 5S, safe working conditions. III. The golden rules of on-site management: 1. When a problem (anomaly) occurs, go to the site first. 2. Examine the physical objects (the relevant items) and their characteristics (the features they exhibit). 3. Take temporary remedial measures on the spot. 4. Identify the real cause and eliminate it. 5. Standardization to prevent recurrence. IV. 6 Basic Principles of Production Activities 1. The downstream process is the customer – The quality of work is determined by the evaluation of the downstream process; defective products are not accepted, not manufactured, and not passed on. 2. Adherence to production plans – Production must be carried out in accordance with annual, monthly, daily, and hourly plans – this is what ensures compliance with production plans. 3. Complete elimination of waste – Waste refers to tasks that can be omitted or items that are not necessary. 4. Standardization of operations – Having standard operation procedures and reference documents does not constitute standardization. True standardization involves establishing rules, adhering to them, and continuously improving upon those rules – it is an ongoing process of compliance and improvement that constitutes standardization. 5. Work with added value: The purpose of management is to achieve greater added value (profit). One must have an overall perspective of the situation at the workplace, identify production bottlenecks, and adopt the best possible solutions. 6. Respond proactively to changes: Basic requirements include establishing standards for operations and developing the habit of adhering to them. First, observe—gather information in advance before taking further action. Enhance capabilities—improve skills and strengthen one’s abilities, as well as increase equipment utilization rates. V. Daily work at the workplace: 1. Quality management at the workplace: How can quality be ensured at the workplace? 5 principles to avoid mistakes: a. Cancel the task; b. Avoid having anyone do it; c. Simplify the task; d. Check it; e. Minimize the impact. 2. Cost management on the shop floor – The best way to reduce costs is to eliminate excessive resource consumption: a. Improve quality: the quality of the work process, as well as reasonable standards; b. Increase productivity to cut costs: continuous improvement; c. Reduce inventory: related to working capital, storage, handling, quality issues, and new products; d. Shorten production lines: proper allocation of workers on the production line; e. Reduce machine downtime; f. Reduce space requirements; g. The role of the shop floor in reducing overall costs. 3. Delivery times – One of the main responsibilities of managers. 4. Key aspects to consider in actual operations on the shop floor: a. The rationality of production plans, discrepancies between planned and actual conditions, and the impact of plan adjustments; b. Staff conditions, employees’ skills, disruptions caused by lack of materials or equipment failures, strategies for dealing with defective products; c. Whether components, tools, and auxiliary materials are available, whether production is running smoothly, and whether work methods can be improved. 5. Basic methods for managing the shop floor: being present on the ground, ensuring smooth communication, understanding production capacity, paying attention to employees’ conditions, and conducting time/motion studies. 6. Things to keep in mind in shop floor management: institutionalizing procedures for handling abnormalities, providing training on the shop floor, clear explanations, defining job responsibilities, and giving fair evaluations of employees. VI. Methods for implementing shop floor management 1. Key points of daily management: a. Pay attention to all management aspects – Focus on quality today, and equipment issues tomorrow? b. Determining key management projects: Principle – “avoid causing any issues for the next project or client”; deciding to what extent key projects should be carried out, and setting management standards. c. Institutionalization of management: Quantifying and clarifying routine tasks to institutionalize management practices. 2. Methods for carrying out daily management: The P-D-C-A management cycle: For example, in task management, the goals are to achieve production plans and improve productivity. P (Plan): Achieve production goals. D (Execute): Implement the plan – set tasks. C (Check): Examine the difference between targets and actual results. A (Act): Take corrective actions or make improvements. 3. On-site management policy: a. The motto for the production department: Accept no defects, create no defects, pass on no defects! b. Quality management policy: Quality first, efficiency and punctuality, customer satisfaction, and continuous improvement. c. Production management policy: Innovate technologies and improve production processes ； Scientific management to enhance operational harmony ； Unleash potential and fully motivate enthusiasm ； Strive for excellence and comprehensively improve production efficiency. d. Management requirements: 1. Based on the implementation of post responsibility systems, a system of overall responsibility assignment for all employees is adopted. 2. The task is fixed; it must be carried out if the conditions permit, and if not, conditions must be created to carry it out anyway. 3. What has been decided is correct; if there are any doubts, discuss them later. 4. Rewards and punishments must be clear, and delivered promptly and appropriately. 4. Self-management a. Work with the mindset of doing things for oneself. b、Take responsibility for oneself and make decisions on one’s own when the standards are met. c. Do not shirk responsibilities. d. Focus on oneself to complete work tasks. 5. The three-inspection method: a. Its purpose is to achieve the “three no’s” (do not accept defects, do not create defects, do not pass on defects). b. To implement \"double inspection,\" self-management is essential: emphasizing the importance of carrying out \"double inspection,\" conducting random on-site inspections from time to time, and highlighting the responsibilities of both parties involved when issues arise. 6. Repair work a. Repair work refers to the corrective actions taken on defective products. b. Through repairs, draw lessons from the situation, provide feedback, and prevent it from happening again. c. Working hard without pause is not necessarily the best approach. d. The repair workers are the cradle of production department managers, especially team leaders. e. Management of repaired items: Repaired items must be rechecked at the original inspection station; they should be properly labeled. If multiple repairs are required or significant safety hazards are identified during repair, it is necessary to report immediately. 7. Implementation of work instructions: a. Team leaders must be familiar with the work instructions and train their employees accordingly ； b. It may not be the best method, but as a standard, workers must abide by it at all times. c. If you have a better method, you may propose revisions; it can only be implemented after the revisions are approved. d. “5 Methods”: Explain it to him, show it to him, let him try to do it, help him confirm, praise him. 8. Identify the main focus of the situation: a. What is the main focus of the situation? Production planning – all on-site staff revolve around it. It is the focus, the work goal, and the standard for measuring work results. b. Daily production plan: The planned output constitutes the task; failure to meet it entails responsibility. If the task cannot be completed, an overtime request must be submitted. It serves as the basis for producing daily production reports. Once the production plan is issued, it is an order! 9. Keep an eye on production volume. a. Production volume is the most important goal for the production department. b. To keep an accurate track of production volume, production managers need to master and control the speed of the production line. c. Factors determining output: the operating speed of the production line; the mechanical capacity of machines and equipment; the stability of engineering processes; the operational skills of personnel. VII. Production preparation: Production preparation refers to the various activities carried out throughout the process from the initial trial production of a new product to its regular mass production, including personnel training, the development of operation manuals, the procurement of logistics resources, and the preparation of equipment (including fixtures, measuring instruments, and tools), all aimed at ensuring that the trial production and mass production can proceed smoothly as planned and that product quality is maintained. VIII. Production Preparation in On-site Management 1. Preparation of production processes and documents: flowcharts, work instructions, drawings, QC standards, etc. 2. Preparation of fixtures, tools, auxiliary materials, and personal protective equipment. 3. Installation and calibration of equipment, instruments, and fixtures. 4. Assignment of tasks to personnel and determination of production capacity. 5. Pre-production training for on-site employees. 6. Identification and reporting of any abnormalities related to materials, equipment, processes, or documents. IX. On-site Verification 1. On-site configuration management sheet: also known as the production line configuration management sheet; it takes the form of a checklist, allowing managers to verify the layout of the site. Designate areas for personnel at workstations, tools and supplies, instruments, materials, working methods, record sheets, etc. 2. On-site equipment inspection: timing, scope, responsible person, frequency, method, contents, recording, and confirmation. X. Management of Daily Work Reports A. Functions 1. A tool for project management in various areas such as delivery deadlines, quality, safety, and costs ； 2. Facilitate the exchange of information and communications with supervisors and other departments ； 3. Used as data for tracing the causes when various abnormalities or problems occur ； 4. Help managers understand the actual situation on site. B. Common Issues 1. There is too much content, which takes a long time to record ； 2、There is too much content that requires thinking, recalling, and judging; it’s abnormal, so I just dealt with it casually ； 3. Not wanting to write oneself and having someone else do it instead ； 4. No one guided me on how to fill it out, so I just filled it in randomly ； 5. Daily work reports are merely collected as records; the supervisor doesn’t even look at them, so they serve no purpose. XI. Requirements for Daily Work Reports 1. Design requirements: All necessary elements must be included, and the content should be kept as concise as possible. The order of items should follow practical work procedures or logical patterns. Reduce descriptions and numerical entries; use symbols or lines instead. Standard-sized paper should be used to avoid sizes that are too large or too small, thus facilitating archiving. 2. Key points to consider: Whether each person’s daily work report is accurate; whether there are any issues with materials, work, or products; work efficiency compared to plans; production efficiency and equipment performance; defective products and time losses; whether the staffing level is appropriate; overall performance. XII. Filling out daily work reports: When filling out these reports, it is necessary to explain to the persons responsible their role in this process ； Basic information such as team name, operator name, product name, and batch number is filled in by the on-site staff, after which other details are provided for the operators, thereby reducing their workload ； Only the operator knows the production quantity and processing time, which is filled in by the operator ； Develop the habit of checking again after writing* ； Managers should carefully review the daily work reports, promptly identify any abnormalities and assist in resolving them, thereby fostering a positive sense of interaction ； On-site personnel monitor abnormal trends in operations based on daily reports, and provide targeted guidance in response to such trends. XIII. Production statistics methods 1. Content: Output, resources invested. Production qualification rate, defect rate, first-pass yield, productivity. 2. Requirement: Complete within the specified time (timeliness). Authenticity 3. Summaries by management at all levels: A. Production volume B. Quality, production qualification rate, defect rate, first-pass yield C. Staff status. Attendance rate, disciplinary violations, mistakes made D. Production accidents, lost working hours E. Material supply status. F. Machinery and equipment issues G. Technical and process issues