Today's manufacturing professionals are well aware of the sorts of benefits that measuring and improving production efficiency can bring - reduced downtime, rejects and costs, along with increased speed, output and customer satisfaction, to name a few. At the best of times, these benefits can provide real competitive advantage and have a significant impact on profit, but during an economic recession, significant cost reduction coupled with improved efficiency and customer satisfaction can really be the key to survival.
On that basis, it would seem logical to assume that the majority of companies are already collecting and analysing production data and using the results to improve efficiency. However, in reality, there are often seemingly insurmountable barriers to achieving this:-
- allocating resources to collect and analyse data can be expensive;
- extensive 5S or 6Sigma training courses can take forever and be cost prohibitive;
- high-end efficiency software usually requires an IT infrastructure to be installed and maintained, and that on top of the cost of the software can put it out of the reach of some companies;
- conversely, using Excel or Access to collate data can seem cost-effective initially, but data entry is often cumbersome and time-consuming, and spreadsheets multiply to the point where things become impossible to manage.
To address these issues, Gemba Solutions has developed an on-line, hosted version of its GAIN4 Efficiency software. Along with all the normal benefits that GAIN4 Efficiency can bring (see our website at www.gembasolutions.com for more details):
- GAIN4 Efficiency On-line is provided on a "software as a service" basis, enabling companies to rent the software on a monthly basis - a huge advantage for companies with restricted capital expenditure.
- Software is accessed and data entered on-line via your web browser, so no additional IT equipment is needed.
Data entry is very straight-forward and with a multitude of standard reports, KPI measurement and reporting is quick and easy (one customer who recently upgraded from Excel to GAIN4 On-line has reported a saving of 86% in time spent entering data and preparing reports) and the system can be viewed and used from any location.
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