For better readability, I do not use all genders simultaneously in my blog posts.
Of course, all references to persons refer to each gender.Why is production the mirror of the company? All processes that previously took place largely in secret are reflected in the result, i.e. in the implementation. Everyone can see it and draw his more or less objective conclusions. Very often the backgrounds are neglected.

Whether it is development, sales, purchasing, industrial engineering (IE), but also human resources, all have a great influence on how the result looks like in the end. For example, products may or may not be developed in a very production-friendly way. This can lead to a significant difference and has a great influence on whether the reject rate and running costs are low.

In the case of plant procurement by IE, the influence continues to be felt. Here the foundation is laid for the extent to which the production plants exhibit high process stability and frequent plant downtimes or defective parts are largely avoided.

Purchasing and procurement have a considerable influence on the quality of the raw material that is processed and the parts that are used in production. The savings targets often set for purchasing are thus quickly misleading and, when viewed as a whole, lead to significant additional costs that cancel out the supposed savings. For example, difficulties in further processing and product quality can arise, leading to increased scrap.

Sales also play an important role in the company. Only if sufficient orders are procured by the sales department is there a basis for the business model. But one too many can also have a negative impact here. If a product is offered at too low a price or promises are made to customers for orders that are not covered by capacity, this can also lead to a deterioration in quality. High time pressure in production, increases the potential for errors and thus the risk of rejects and complaints. Costs resulting from special campaigns, such as expensive overtime or too frequent set-ups, are two further examples of this. But also issues of technical feasibility, require a good instinct by the sales department.

An important sparring partner for production and its managers, as well as all other departments, is of course Human Resources. The selection of the right personnel is just as important as the development and further training of employees, including their superiors. Not to forget health prevention and occupational safety issues.

So it is worthwhile not only to look at production from the production point of view, but to use the information from production for all parts of the company. By exploiting this potential, a company can develop much more than if the focus is only on the visible in production. According to the motto: “there it is to be seen, then it must also come from there and be corrected”.

Sometimes statements such as: “Production is easy, anyone can do it” come up. I have encountered this untenable thesis not only once in my practice. It is put forward by people who have not sufficiently penetrated the topic of production and therefore underestimate its complexity. Certainly, at first parts can somehow be channeled through production, and with good processes it doesn’t seem that difficult at all. The apparent success is deceptive and then often leads to this wrong conclusion. However, this does not do justice to the challenges posed by production.

Only those who deal with this topic sufficiently and penetrate all the influencing factors in depth, as described above, will grasp the implications and really understand the actual demands on production. The difference between the superficial “production is easy” and the overall context becomes clear. It becomes clear that the thesis about production mentioned above is not tenable.

Especially with regard to the many facets of employee management, it is always a challenging task for those responsible for production. For this reason, this aspect is always the focus of my considerations.

For better readability, I do not use all genders simultaneously in my blog posts.
Of course, all references to persons refer to each gender.