Getting the manufacturing operations restarted is a big task in these tough times. Organizations need to follow a structured approach to stabilize operations, improve throughput and increase profits.

Follow these five steps to get back in action:

1.      Planning

• Do you know the cash flow and liquidity status of your organization?
• Do you know the availability of labour and the risk associated with it?
• Check your demand and supply?
• Have you analysed your available labour force to make optimum use of the production schedule?

2.      Supply Chain

Organizations need to evaluate incoming and outgoing supply chain. Do not consider only material when you evaluate supply chains. Due to the crisis, the situation is different across the globe. Design an alternate sourcing strategy. Consider all the possible factors affecting the supply chain example change in tariffs or currency fluctuations and many more.

3.      Skill Gap Analysis

Identify the critical skills and roles needed in the manufacturing process. Once you identify the skills make a chart for all the roles that need to upgrade skills. Make a training plan to fill in the skill gaps and evaluate the new skills that you need to bring into the organization. Organizations need to be connected to the teams and empathize with them and encourage them to take bigger roles and greater responsibilities in these tough times.

4.      Connect with Stakeholders

Work with both upstream vendors or suppliers and downstream customers. Relate to them continuously to understand the challenges that they are facing. Work towards finding solutions and making the process seamless.

5.      Safety First

Apply operational excellence tools like 5S to operate a facility while keeping employees safe from typical injury exposures and the coronavirus. Also, safety walkthroughs are important – especially when changes have been made on the shop floor and people are in new roles. Further organizations should also make design changes keeping in mind social distancing. They need to consider sanitation and PPE requirements. Safety should be a priority for employee well-being.

As we are exiting the lockdown from a pandemic, we have only one chance to get it right. Follow the above-mentioned guidelines and give your organization and your employees the best chance to get back to the new normal and even become more profitable and productive.

Written & Compiled by Faber Mayuri