React Earlier and Prevent Production Losses

Why Fast Reactions Matter

Manufacturing environments are complex, and production conditions can change quickly.

A machine breakdown, reduced production speed, or quality problem can rapidly affect output, costs, and delivery performance.

Unfortunately, many production problems go unnoticed or remain unresolved longer than necessary because the right people are not informed in time.

Common examples include:

• Reduced throughput: A bottleneck produces below its expected capacity.
• Equipment breakdowns: A machine stops, threatening production targets.
• Quality deviations: Scrap or rework increases beyond acceptable levels.
• Extended changeovers: A changeover takes longer than planned.
• Recurring interruptions: Small stops gradually create significant production losses.

The longer a deviation continues, the greater its potential impact on production performance.

The Value of Reacting Earlier

Quickly identifying and addressing production problems helps reduce their impact on three important business objectives:

• Productivity and cost: Minimize lost production time and unnecessary resource consumption.
• Delivery performance: Reduce the risk of delays and missed production targets.
• Quality: Detect and address quality problems before additional defective products are produced.

Even relatively small problems can create substantial losses when they occur frequently or remain unresolved.

For example, a machine running 20% below its expected speed for several hours may create a significant production shortfall without ever experiencing a complete stop.

Early detection creates an opportunity to prevent small problems from becoming expensive ones.

Get the Right People Involved at the Right Time

Not every production deviation requires the same response.

Different situations require different people to investigate and resolve them.

For example:

The goal is to ensure that the people best equipped to resolve a problem become aware of it as quickly as possible.

This reduces unnecessary delays and helps teams prioritize the most important issues.

Which Production Events Should Trigger a Reaction?

Many production events can indicate that immediate attention is needed.

Examples include:

• Production throughput falls below a defined target.
• Machine downtime exceeds a specified number of minutes.
• Scrap exceeds an acceptable threshold.
• A changeover takes longer than expected.
• A quality measurement falls outside its acceptable range.
• A specific stop reason is recorded.
• A critical machine alarm occurs.
• An Operator requests assistance through an Andon call.

The appropriate response depends on the severity of the deviation and how quickly action is required.

Different Ways to Communicate Deviations

The most effective communication method depends on who needs the information and how urgently they need to respond.

A combination of methods is often useful.

For example, a machine breakdown might require immediate attention from Maintenance, while repeated breakdowns should also be reviewed during the next daily production meeting.

How Good Solutions Supports Faster Reactions

Good Solutions provides production information that helps teams identify deviations, understand their causes, and take corrective action.

Monitor Production Performance

Dashboards make important production KPIs and machine status visible, helping Operators and Production Leaders identify deviations from expected performance.

Investigate Problems

The Timeline provides a visual history of production activities, stops, and production runs.

This makes it easier to understand when problems occurred and investigate recurring patterns.

Identify Improvement Priorities

Reports help Production Managers analyse downtime, performance losses, and quality problems to identify where corrective actions can have the greatest impact.

Support Structured Responses

Good Solutions Forms can be triggered by supported production events, helping Operators perform required checks and document results.

For example, a Form can guide an Operator through a quality inspection or a structured follow-up after a production event.

Event-Based Alerts and Escalation

An important principle of effective production management is to connect events with appropriate responses.

This can be described using three steps:

WHEN → IF → THEN

• WHEN: A production event occurs, such as a machine stopping.
• IF: A defined condition is met, such as downtime exceeding 10 minutes.
• THEN: An appropriate response is initiated, such as notifying Maintenance or escalating the issue.

This is a useful model for designing Andon, notification, and escalation processes.

Note: Automated notifications and conditional escalation rules depend on the capabilities enabled in your Good Solutions installation. Event-based Form Triggers are a separate functionality and should not be confused with a general notification engine.

Build a Culture of Fast Problem-Solving

Technology helps make deviations visible, but effective responses also require clear responsibilities and working methods.

A successful approach includes:

1. Define important deviations: Agree on which production events require attention.
2. Assign responsibilities: Establish who should respond to different types of problems.
3. Make deviations visible: Use Good Solutions to monitor production and investigate losses.
4. React quickly: Address problems before their impact increases.
5. Follow up: Review recurring issues during pulse meetings and implement lasting improvements.

Key Takeaways

Production deviations are unavoidable, but unnecessary delays in responding to them can often be reduced.

By detecting problems earlier, involving the right people, and following up on recurring losses, manufacturing organizations can improve productivity, quality, and delivery performance.

Good Solutions helps make production problems visible and provides the information needed to move from reacting too late toward faster, more proactive problem-solving.