Great Manufacturing Processes…the BUSINESS CASE

Robust Manufacturing Processes Win.

Period. Full stop.

I’d expect that your business experience and common sense would make you believe that robust manufacturing processes win. Winning means: these processes are consistently profitable, reliable for customers, and important assets of the company.

If you still need convincing…

Corning Inc., Intel, and 3M are leading manufacturers who produce a huge variety of products. These products are complex, hard-to make, and require tremendous capital investment. If you have experience working with any of these companies, you will know they view robust manufacturing processes as a non-negotiable must for their businesses and for their customers.

I also like thinking about what I call ”inverse role-models” in this context.

Apple squandered hundreds of millions of dollars trying to make sapphire iPhone screens; please see my “Apple’s Sapphire iPhone Screen “Innovation Adventure” newsletter for more details. Apple’s sapphire process was anything but robust. Tesla has had very public problems and shortcomings scaling up their Model 3 production. Tesla has labelled these as being “automation problems”. I think Tesla has been trying to automate non-robust/inconsistent processes, which is always going to be a losing battle.

Creating robust processes is not a mystery, although it is much easier said than done.

To create robust manufacturing processes:

Step 1: Create manufacturable and scalable research concepts.

Step 2: Minimize time from prototype to full-scale manufacturing.

Step 3: Engineer robust and trouble-free production processes.

The business benefits of robust manufacturing processes include:

• Happier operators

• Higher manufacturing yields

• Improved customer satisfaction

• Increased sales

• Increased product development capabilities

• More profitable utilization of manufacturing assets

I have worked on 24 major process projects to date. The positive financial benefit has been (many) tens of millions of dollars. Both top-line revenue and bottom-line profitability have been significantly increased by these efforts. The average return on investment has been huge, 20X to 50X. Put simply, working smartly to increase process robustness is a tremendous financial and business benefit.

My main learning has been the remarkable upside associated with the creation of robust manufacturing processes. These benefits are available for all “process owners” to take advantage of. However, the work must be done to create great processes. They do not happen without consistent expert-level projects and efforts.

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YOUR CHALLENGE THIS WEEK

• Please consider if you view your processes as vital business assets. Which are the key assets with the most business leverage and importance?

• Review the investments you have made to improve both new and existing processes. Have your investments significantly and demonstrably improved your process robustness and profitability?

I’d enjoy hearing about your organization’s “Key Process Assets”! As always, please email me and I’ll get back to you promptly..

All the Best, Marty

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