Manufacturing managers face unprecedented challenging times caused by COVID-19. While some essential companies have never stopped producing, other factories are currently planning and coordinating a reopening with the greatest concern for health and safety measures.
Managers have to deal with the implementation of social distancing measures, new procedures deployment, quality issues, reduced frontline workers access on the floor, and several other non-standard situations. Furthermore, they manage under restrictive circumstances.
How do manufacturers use Tervene during this unprecedented situation?
12 current issues to which Tervene contributes
1. Health & Safety
The main concern is to create and maintain a safe work environment. New measures required new training, new standards, and health & safety inspections. With a digital audit solution, health standards and processes can be validated and the reports are accessible remotely. The knowledge center provides access to the most up to date safety instructions measures to adopt.
2. Quality Management
Quality managers address quality issues caused by an unprecedented production context. This production context could affect quality through human errors, supplier quality issues, or program and machine errors. With Tervene, managers validate the conformity of quality and manage any corrective actions within the same tool.
3. Physical distancing measures
Contacts should be limited and face-to-face meetings reduced, avoided, or done at a safe distance. Nevertheless, meetings remain an essential collaborative practice for manufacturers.
By digitally connecting workers in a mobile environment, all management levels can collaborate in real-time to detect, manage, and resolve issues quickly while maintaining a physical distance.
4. Management of non-standard situations
All team leaders and managers are faced with situations that deviate from the standards and require efficient response collaboration. Combined with a problem-solving ecosystem, Gemba walks enable issues detection, thorough issues documentation as well as a quick response.
5. Limited frontline workers’ access on the factory floor
Most of the organizations plan a gradual reopening of their operations. Frontline workers’ access to the factory floor is limited to ensure operational control, public health directives compliance, and workplace adaptation. Workforce limitation requires a proactive problem-solving approach adoption. Otherwise, productivity will be impacted by a reacting approach at irregular times.
Gemba Walk structure ensures systematic operational control. Even if the workforce is reduced on the floor, rigorous control enables efficient issues detection to reduce wastes. Issues are prioritized, proactively identified, and escalated to the right resources.
6. Reduced managers’ presence on the factory floor
In the current situation, managers should go on the floor for essential tasks and support. With a connected management system, the production and management teams collaborate in a common tool providing visibility and the context they need to take action. The management team also gets visibility on the control status of the factory floor: level of conformity of standards, predominant issues and corrective actions.
The meeting tool connects teams in a centralized and collaborative meeting solution. The task manager enables to keep an eye on critical tasks and gain visibility on the team’s workload, at a distance.
7. Remote problem-solving & support teams at a distance
Support groups have an essential role in problem-solving and troubleshooting. The meeting tool provides maximized collaboration in critical problem-solving.
The task manager enables to manage, affect, and escalate tasks and ensure they come with the context needed to solve them efficiently.
8. New procedures deployment
Adaptation requires new work procedures deployment. Tervene’s knowledge center enables to create, import, and digitalize procedures in a digital library. Everyone has access to relevant, up to date, and dynamic information at their fingertips.
Even better, these new procedures compliance can be validated thereafter with Tervene’s audit solution, while keeping a record of every inspection results.
9. Information transfer between shifts
Shift handover meetings are a common practice to ensure a fluid transfer between shifts. Sharing critical information plays an important role in keeping all work teams up to date, especially in a fast-changing context.
Tervene’s meeting tool allows standard information sharing while limiting face-to-face meetings or keeping a safe distance. Participants collaborate before, during, and after meetings in a connected ecosystem. They also add images, videos, and files linked to provide a strong understanding of every discussion topic.
10. Need for remote visibility in real-time on the issues raised to provide the support needed
Support groups, team leaders and managers need real-time visibility on the issues raised and corrective follow-ups. Tervene provides real-time visibility on issues, non-conformities, corrective actions, processes compliance, procedures consultations and much more. It allows quick support and management at a distance.
11. Quick updates, managed remotely
The situation evolves rapidly, as are public health directives and internal procedures. Inspection checklists and procedures should be up to date as the situation evolves.
With digital tools, procedures, inspection lists and Gemba walk checklists can be updated remotely and in real-time, without having to print and distribute to employees every time.
12. Production changes in response to the need for medical equipment
Some companies have adapted their production in response to the urging need for medical equipment, such as masks, ventilators and protective visors. These changes require important adaptation, new process deployment and enhanced control.
Tervene: digital tool for enhanced operational control and collaboration on the factory floor
Tervene is a connected management system supporting knowledge management, process validation, operational control, communication & problem-solving on the factory floor.
We serve factories across North America and Europe, including manufacturing leaders such as Mars Wrigley, Safran, Cascades, Siemens, IPL Plastics, ArcelorMittal and many SMBs.
Tools
Knowledge Center
Make sure everyone has access to a relevant, up to date and dynamic knowledge base at their fingertips.
Audit
Continuously inspect standards and take action on noncompliances in a centralized tool.
Gemba Walk Solution
Control your daily operations and ensure everything goes according to plan.
Meeting Manager
Maximize collaboration in critical problem-solving.
Task Manager
Deliver tasks on time. Ensure delegated tasks come with the context needed to solve them efficiently.
