Recent world events have shown the manufacturing community just how important flexibility can be in the modern world. Countless companies across Asia, Europe, and America have turned their focus to making products to help fight the Covid-19 outbreak, from making masks to designing brand new medical ventilator systems. Of course, though, this is only possible when factories and other manufacturing facilities are able to adapt at a moment’s notice. To help you to push your own business into this position, this post will be exploring some of the key features your factory is going to need to be dynamic.
Varied Skills
It’s becoming more and more common for manufacturers to hire unskilled workers for their assembly lines, training them to do a single job once they arrive for their first day of work. This creates some challenges if you want to alter your production, though, as you won’t have people who are skilled in a range of areas. This makes it worth hiring employees who are engineers with a range of different skills and knowledge. While this can be more costly, it can also come with other benefits, with skilled engineers having a much better chance of being able to repair and modify your existing machines.
A Range Of Sources
One of the key challenges when you’re trying to change the way that your factory works is sourcing new materials. For example, in the case of Covid-19, many technology manufacturers have started having to source textiles to be able to produce face masks. Having a wide variety of different sources available to you can be very helpful when you’re in this position. This should include those which are close by along with some which are further afield, ensuring that local and global issues impact your supply as little as possible. Even a slight delay in getting the materials you need can have a huge impact on your production.
Flexible Machinery
Many modern factories don’t have machines which can be used for a range of tasks. Instead, they will have purpose built tools, and this can make it difficult to change your production at the drop of a hat. Being in touch with a Rapid Tooling Production Facility can solve this problem for you. Using the spec you give them, companies like this will be able to make new tools which will ensure that your business is able to change direction as quickly as possible. Alternatively, machines like 3D printers and CNC machines are able to change what they make without any alterations to the tool itself.
With all of this in mind, you should be feeling prepared to start changing the way that your factory operates. It’s never easy to push things like this in the right direction, but the work can be well worth it once you’ve completed it. Not only will you be able to keep your company running in difficult times, but you could also provide a huge amount of support to your global community in times of difficulty.
