Monday, January 5, 2015

Manufacturing Metrics that Really Don’t Matter

By Conrad Leiva, International Board Member of MESA International and member of MESA’s Technical Committee 
 
Manufacturing is experiencing a renaissance these days and with any renaissance we have to be a little skeptical of potential overhype in some areas. Metrics is a topic within manufacturing that receives much attention and it is possible for an organization to get carried away with new metrics for the organization. We are providing some examples below of poor metrics for manufacturing plants to help you keep an eye out for these creeping up in your organization:



  • Number of Empty Parking Spaces in the Parking Lot 
  • Number of Customers Requesting Lower Prices
  • Number of Food Trucks in Front of Plant at Lunch Time 
  • Number of Employees Requesting Vacation 
  • Number of Machines Requiring Daily Lubrication 
  • Percent of Product Cost spent on Executive Management Salaries 
  • Number of Headache Relief Pills Purchased for First-Aid Supplies

I am sure we could make the case for the validity of any of these metrics, but I assure you we can find better ones for your organization. 


If you see any metrics in your organization resembling the above or if you are really interested in metrics that really matter, you should join the MESA organization and download the resource referenced below:


References:
MESA Manufacturing Metrics That Really Matter eBook
https://services.mesa.org/ResourceLibrary/ShowResource/48cdb30c-80c5-42d4-905c-9c351de6bf47


Join MESA at http://www.mesa.org/

Conrad’s career has included consulting with many Aerospace & Defense companies on how to streamline the paperwork and information flow among Planning, Inventory, Quality, Production and Supply Chain disciplines. Recently, his work has focused on manufacturing intelligence and the integration between engineering, business, and manufacturing systems working with PLM and ERP partners. Conrad is VP Product Marketing and Alliances at iBASEt. Conrad holds an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech, certification in MES/MOM manufacturing operations management methodologies, and is a certified quality auditor.

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