We observe that most of the furniture factories do undertake the financial audit in order to check their financial situation and to review the performance of the company. This helps them in planning for their future actions and projections. It is also noticed that this helps the company a lot in expansions and growth, as the main revenue for the factory is generated from the manufacturing facility they have installed.
Unfortunately there are very few factories that audit their “ManufacturingProcess”.
One may wonder what is “ Manufacturing Process Audit ”.
Manufacturing Process Audit means a systematic study of each and every work done, whether it is small or big work, that is done in the process of the manufacturing of the furniture. This is then compared with the correct standard process that is efficient, profitable and fast. Finally it examines the acts and decisions by people who are responsible for quality-productivity, in order to independently evaluate and report the degree of compliance to operational requirements of the production program.
The main objective of the entire process is to determine the extent to which the planned production process and capacity is ultimately achieved. This also informs the management about the exact working of the factory floor with minute details like -the processes that need improvement, the wastage of time and material, any of the processes that can be avoided which will improve working. The generally observed defective processes can be listed like below.
No balancing of operations:
It is generally observed that the furniture factories discuss about their requirements with the machinery manufacturers and come to a final conclusion about the set of machines to be ordered. Unfortunately no consideration is given on the balancing of operations. It is many times seen that some machines installed are very high capacity and some machines required in chain of processare missing. Due to this reason we find lot of manual handwork in Joinery factories even if they have purchased high capacity automatic machines. This results in dependence on the skill of the worker and bottlenecks, delays in deliveries of the furniture etc.
Poor maintenance of machinery & Tools:
It is also observed that the condition of machinery is very poor and cutting tools are blunt with lot of resin deposits. One should understand that poor tools results in poor finish and needs lot of efforts to rework.
Wastage of glues and faulty finishing:
Many times it is seen that excess glue is applied and then the bleeding glue is cleaned leaving glue marks. In this we loose the expensive Glue that is bleeding. The quantity of the wasted glue is more that the glue used in the joinery. This again calls for extra labour for cleaning. Unfortunately these points are not considered and taken seriously. Whenever there are delays in deliveries and low out put, only additional staff requests are sent to management. As the management is cornered there is no choice but to add the staff. This results in low profitability.
This is just a sample list of faulty processes & and actual report after thorough scrutiny may vary from factory to factory.
Hence many companies are opting for the Manufacturing Process Audit to get rid of the excessive staff and bring back the profitability to the business. This audit will bring to the notice of the factory management the serious issues on the floor and the way to optimize the labour on the floor.
Benefits of Manufacturing Process Audit:
- Manufacturing Process Audit Helps the factories to locate the defective processes &monitor the corrective actions required to eliminate problems.
- Assists the factories to see that no new problems will arise in the manufacturing process.
- Helps factories to find a solution for the problems.
- Improves working standard &improves manufacturing process.
- Acts as a powerful tool for continuous improvement.
- Helps the factory to assess their overall performance.