Manufacturing KPI allows companies of all different sizes to track their progress toward initiatives and reward their top performers. These performance indicators are a great way for management reward their top performers and those who are ensuring the processes are staying on track with their goals.
While I was researching KPI software services I came across one bit of information that intrigued me – augmentation of existing solutions. How many software providers actually will augment an existing system which is currently in place at existing plants? This is an interesting point because it can be very hard to find a system that is designed for your specific industry. Should you find a system that is geared this way it usually provides a rigid structure which means you must conform all of your procedures to the software’s format. Flexible software providers; for example those that augment existing solutions, allow you to take advantage of continuous improvement. Not only will you notice more of a continuous improvement your environment will become even leaner.
These software systems that allow for augmentation have a clear advantage over generic or out of the box software applications. One primary example is that although industry standards may be similar the internal processes will vary greatly between plants; processes even vary between plants that produce the exact same products. This wide variety of operations causes the out-of-the-box solutions to fail when they are implemented at the site. A lack of usability with these systems is also a major fault. Augmented systems are generally designed in a user-friendly format which uses your terminology.
Finding a solution like this may be difficult; I suggest taking a look at a few different software providers that will help you design the product for your environment. Like we said before, no two environments are the same.
