Better Performance Through Production Metrics
Better Performance Through Production Metrics
BCMC Session: Measuring Your Production: What to Track & Why
Chad Pagels, Zeeland Truss and Components • Ben Pagel, BEP/Lyman – ABC Truss
You can’t manage what you don’t measure.
A simple, yet classic concept that can determine the level of success a component manufacturer (CM) has on their production floor.
Ben Pagel and Chad Pagels are keen on this approach to their operations and believe that if you don’t track your production, you’ll never know if you are improving. Similarly, they firmly believe that a CM is never done tracking data and should continually be looking for new metrics to capture throughout their operations.
“When you put it all together, it takes your company down a new communications path,” says Chad, general manager of Zeeland Truss and Components in Zeeland, Michigan. “You go from ‘I think we did this much’ or ‘it felt like a good/bad day’ and turns it into actual information.” Actual information you can use to make good business decisions and improve processes.
Every CM has their own unique way of capturing and collecting data. BEP/Lyman – ABC Truss in Chetek, Wisconsin incorporates a scanner system that pulls information on each component, allowing for greater flexibility and ease of searching for batch information. This data gathering tool saves a tremendous amount of time. For example, it allows his plant to get specialty information at the station, which prevents shop workers from having to walk to the office and search for the information.
Ben Pagel, network manager for BEP/Lyman – ABC Truss, says data is a critical piece not only to accurately see how operations are going – it takes the emotion out of everything.
“It helps to compare teams and equipment with real, hard facts,” he says. “Sound decisions can be made based on the metrics and without personal feelings.”
