Four Principles to Attain Manufacturing Excellence
By Ir . Dr Oh Seong Por Director Samsung SDI Energy Malaysia Sdn Bhd
The manufacturing sector is one of the key sectors contributing to the economic development of many industrialised nations . It is also the sector that creates many job opportunities . In Malaysia , according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia , manufacturing sales in January 2021 stood at RM122.8 billion and provided jobs for 2,225,697 persons with average monthly wages per person reaching RM3,396 . As such sustaining manufacturing is crucial for the wellbeing of people and nation . However , like any other sector of the economy , manufacturing is constantly facing challenges either internally or externally which can lead to disruption . Some common internal failures are poor management or lack of vision while external factors can be technology advancement , competition from peers or an unprecedented pandemic like COVID 19 . To overcome these , a manufacturer regardless of size must strive to achieve and sustain manufacturing excellence .
Manufacturing excellence can be defined as the best model for a manufacturer to benchmark and create essential internal value for strengthening competitiveness , generating profit and sustaining growth . To achieve this , a manufacturer needs to focus on building value-added capacity to deliver the goals guided by structured principles .
Based on my 30 years of experience leading manufacturing organisations , I have converged on four principles which a company can apply in order to attain manufacturing excellence . These are Safety , Good Housekeeping , Empower Workers to Become Innovators and Standard Operating Procedures . These are well known principles in the manufacturing environment but are often neglected or lack management commitment or leadership to see them implemented effectively throughout the company . All the principles are people-centric and need the total participation of workers . The principles are inter-dependent and support each other . A company aiming to attain manufacturing excellence must set the right strategy , continuously educate and harness all employees to adopt the principles as part of their mandatory job responsibility .
PRINCIPLE 1 : SAFETY
Safety is the first and foremost principle for achieving excellence not only in manufacturing but other fields as well . Safety actually reflects the attitude of the people working in the plant . The right mindset is that all safety accidents are preventable . Workers who are unconcerned about safety and like defying work instructions by not wearing proper protective equipment or committing unsafe acts cause safety accidents . Management plays an important role to educate the workers about safety , establish and enforce safety rules on the shopfloor and create a safe working environment . Managers or supervisors who constantly emphasise safety and eradicate safety hazards will eventually mould the attitude of workers who also will care for their own wellbeing . In time workers will pay more attention to their work performance , making fewer mistakes and producing fewer defective products . In terms of loss , safety accidents can lead to various kinds of losses such as monetary loss spent on treating an injured worker , work hour reduction
GUIDELINES
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