5 Ways To Lead Your Small Business Towards Profitable Operations
The manufacturing environment takes precision, coordination and the skills of all the individuals involved. Andreas Klarmann is an expert in the manufacturing field and explains the procedures and actions he follows in his line of work to increase sales, which can also be implemented by others in the manufacturing area.
Klarmann is the director of manufacturing for Wise Plastic Technologies. He directs and manages all manufacturing related activities, including change management, which is a large part of his current role. Klarmann believes that utilizing a different style of management, implementing techniques focusing on management through people and continuous improvement are the keys to becoming successful in the manufacturing field.
Klarmann completed his plastic engineering degree in Germany. After his graduation, he was elected to help one of his previous employers establish a molding department with lean manufacturing principles. He now leads a manufacturing team on two manufacturing sites and oversees approximately 300 employees in a custom molding and assembly environment.
What are the top five tips you would offer to small business owners who want to be as profitable as possible in their manufacturing business?
- Implement a strategic plan of business. This business plan should go three to five years out with specific end goals. Be sure to follow the business plan and also reference it often to make you sure all involved are on track.
- Manage through people. Manage bottom up, involving your staff, instead of top down. Include guiding principles for employees to follow.
- Provide skill assessment /job analysis. Assess the skills of staff in order to identify training needs. Establish job descriptions, including expectations/metrics linked to business plan goals.
- Explore your selection of techniques. Explore techniques such as lean manufacturing: 5S, SMED, POUS, TPM and IBM. And continuous improvement: Kaizen, Root Cause Analysis, KATA and A3.
- Establish a solid audit process. Do this to sustain success, including change management-involvement of all layers, LPA, LSW, Gemba Walk.
These are just a few points of many that will create a successful, well run manufacturing environment which will foster a great work environment for employees and ensure a profitable operation.
This article was written by Michelle Guilbeau of Examiner.com for CBS Small Business Pulse.
