Thread Content
In a market environment where the variety of products produced is increasing and the product life cycle is getting shorter, the production department faces growing pressure: customers demand shorter delivery times, greater punctuality, lower prices, and better quality. Ultimately, competition in the manufacturing industry is a competition in production efficiency, cost control, and management capabilities. Excellent and effective production management capabilities: the workshop is the core of manufacturing enterprises. The quality of management in workshops and manufacturing departments directly affects key indicators such as product quality, cost, and delivery times. With the advent of an era of slim profits and the trend toward flatter organizational structures, workshop management will play an increasingly important role in businesses! The workshop supervisor must not only lead the team in completing various tasks but also effectively manage the progress, quality, costs, and personnel at the production site. How to manage workshops and control the production process? 1 The importance of quality \"Quality is the lifeblood of a company,\" a conclusion drawn by many businesses through experience and lessons, one that is now firmly believed in by all. In essence, this means that if a product fails to meet quality standards, it will ultimately be rejected by consumers and phased out from the market. When a company’s products can no longer be sold, the company will go bankrupt. Therefore, product quality is a matter of life and death for a company; it is its very lifeline. From another perspective, the importance of quality cannot be ignored: rework due to quality issues not only affects production progress but, more seriously, impacts the morale of employees, which in turn leads to further problems and further hinders production progress. If the production progress is inadequate, it directly affects the delivery timeline, which in turn impacts sales and may even result in lost orders. In such a situation, the factory cannot generate profits; without profits, where can we get our salaries from? Therefore, quality is not only related to the rise and fall of a company, but also to our own vital interests. 2. How to control quality effectively? To control quality effectively, one must first establish this mindset: Quality is produced, not inspected! 1. Pre-education (prevention): Control is exerted at the source, with an emphasis on pre-education. Production managers, when planning daily tasks or checking sample pieces for the first time, become well-versed in the manufacturing processes for each product. After the pre-production meetings, solutions and measures are also available to address any difficulties in these processes. So, organize further group pre-production meetings to convey everything that is known to our frontline employees in a timely manner. By taking into account the specific process requirements as well as the company’s quality standards, provide a detailed explanation so that everyone understands what is correct and what is incorrect, what level of performance is considered acceptable, and what consequences will arise if the standards are not met. This is what constitutes pre-training. 2. Correction during the process: Once employees have set goals, some will strive to achieve them ； However, it’s also possible that they don’t understand the requirements, have limited awareness, or lack the necessary technical skills to carry out the tasks as requested. In such cases, our production managers need to provide guidance and supervision. Especially at the initial stage of introducing each new product, we should start monitoring from the first processing step, correcting any incorrect methods or bad habits promptly to ensure that each stage outputs qualified products for the next stage. We follow up on each step, providing guidance until the finished product is produced. If we follow the process properly, I believe there will be very little need for rework once the products are finished, and there’s no need to check each product repeatedly. In this way, employees are happy to work, which makes the subsequent processes easier as well. 3. Post-event review: If rework is indeed caused by technical issues or material problems, we should promptly inform the technical department or quality control department so that they can assist in resolving the issue and document it for future reference in preventing similar problems. Responsibilities of a Team Leader: 1. Ensure that the machinery and equipment within the team are arranged neatly, and that both the machines and work surfaces remain clean and free of oil stains. The production team is the smallest organizational unit in a factory; as its primary manager, the team leader bears responsibility for all matters related to the team. Moreover, as a frontline supervisor, the team leader has the best understanding of what’s happening on-site. As the saying goes, “A local official can’t compare to someone who’s actually in charge on the ground.” If the team leader fails to manage things properly, then who else can be expected to do so? 2. Ensure smooth production processes: This is crucial; the team leader must know and be familiar with every member of the team, just as well as one would be with their own family members. We need to understand not only an employee’s technical skills but also their personality traits and strengths and weaknesses. This way, we can have a basis for assigning tasks, and it becomes possible to fully utilize the employees’ abilities. The company is not short of talent; everyone is a talent! Similarly, our factory is not short of talent either; it’s just that we haven’t done the effort to discover them! As the saying goes: No one is perfect! But we tend to *focus on others' shortcomings and forget their own strengths! This is very detrimental to our work. In fact, if we pay attention to and fully leverage the strengths of our employees, their weaknesses can easily be mitigated, and may even disappear in the end! Moreover, advantages and disadvantages are not absolute; what seems like a disadvantage to us can turn into an advantage if used properly. For example: being impatient is generally considered a flaw, but people who are impatient tend to be straightforward and act quickly. If we assign them to handle the bottleneck tasks, it becomes easier and faster to resolve issues related to workflow bottlenecks. In summary, when making work arrangements, we must take into full account all factors that affect our production progress and quality. 3. Clear records of output quality: In production, we tend to keep clear records of output, but we don’t pay as much attention to records of quality! We did not realize the importance of quality records – they serve as a basis for evaluating employees’ performance in terms of quality within the production process, and they also provide a foundation for improving our quality management practices. With detailed quality records, we can, through statistical analysis, quickly identify the causes of problems, and use this information to develop corrective and preventive measures. Additionally, these records can serve as a reference for dealing with similar issues in the future. 4. Guidance and supervision of employees’ work: As frontline managers in the factory, team leaders have the best understanding of the production site. They must be aware of each team member’s technical capabilities and provide guidance tailored to their individual needs. Therefore, a team leader’s production skills and management abilities have a direct impact on the operators, even determining their technical proficiency; likewise, the speed at which the members of a production team progress reflects the level of competence of the team leader. Furthermore, most quality issues arise not from technical factors but from a lack of awareness; therefore, while providing technical guidance, team leaders must also cultivate employees’ quality awareness. Positive behaviors should be strongly encouraged, while negative behaviors must be stopped and corrected immediately. 5. Coordination between workshop management and QC work: QC represents the quality control department in terms of monitoring, and acts on behalf of that department to guide and oversee the management and control of production quality in the workshop. Therefore, QC has the authority to point out unreasonable practices in the workshop. The team leader must accept the criticism or suggestions from QC. If they believe such criticism or suggestions are incorrect, they may bring it up to the Quality Control department or the workshop supervisor, but they must not confront them or use abusive language in person! Furthermore, we must fully recognize that QC assists us in carrying out quality management tasks. To truly improve product quality, the key lies in enhancing our own and our employees’ quality awareness, as well as our quality management skills! It is also important to realize that output and quality are not contradictory; by implementing strict controls at the early stages of production, improvements in quality (a reduction in the rate of rework) can effectively help increase output. Inspection responsibilities during the 4-step process (supervision is carried out after a deputy team leader is appointed). The inspection responsibilities during the process are to ensure that the semi-finished products or finished products moving on to the next stage are of qualified quality! What remains is the issue of working methods: inspections during the production process should not be limited to checking semi-finished or finished products; they should start earlier, that is, from the moment the operator carries out the first step in the process. For example, in the case of a certain product, the first step carried out by the operator is \"inserting the tool head\"” ； The second step is “backwave embedding”” ； The third step is “attaching the back pocket”” ； Therefore, inspections during the manufacturing process begin as early as with the first unit produced. After checking for any issues with the \"machine head clamping\", if nothing is found, it moves on to the \"rear clamping\" check; if that checks out, then the \"back pocket attachment\" step is carried out, and this process continues all the way until the finished product is ready. I believe that the final product will not require further checks, and there will be no quality issues either. In this way, employees will be happy working, and the subsequent processing steps will also be easier! If, on the other hand, the inspections during the manufacturing process are carried out by someone sitting at an inspection desk without taking proactive action to monitor the production process, there will definitely be a host of problems waiting for us. The more we inspect, the more issues we find, and as a result, there’s more inventory that needs to be dealt with. In the end, a large number of products have to be sent back for rework, employees become frustrated, and we end up working hard with no recognition I believe everyone understands this well! Many staff members have brought this to my attention: some lower-level managers ignore the issues at the beginning of the production process, and only when a large amount of semi-finished or finished products have been created do they point out problems here and there. This not only wastes the employees’ time and effort but also severely affects their morale! As a result, there have been cases of employees refusing to return to work and getting into arguments. Therefore, in the early stages of mass production, we need to put in more effort and be more proactive; this way, things will become smoother and easier as we go along! Just as it was mentioned earlier that team leaders must cooperate with QC work, those responsible for inspections during the production process must also fully cooperate with QC and promptly correct any quality issues identified by QC! If there are any objections, you can bring them to the team leader or supervisor! Responsibilities of the 5 operators: Production in the manufacturing workshop is carried out as a multi-task sequential flow process, and the quality of the semi-finished products at each stage is crucial for the overall product quality. Meeting the requirements of each production stage is an essential guarantee for the successful completion of the entire production process. Therefore, all personnel in the manufacturing workshop must strictly adhere to the following production responsibilities: 1. Before starting production, it is necessary to be familiar with the specification requirements: quality standards, procedural requirements. It is important to listen carefully and take notes during technical training sessions; one must be aware of all the requirements for their own task as well as those of the preceding and subsequent tasks. If something is not clear, questions should be asked, and production must not begin until all requirements are understood. The first batch of products must be submitted to the team leader or supervisor as well as QC for inspection before mass production can begin; those that have not passed the inspection are not allowed to go into production. 2. Strict process operation requirements: Production must be carried out in accordance with specifications and process requirements; full responsibility shall be assumed for any quality defects resulting from violations of these process requirements. 3. Adhere to quality inspection standards: Produce in strict accordance with the standard requirements. Conduct thorough self-inspections to ensure the quality of the current processing stage, take responsibility for the quality of the next stage, and also exercise strict control over the quality of the previous stage. If a quality issue arises due to failures to address problems left over from the previous stage, the current stage is responsible – first, for carrying out the repairs itself, and second, for bearing the financial costs associated with those repairs. 4. Timely rework for quality issues: Repaired products must be fixed as soon as they are returned; no delays are allowed. Those who fail to carry out repairs in a timely manner or refuse to do so will have their wages deducted as part of their training time, and in serious cases, they will face administrative disciplinary action. 5. Produce in strict accordance with instructions: Especially for the key processes, ensure the protection of the products to prevent errors caused by their tipping over. The subsequent process is responsible for the previous one, and any errors resulting from misidentification shall be the responsibility of the relevant party. 6. Strive to complete and exceed production targets: Adopt the correct mindset of putting the collective interest first and the individual interest second, comply with assignments, and not be picky about types of work or tasks. During the production process, in order to ensure that the team’s goals are met, one must follow the instructions of the team leader; those who do not comply will have their time spent on counseling not counted as working hours, and any work done independently will not be counted toward production quotas. Those with a poor attitude will have their bonuses deducted, while those whose behavior is severe enough will face administrative disciplinary action. 6. Shift in awareness regarding production quality control: 1. Clear assignment of responsibilities – it is required that employees conduct self-inspections for each step before moving on to the next step (QC/management must supervise this) ； 2. In each group, it is necessary to get rid of the mindset of relying on others (the idea that QC will check everything anyway, and that actions can be taken after they have completed their checks), and take full responsibility for ensuring quality control from the semi-finished products to the finished products ； 3. All process inspectors and QC personnel must monitor every stage of production and each processing step; they should not focus all their attention on checking the finished products. Furthermore, the current focus of work is to control the production quality of semi-finished products; therefore, process inspectors must pay special attention. In the future, any goods that need to be reworked and are returned from IPQC inspections will hold the process inspectors accountable. What we need to do is to use every possible means to ensure that the products produced are fully qualified.