In a manufacturing business, no matter the size, there are many moving parts. Whether the manufacturing processes would be productive or not, is often due to whether these countless parts are moving in harmony with one another. In order for your manufacturing processes to run like a well-oiled machine and not one that regularly breaks down, your workers would need to be on the same page at all times. How can your manufacturing business achieve that? This is where standard operating procedure or SOP comes in.

To begin, let’s have a quick understanding on SOP. SOP is basically a document that communicates to the workers in your manufacturing business on how to carry out certain processes. Example a production planning process, SOP will describe what to do upon receiving customer order, how to plan materials required, what resources to use and when to start production, in order to manufacture products which would fulfil customer and the organization requirements, i.e. on-time delivery, minimal defects and minimal wastages. SOPs will ensure that you have structured processes in place, competent workers, and a motivating company culture.

Bring Your Manufacturing to Next Level by Having Consistent Outputs

Having SOP in your manufacturing business will give you consistency. The main reason of having SOP is to enable consistency in the way a worker carries out a particular task or activity, no matter who. SOP assures accuracy and predictability. A standardized manufacturing process will guarantee the same outcome, ensuring consistent outputs, consistent quality, consistent quantity, consistent time-frame, consistent costs and energy.

Bring Your Manufacturing to Next Level by Minimizing Errors

Having SOP in your manufacturing business will help you minimize errors. SOP details a set of instructions for performing a task. As long as each worker performs the task as it is written, there’s a greater chance of minimizing errors, therefore achieving predictability, which is extremely valuable. Manufacturing targets or goals could also be established to measure the outputs, and any error would be identified, data collected, analysed and improvement carried out. With the ability to minimize errors and achieve goals, workers would be more motivated and driven to carry out their tasks.

Bring Your Manufacturing to Next Level with Effective Communication

SOP is a great communication tool in your manufacturing business. One factor that differentiates between a manufacturer that runs well and one that does not is whether the communication is done effectively. The more effectively and accurately information is communicated between workers, the less time is wasted, the better the quality, and most likely, the higher the profit. Peter Drucker, an Austrian-American management consultant, educator, and author, once said, “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” When effective SOP is in place, it will enable manager or supervisor to communicate what needs to be done easily, and also to use it on their operations to hear what is not said.

A failure to comply with the SOP will likely cause a breakdown or deviation from the manufacturing plan. The severity of the deviation will tell the manager or supervisor, without needing for it to be said, exactly where to begin his or her root cause analysis. Troubleshooting will take far less time to align manufacturing processes back as per planning, ultimately leading to improved profits. Well established communication passes the right information to the right people at the right times.

So, use SOP effectively to bring your manufacturing to the next level. SOP is a mean to establish expectations and manage behaviours to achieve intended outcomes. Whether the behaviour is a daily task, a weekly task, or a monthly task, SOP will establish an understanding of who to do, what to do, how to do, and when to do, to assure that the tasks are carried out to meet the goals set.

Feel free to contact us to learn more how we use SOP to bring your business to the next level

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