Results and Conclusions from the Productivity Potential Assessment Studies

Paper in proceeding, 2008

Productivity Potential Assessment (PPA) has been used in 45 studies of manufacturing companies in Sweden. The overall conclusion is that there is a great potential for improving the efficiency and ultimately the profitability and the ability for long term survival of these companies. The key issue is to start with the basics; in terms of correct operation and set-up times, routines for follow–up of times and costs, manual work standards, ideal cycle times for machines, and so on. Too many companies are trying to make shortcuts, intentionally or against better knowledge, investing time and money in expensive IT support system and the latest management philosophy. These investments usually never pay off as intended because of the lack in basic information about actual times and costs. To retrieve the basic information, scientifically founded engineering methods and a lot of hard work is needed. Every operation for every product and every variant need to be measured, analysed, revised, and continuously updated. Ignore that and every management and support system will fall flat.