Most of the manufacturing world is seasonal. It comes with the territory. So if you are like me, you work in a seasonal industry. Right now for me we are just a few weeks away from our peak season. What that means is orders are slow now but will not be slow for long. And it usually hits overnight. We go to sleep one day after an easy day of work and wake up to work that has quadrupled or sometimes more.
For several weeks I have been asking “what do you need in order to be ready for peak season?” The deer in headlights look doesn’t foster confidence within me. It’s almost as if they don’t even understand the question, much less how to find an answer.
In case you find yourself in a similar situation, not quite sure how to even assess peak readiness, here are six types of resources that you can look into to decide how ready you are. For me, remembering LMNOPQ is the easiest way to remember the six types of resources.
L is Labor. This is the amount of time that has been given by others in order to accomplish work.
You can tell if you have a gap in labor if your work exceeds the amount of labor available. In order to calculate this you need to know how long it takes to do the work in front of you, or the work that is forecasted. From there it’s a quick back of the napkin calculation to see how many people it would take to do that work. Then bump that up against the number of people you currently have, you’ll know pretty quick if you have a gap in labor.
M is for Materials. Materials are the things that get used up as your team performs the work. These are the components that go into products and the supplies that are part of production or service delivery.
You will know you have a gap in materials If the number of materials you need exceeds the number of materials on hand. If you work in a environment or process that replenishes materials frequently, then you calculate the gap based on the materials you will need in a period of time versus the amount of material you have now plus the replenishments you will receive within that time minus the material that will get used in the forecasted production during that time. Will use more than you have, or more than you will have then you have a gap.
N is for eNvironment. Environment is the space or other factors about the work environment that are critical to your process.
Every process is different. It’s important to know the critical aspects of the environment and how they change as work fluctuates. People who work in a physical product space like manufacturing will understand quickly that the more you build, the more you store, and the more space you need to do it. Taken to account space for raw materials, production, whip, and finish goods. Other factors that might change In the environment as production changes might be temperatures, lighting, or organization. To know if you have a gap in environmental factors you should assess how an increase in production will impact environmental factors, and determine if the change in environmental factors will prevent you from accomplishing the amount of production you would like to achieve.
O is for infO. Information is the data needed in order to successfully accomplish the work.
Oftentimes data flows independent of the work process, but it may not for you. You can identify gaps in information similar to gaps in the environment. Ask yourself, as production increases what additional information will be needed, or at what additional rate will the information be need.? If the system cannot keep up with the increase in the rate of information flow, or if the amount of information needed is not available, then that would be a gap.
P is for Process. Process is the way things are done. The how.
If how things are done changes with increased production, then you should assess if your process is capable of those necessary changes. A good example is batch sizes and changeovers. Oftentimes as production volumes increase companies will adjust batch sizes to improve efficiencies. You should ensure that batch size adjustments are possible on all up and downstream processes to ensure no gaps exist. The change in batch sizes naturally leads to changes in changeover frequency or timing. This is another critical place to check your process. Make sure there are no gaps in how things are done as volumes increase.
Q is for eQuipment and tools. These are things used in the process, but unlike materials they are not used up.
As production increases, what additional equipment is needed, or what additional strain is put on the equipment you have? To know if you have a gap in your equipment you should identify how much equipment is needed and what the uptime is needed to handle the increased volume. Then assess your equipment and determine if you have enough, and if it is capable of the uptime necessary for production. If not, you have a gap in equipment.
Remember that these six resources are necessary elements of the process, but also are affected by the process and those effects will need to be restored or resolved to keep the process healthy throughout the season.
So next time the question is asked, what do you order to be ready for peak season, I hope you have in your mind six sources as essential elements of the process, and as affected resources, and can give some context around keep readiness in each of those areas.
If you can do that, you’re doing better than most.
I’m glad you’re on the team. Good luck out there,
Rob
