Managing complexity is the key to successful manufacturing in the 21st century.
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Running a plant is like optimizing a massive multivariate, nonlinear equation. It requires manufacturing products of the highest quality at the lowest possible cost, fulfilling the production plan, maximizing use of equipment, using energy efficiently, complying with environmental, health and safety regulations, and adhering to regulatory agreements.
How can this multivariate equation be optimized?
The answer is teamwork. The “perfect plant” is created step by step by a large number of people working together. The plant manager is no longer the one and only heroic figure in the factory. If the plant manager doesn’t create a team to run the plant, then he or she can quickly become a barrier to progress. Perhaps the greatest challenge for the plant manager is creating a culture in which his subordinates see the big picture-a culture in which they take into account not only what is best for their department but also for the entire factory.
Please read my “Perfect Plant Editorial” (March 2009 Edition)
In the end, everything that happens in a plant is controlled by human brains or machines. To make production work well, the humans have to know what’s going on in the plant, and the machines have to have instructions to do what’s needed.
