Current Scenario of Engineering Industries:
Engineering companies face fierce competition as there are millions of engineering companies producing similar products. The basic performance areas including Quality, Safety, Productivity, Efficiency, and Cost Effectiveness are mandatory for every engineering company irrespective of their nature of operations and size.
In addition to this, there are specific requirements stated by the customer. Customers do not get satisfied only based on quality and delivery performance but also expect a good manufacturing facility presentation during their visits or audits.
Compliance with all such requirements becomes a real challenge for an engineering company. The compliance and continual improvement in all the areas of operation have become a constant objective for any engineering industry.
Expected Operational Compliances for an Engineering Industry:
Product Quality Compliance:
Product Quality Compliance refers to adherence to established standards, regulations, and requirements to ensure that a product meets defined quality criteria before it reaches the market.
Quality Management System Compliance:
Quality Management System compliance is necessary to ensure standardization across the company. There is a basic certification standard named ISO 9001, which provides the requirements related to the Quality Management System (QMS). There are many other sector-specific standards such as AS 9100, IATF 16949, etc. In most cases, certification has become mandatory as it is a specific requirement from the customer.
Safety Compliance:
Safety compliance refers to adherence to laws, regulations, standards, and practices designed to ensure the safety and well-being of employees, customers, and the general public. It is a critical aspect across various industries, especially in those involving hazardous materials, machinery, or environments, such as construction, manufacturing, healthcare, and energy.
Productivity & Efficiency:
In a competitive business environment, productivity and efficiency are crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. Companies must continuously optimize their operations, reduce waste, and improve output to stay ahead of competitors.
Cost Controls:
Cost control is essential in a competitive scenario as it directly impacts a company's profitability, pricing strategy, and ability to invest in growth and innovation. Effective cost control enables companies to maintain or improve margins, offer competitive prices, and withstand market pressures.
Changing Customer Requirements:
Adapting to changing customer requirements is crucial for maintaining relevance and achieving sustained success. Businesses must be agile and responsive to shifting customer preferences, emerging trends, and evolving market conditions.
Main Challenges for Achieving Operational Compliance:
The main challenges behind the failure of initiatives are inadequate and incompetent human resources and poor teamwork, which lead to a poor culture affecting overall compliance and, in turn, the company's performance.
The development of human resources and the establishment of a positive, high-performance culture is needed. Even with the best intentions and well-designed initiatives, the absence of competent, well-trained personnel and effective teamwork can lead to the failure of those initiatives. Let’s understand the challenges and their reasons as noted below.
Inadequate & Incompetent Human Resources:
- Skills Gap
- Resistance to Change
- Training Gaps
Poor Teamwork:
- Lack of Collaboration
- Cultural Barriers
- Leadership Challenges
In order to match such performance-related requirements, the development of human resources in any automotive company is tough yet a main requisite. Inculcating a good culture in the entire team is a challenging endeavor.
How Visual Management Can Help Overcome the Challenges?
Visual management has proven to be the most result-producing technique for building a good culture at the facility.
It is based on the concept of a "Visual Workplace." Studies state that "Visual memory is permanent and it is 60,000 times better than auditory memory," and "65% of the population are visual learners." This makes visual management the best technique to inculcate a good culture and elevate the image of the company.
VisualMitra is an Indian company that has worked extensively on individual industry-related challenges and developed industry-specific visual management kits focusing on the development of a good culture at any engineering company.
