10 Strategies to Streamline the Manufacturing Process

The manufacturing industry is broad, and the millions of companies within it have their own specific approaches to production. But one trait all manufacturers share is the desire to streamline their manufacturing processes. Streamlining production — whether by simplifying, automating, enhancing quality control or otherwise improving processes — offers a range of benefits that all culminate in a healthy bottom line.

But making changes to existing manufacturing methods — even for the better — isn’t easy. It takes time, financial investment, executive and employee buy-in and the right technology to be able to improve processes while maintaining effectiveness and quality. However, the 10 proven strategies covered in this article can help manufacturers succeed.

What Is the Streamlining of Manufacturing Processes?

At the most basic level, streamlining manufacturing processes refers to the simplification of steps or activities necessary to achieve a manufacturing business goal, like increasing productivity or reducing waste. While some companies invest in advanced automation and the latest generation of high-performance equipment to optimize production processes, there are numerous other approaches to identifying and eradicating inefficiencies and waste to improve productivity and reduce costs.

In fact, leading manufacturers continually assess their processes for new streamlining opportunities, because it is the most straightforward way to boost their own profitability. It can also be one of the most effective methods for getting an edge on the competition and meeting increasing customer demands for high-quality goods delivered quickly. Indeed, companies that fail to improve their processes can fall behind in their methods, putting customers, credibility and revenue at risk.

Key Takeaways

• Any waste, errors or delays in the production life cycle can have a negative impact on the company and its customers.
• Streamlining manufacturing processes is a top priority for manufacturers of all types and sizes to meet customer demand, outpace their rivals and grow.
• Benefits include cost reduction, increased efficiency, improved quality and faster time to market.
• Although each manufacturing process is unique, there are some common strategies for streamlining production while maintaining quality.

Importance of Streamlining Manufacturing Process

Most manufacturers have complicated production processes — further exacerbated by the number and types of products they sell. Minimizing the steps, resources and time required to make a product has always been an essential success factor in this sector, enabling manufacturers to boost profits, quality and competitiveness. 

At the most basic level, a streamlined manufacturing process is almost always more cost-effective than legacy methods. It minimizes investments in labor and materials and also frees up workers who might otherwise be managing overly complicated, error-prone or wasteful production processes, allowing them to focus on higher-value work. Streamlining also reduces production time, enabling a manufacturer to increase its speed to market and adapt more quickly to changes in customer demand.

Benefits of Streamlining the Manufacturing Process

By its very nature, simplifying production inherently benefits manufacturers as long as they can maintain quality along the way. The less time a company has to spend on overly intricate or troublesome processes, the more time it has to focus on what matters most: meeting customer needs.

But there is a wide range of benefits that can come from streamlining manufacturing processes. Some of the most common include:

• Increased efficiency: Eliminating bottlenecks, waste and other issues in production processes naturally creates more efficient workflows without compromising product quality. This increased efficiency has a variety of knock-on benefits, such as faster production and fulfillment — and, thus, more satisfied customers.
• Reduced costs: One of the best ways to save money in manufacturing is to streamline processes. Reducing waste, labor, time, errors or rework on the manufacturing line can often benefit the bottom line nearly immediately.
• Improved quality control: One strategy for streamlining production is to invest in or enhance quality-control processes. These efforts can help to minimize waste, errors and costly rework. So, better quality control means greater manufacturing productivity as well.
• Heightened customer satisfaction: The more streamlined manufacturing operations are, the more likely a manufacturer is to get its customers’ orders right the first time. And the resulting improvement in customer satisfaction can, in turn, boost customer loyalty, retention, revenue and lifetime value.
• Faster time to market: The efforts a manufacturer makes to streamline production can move goods through the process more quickly. A streamlined manufacturing process shortens lead times and gets products out the door faster. This can help manufacturers outpace their competition, react more quickly to changes in the marketplace and reduce their inventory carrying costs.

10 Strategies to Streamline Manufacturing Processes

A streamlined manufacturing process will look different depending on the type of company, its size, the current state of its manufacturing processes, the competitive landscape and more. However, some rich opportunities for improvement exist to benefit companies that incorporate any of the following 10 strategies.

1. Invest in Advanced Machinery and Technology

   One of the primary methods that manufacturers employ to streamline their processes is upgrading their machines and technology. Faster, more accurate and increasingly intelligent production equipment can quickly improve productivity, cut costs, raise quality and even improve the employee experience.

   There is also a host of new technologies that can fine-tune production in some way. Some manufacturers are using blockchain — the technology that powers cryptocurrency — to streamline operations, improve supply chain management, simplify compliance and manage inventory and supplier contracts. A combination of the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning can also aid production by providing real-time insight into operations, enabling predictive maintenance of equipment to decrease downtime, as well as the ability to make smarter decisions about resource usage and allocation.make smarter decisions about resource usage and allocation.

2. Optimize Quality Control and Reduce Waste

   Defective products are a huge drag on productivity, leading to unnecessary waste of both materials and time — not to mention the fact that defects that make it out the door lead to customer dissatisfaction. Improving quality control can be a powerful lever for streamlining production. Appraising existing quality-control methods with an eye toward improvement is often an important part of a streamlining initiative. An optimized quality-control program — one that not only validates the bill of materials at the end, but monitors quality each step of the way, from raw materials to shipments headed out the door — will maximize productivity and minimize waste.

   However, improving quality control is not the only way to reduce waste. Squandered time or materials can show up in any number of ways on the factory floor, from overproduction to poorly trained staff to long waits for parts and materials. Leading manufacturers constantly analyze the amount of waste generated throughout their production processes to determine how best to eliminate as much as possible — and bring down the total cost of producing an item.

3. Enhance Workspace Organization and Efficiency

   One of the most obvious but frequently overlooked opportunities to simplify production is to improve the organization, layout and efficiency of manufacturing workspaces. This includes actual clutter — which slows down manufacturing workers and production — as well as cluttered processes. If a line worker has to keep halting the line to reload a machine for a new run, that’s an ongoing issue that will repeatedly slow down production, for example. Paper-based processes are another tremendous drag on production efficiency. Yet many manufacturers have failed to digitize their core manufacturing processes. A 2023 survey of 100 manufacturing leaders found that 42% had not yet started their digital transformation journey, and two-thirds said they thought that their competitors were ahead of them in digitization.

4. Improve Communications and Team Collaboration

   While plans for streamlining tend to focus on new machines or optimizing physical production processes, it’s often the very human interactions involved in manufacturing that can slow down processes the most. Investing in improved communications and paving the way for better collaboration within and among teams can generate some big returns. Tools that help team members easily communicate during production runs, including real-time messaging and mobile apps, are key, as are technology systems, like production scheduling and monitoring software, that ensure that everyone is working with the same information.

   Typically, many different functions are directly and indirectly involved in getting a product made and sold, including engineering, sourcing of materials, production, marketing and sales. Implementing critical technologies — such as a cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that unites separate areas of the business on the same platform so that everyone is working with the same real-time data — facilitates seamless, integrated workflows. In addition, modern communication and collaboration tools with mobile capabilities, wearable devices and even radios for synchronous communication are wise investments that can improve operating efficiency, process flow and lead times.

5. Identify and Address Production Bottlenecks

   Finding weak spots in the manufacturing process that contribute to delays is essential — as is getting to the bottom of their cause. There’s a seemingly endless list of bottleneck-creating issues: waiting on materials or equipment, maintenance delays, lack of automation, limited funding and inefficient production steps, to name a handful. But any slowdown or stoppage can lead to wasted resources (time and labor), increased costs and shipment delays.

   Manufacturers must identify and address these bottlenecks as quickly as possible if they hope to minimize their consequences. Data analysis is paramount: By continuously monitoring key performance indicators, including throughput, cycle time and capacity utilization, manufacturers can spot and address emerging bottlenecks before they negatively impact production.

6. Automate and Integrate Processes

   Automation is essential to not only streamline production but keep pace with customer demand as a manufacturer grows. Automation comes in multiple forms, such as production management software, manufacturing robots, computer numerical control machines, conveyor belts, or AI-enabled predictive maintenance capabilities. The goal of automation is to minimize the need for manual labor, increase quality and improve productivity.

   The first step is to analyze manufacturing operations to identify opportunities for automation and then select the best technology for the task. That may be collaborative robots (aka “cobots”) to work alongside production workers directly on the factory floor. Or it might be a manufacturing execution system (MES) to track, monitor and control the production life cycle. Or it could be introducing automation into key processes, like inventory management, supply chain management, accounting or order processing. All can have a positive impact on the production cycle.

   It’s critical to train employees on new automation tools and processes. And, for automation to deliver its full benefits, new systems should be integrated with each other and with other core systems, like ERP, so that data can be shared throughout the end-to-end manufacturing process and be analyzed for better decision-making. Ideally, a manufacturer will be able to connect all production-relevant data sources (including any MES or ERP systems) and track them via a central dashboard to manage manufacturing processes in real time.

7. Implement Effective Inventory and Resource Management

   Excess inventory or misuse of resources can seriously drain manufacturing efficiency and budgets. Maintaining too much inventory of products, materials or even equipment ratchets up storage costs and ties up capital. Thus, implementing effective inventory management strategies is a smart step. A good inventory management system automates inventory tracking, reordering, reporting and ongoing performance management. Some manufacturers are able to institute just-in-time inventory management to avoid stockouts or overstocked inventory.

   Manufacturers could also implement a material requirements planning system to help determine what raw materials, components or subassemblies they need, and when, to make their finished goods. Knowing the correct level of inventory needed to meet demand helps manufacturers optimize stock levels and better plan production schedules, thereby accelerating their manufacturing processes.

8. Adopt Preventive Maintenance to Reduce Downtime

   The downtime of machines or people is a big driver of production inefficiency. And one of the biggest reasons for downtime is problems with equipment. It’s essential to keep fixed assets up and running as much as possible, whether they reside on a manufacturing shop floor or in a warehouse or sorting facility. Traditionally, manufacturers have taken one of two approaches: performing preventative maintenance on machines early (and perhaps taking them offline unnecessarily) or running them as long as possible (potentially until failure). Taking a machine offline for unexpected problems can quickly have a ripple effect throughout production. In fact, unplanned downtime costs industrial manufacturers an estimated $50 billion annually, according to an Industry Week research brief sponsored by Emerson.

   One way to eliminate costly unplanned outages is to adopt a predictive maintenance solution, which extracts data produced by sensors embedded in manufacturing equipment that measure variables like pressure, temperature and vibration, as well as other performance data. It then analyzes the data, perhaps using a machine learning algorithm, to identify anomalies that indicate potential points of failure so issues can be addressed before they occur. With this approach, a manufacturer can maximize uptime by avoiding failures, as well as potentially unnecessary preventive maintenance.

9. Leverage Data for Continuous Improvement

   There is incredible power in data to improve manufacturing processes. And, with the advancement of IoT, AI and machine learning, that information can be harnessed for real-time intelligence for strategic decision-making and long-term forecasting and planning. Data analysis can power predictive maintenance (as described above), production schedule optimization and improvements in machine performance. Manufacturers can also analyze historical data to look for opportunities to save time or resources throughout the production life cycle. The more integrated a manufacturer’s technology systems are, the better equipped they will be to tap data across the end-to-end manufacturing processes to reduce disruptions, cut costs and improve output quality. They can also monitor productivity, performance and profitability trends over time for continuous improvement. Some modern ERP systems specifically designed for manufacturing will include built-in analytics and reporting capabilities that can be particularly valuable to streamlining efforts.

10. Secure Management Support and Foster a Data-Driven Culture

    Of course, in order to truly integrate data and analytics into existing processes, this new approach must be accepted as part of the fabric of the organization. Building a data-driven culture in a sector in which intuition and experience have traditionally driven decision-making requires support from the top down. Manufacturing executives must completely buy in to the shift, making the case for why data-driven production processes will benefit the rest of the organization. Only then will those who must actually incorporate these changes into their daily work be engaged in the transformation and ready to adopt the new approaches. And to ensure success, the leadership team and board should also be fully prepared to fund these efforts.

Streamline Your Manufacturing Processes With NetSuite ERP

Manufacturers need the right enterprise technology foundation in place to support their streamlining efforts. Those that invest in an ERP system purpose-built for the manufacturing environment will be a step ahead in their ongoing streamlining initiatives, particularly as they expand and grow.

NetSuite’s manufacturing cloud ERP is designed specifically to bring production planning and scheduling, supply chain management, procurement, shop-floor control, quality management and other discrete manufacturing processes together in a single platform. Just as important, the system is flexible enough to support and adapt to manufacturing processes as they evolve over time — which is particularly valuable for those manufacturers investing in the continual improvement of their production processes.

NetSuite’s solution helps manufacturers of all sizes better manage their manufacturing and supply chain processes, reduce operating costs and increase revenue. And, because the system is built on NetSuite’s flagship ERP system, all of those manufacturing processes are natively connected to other enterprise functionality, such as financial reporting, inventory management, sales, marketing and more.

There’s no question that in today’s global, hypercompetitive marketplace, manufacturers that want to remain relevant must continually reassess and improve their production processes. The benefits are clear: lower costs, greater quality, faster production and increased customer satisfaction. But the right approach may be less evident. Changing legacy processes and technologies isn’t easy, and manufacturers will want to make sure they can maintain output and quality in the bargain. The 10 strategies described in this article offer some proven places to start, as companies consider the best opportunities for streamlining their particular production processes.

Streamline the Manufacturing Process FAQs

What is streamlining in manufacturing?

Streamlining refers to any effort to enhance production procedures to improve efficiency while keeping quality and output at optimal levels. Manufacturers seek to streamline their production processes to save money, increase speed, boost productivity and better meet customer demands.

What is the best way to streamline processes?

Every manufacturer has its own unique production processes, so there is no one-size-fits all approach to streamlining. However, there are some strategies that are likely to be beneficial. One of the best ways to streamline processes is to analyze manufacturing operations, looking for bottlenecks and addressing the sources of those delays. Other common approaches include implementing advanced technology, installing high-performance machinery, optimizing quality control, looking for opportunities to reduce waste, identifying and fixing production bottlenecks, investing in automation and leveraging data for continuous improvement.

What is an example of streamlining processes?

Streamlining manufacturing processes is the act of identifying and eliminating inefficiencies to improve productivity and reduce costs. One way to streamline manufacturing processes is to implement new, automated technology, like robotics or computer numerical control machines on the shop floor that can handle tasks more effectively, efficiently or safely than humans can. Another approach to streamlining is to implement predictive maintenance solutions that reduce downtime for machines in need of repairs.

How do you ensure a streamlined production process that optimizes output and quality?

This is one of the core challenges of optimizing production. The goal is not to eliminate essential steps in production but to determine how to accomplish them with greater efficiency, effectiveness or at lower cost. Automating existing processes, for example, can be one way to increase manufacturing output without negatively impacting quality. Reducing waste in existing processes, investing in improved quality control systems and procedures, and identifying the cause of any delay in operations are all ways to both optimize output and maintain quality performance.

What does streamline process mean?

Streamlining a process simply means making it more efficient. This kind of process optimization can be accomplished by eliminating unnecessary complexity, automating steps or tasks, or addressing sources of delays, for example. Streamlining offers a number of benefits, including increased productivity, lowered costs and greater customer satisfaction.

What is streamlining and how is it done?

Generally speaking, streamlining means improving the efficiency of an organizational process. This can be accomplished in any number of ways, oftentimes with the aid of modern technological solutions. A company may invest in enterprise financial software to streamline the closing of its books. A manufacturer may invest in robotic automation to streamline production runs on the shop floor. A human resources organization may reorganize its processes to streamline recruiting and hiring.

Why is there a need to streamline the product development process?

Product development is a complex process that starts with brainstorming the initial ideas and extends to marketing the final product, with equally complicated design and manufacturing processes in between. Companies are eager to streamline their product development processes in order to get new products to market faster and stay ahead of their competitors. Some opportunities to optimize product development include automating key processes, simplifying tasks and improving communication and collaboration across teams.