Managing manufacturing operations can feel like playing chess while white water rafting. There are a million little details to plan and keep an eye on, and one untimely swell can topple all your best-laid plans. Manufacturing operations management (MOM) can help keep you afloat by improving quality control, streamlining workflows and optimizing resources while helping you plan for contingencies.

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We’ll give you the 411 on what MOM is, how it affects production, its practical implementation, its benefits and the game-changing software that drives it all.

Article Roadmap

• What Is Manufacturing Operations Management?
• Production Scope
• Steps To Follow
• Key Benefits
• What Is the Difference Between Manufacturing Operations Management and MES?
• Upcoming Trends
• Manufacturing Operations Management Software
• Next Steps

What Is Manufacturing Operations Management?

Manufacturing operations management is the process of managing tools and systems to improve visibility and optimize efficiency. It gets a helping hand from various solutions, including production tracking, MES, supply chain management and human-machine interface (HMI) software.

Just like Formula One, there may be multiple strategies to get to the checkered flag, but you want to use data and analytics to pick the fastest way. Manufacturing operations management improves visibility and consolidates production processes to get your end product out quicker.

Production Scope

To understand how manufacturing operations management works, you’ll need to understand the scope of this process. Ultimately, it comes down to consolidating production, inventory, maintenance and quality control.

Production

Planning is everything. Production is less about the assembly line and more about managing production planning, capacity analysis and control. Tools like performance analysis, MES systems and advanced planning and scheduling solutions decrease costs and increase efficiency.

Inventory Management

It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, right? Well, that answer isn’t quite as straightforward with inventory management. Excess stock can lead to higher overheads and passing on the cost to customers, while understocking can decrease efficiency and increase downtime. Inventory management software helps you maintain that sweet spot.

Maintenance

A stitch in time saves nine. Unscheduled downtime is the enemy of productivity and goes hand-in-hand with higher costs. Tools like CMMS software and EAM systems keep your assets running efficiently and minimize machine failures.

Quality Control

When push comes to shove, it’s all about the finished product. Quality control management ensures you produce goods according to set parameters and specifications. Compliance checks and enterprise quality management software provide a helping hand.

People

All the world’s equipment, software and planning won’t boost productivity without people management. Finding the right team members, providing training and development, maintaining safety and improving well-being are key to optimizing productivity. Employee engagement and HRIS management software manage policies and keep staff motivated.

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Steps To Follow

Manufacturing excellence doesn’t happen overnight. A strategy geared to continuous improvement is a product of a quality manufacturing operations process or plenty of trial and error. We’ll provide a generic roadmap to help you plan your manufacturing operations management strategy.

Pick a Project

You don’t need to start revamping everything everywhere, all at once. Choose a pilot project. It may be an under-performing product or an assembly line with many exceptions. Just like an experimental group project, it offers insights on changes.

Define Metrics

Once you select a project, you’ll need to define what qualifies as success. Define clear, measurable KPIs to help gauge the effectiveness of operation changes.

Create A Performance Measurement System

Data collection is vital to establishing a performance measurement system. You’ll need to tally up metrics for machine status, labor clock-ins, control batch records and set acceptable limits.

Upgrade Older Equipment

Older equipment is susceptible to breakdowns, using additional labor and data collection issues. Retrofit equipment with M2M communication, machine sensors and cloud-based solutions.

Collaborate With Other Departments

Smooth collaboration between HR, admin, work supervisors and maintenance ensures everyone’s on the same page. It may bring to light improvements in specific departments that affect overall manufacturing efficiency.

Develop a Strategy

Collate the data and pilot project insights to create a manufacturing operations strategy for a larger use. Understand that there may be discrepancies between your pilot project’s results and overall effectiveness.

Implement Strategy and Evaluate Results

Your job doesn’t end with strategy implementation. Continuously evaluating results and changing up your strategy is what brings results.

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Primary Benefits

Now that we’ve covered the “what” of manufacturing operations management, it’s time to show you the “why.” From better teamwork and compliance to increased profitability and customer satisfaction, here are seven reasons why manufacturing operations management could be the MVP for your shop floor.

Boost Communication

It’s easier to optimize resources and plan for orders when everyone is on the same page. Access to centralized, real-time data and interdepartmental communication minimizes duplication and misunderstandings.

Maintain Compliance

Maintaining government regulations and laws can be like keeping up with the Kardashians. Missing an update, like missing an episode, can leave you blindsided when “new developments” occur and result in hefty fines and penalties. Effective quality and compliance software ensure operations are up to the mark.

Reduce Waste

A penny saved is a penny earned. Use manufacturing operations management systems to set triggers and alerts to control inventory and optimize raw material usage to reduce waste.

Optimize Resources

Miscommunication, unplanned downtime and production errors are real resource killers. CMMS systems, batch tracking, exception management and interdepartmental communication help efficiently allocate resources.

Increase Profitability

Improving margins is the dream, but it won’t come to fruition without a consistent focus on efficiency. Real-time, centralized data on performance, revenue and expenses, along with long-term plans, will help increase profits.

Elevate Product Quality

Higher quality, cheaper products almost always equal a happier customer. Improving fulfillment rates, order taking and product quality with the help of real-time data and automated processes leads to higher client satisfaction and potentially repeat business.

Improve Employee Productivity

Increased inter-department collaboration means fewer miscommunications in scheduling, unfilled shifts or department-specific decision-making. Automated, streamlined processes minimize manual tasks, helping workers use their time better.

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Manufacturing Operations Management vs. MES

It’s a tale as old as time. Much like the fierce rivalry between DC and Marvel or Tom Brady and retirement, opinion is firmly divided on the difference between manufacturing operations management and MES. We’ll clear the air on two significant differences.

Scope: Think of manufacturing operations management as a solar system and MES as one of the planets in it. MES falls under operations management under the ISA 95 framework.

Goal: MES focuses solely on what happens on the production floor, which may tie into larger goals, while manufacturing operations help business operations as a whole.

Upcoming Trends

Manufacturing operations management may have only been around for a few decades, but it’s already revolutionized the game. And there’s a lot more where that came from. Here are some manufacturing operations management trends to keep an eye out for:

• Hybrid Human-Machine Processes: Far from the dystopian predictions of “the machines” overrunning manufacturing, a collaborative approach is on the cards in the future. Workflows will support people-to-people, people-to-systems and systems-to-systems interaction to enforce procedures.
• Niche, Focused Apps: All-in-one solutions are “canceled.” Too many interdependencies and broad-scale focuses can lead to inconsistent results and detract from functionality. Plus, it’s faster and easier to develop smaller apps.
• Unified Asset and Production Model: Looking ahead, manufacturing platforms provide a centralized asset and production model. A single model ensures interoperability between tangible equipment, facilities and human resources, along with production orders and bills of materials, eliminating the need for multiple records.
• Incorporation of AI: The increasing affordability of automated sensors and software has transformed operations. Additionally, APIs, AI and machine learning will automate processes and increase efficiency.

Manufacturing Operations Management Software

Did you know the manufacturing operations management software market is poised to hit $22.64 billion by 2027? But does the ideal manufacturing operations management solution exist? We’ve put together a basic rundown of what to look for.

Applications

To be honest, there’s no single system you can implement that’s one-size-fits-all. Instead, you’ll need multiple solutions depending on your business’s needs. These may include MES software for shop floor operations, quality and compliance software, HMI software, supply chain planning software, ERP software and CMMS software.

Questions To Ask

Before you splash the cash on manufacturing software, you need to understand your requirements. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What processes are we trying to optimize?
• Can automation fix data entry inefficiencies?
• Will we need to upgrade our equipment to maximize software usage?
• Do we want to scale in the foreseeable future?
• What software do we already use? Will the new software integrate with existing solutions?
• Do we need regulatory compliance help?
• What technical infrastructure do we have in place?
• Can we support on-site deployment, or will we need cloud-based software?

Need more help? Try our free manufacturing requirements template to match your needs to the right software.

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Next Steps

There’s no quick-fire way to optimize production. However, implementing manufacturing operations management in your business can help you iron out the kinks. Software and data management tools can aid decision-making, minimize errors and better allocate resources.

Want to stay ahead of the curve? Check out our free comparison report to find out which products are market leaders.

Would you like more information on manufacturing operations management software? Let us know in the comments!