Top KPIs for SMEs in Manufacturing Industry 4.0

Top Key Performance Indicators for Midsize Manufacturing Companies Choosing the right KPIs and using the right metrics to monitor them is critical to making the transition to 4.0 technologies worthwhile. While not all companies have the same needs, the most relevant KPIs for medium manufacturing companies are as follows.

• Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE)

Overall equipment efficiency is the benchmark for measuring the productivity of manufacturing companies in Industry 4.0. It measures the rate of operation of your machines against their maximum potential. The three main criteria for this indicator are: -Availability of equipment: monitor planned and unplanned production stops and their duration. -Process performance: monitor cycle time and determine the factors that make production run at sub-optimal rates. -Quality: percentages of good or rejected units produced by production. Real ability to produce without defects.

• Respect for delivery times

The respect of delivery times is guaranteed within a period of time around a fixed expiration date. Delivery times are generally set based on the needs of the production line and cash flow. Once the delivery date is set, it must be respected. Several factors, including purchase time, manufacturing time, and supply issues, affect on-time delivery. An integrated ERP system helps manufacturing companies monitor and manage the factors that affect on-time delivery by tracking purchase history, billing and shipping details, accounting information, and supply chain management details. .

• The average profit margin

Average profit margin refers to the long-term average gross, operating and net profit margins. Tracking these margins can help companies focus on profit rather than revenue, and help determine areas where there is potential for improvement. Tracking the median profit margin, rather than being limited to gross margins, operating margins, or net profit margins, allows managers to have a complete picture of costs and revenues and helps them forecast available cash flow and provides them with the information they need to make the decisions to guide short- and long-term production and marketing strategies and ensure maximum profit.

• Managing work in progress

Work in progress are products that have started the manufacturing process, which are no longer raw materials but are not yet finished products. A work-in-process surplus is indicative of supply or production chain problems, and even small amounts of work-in-process mean large amounts of money tied up. Implementing measures to keep work in progress at an optimal level increases productivity and reduces costs. Lean manufacturing measures, including the just-in-time principle, are management systems that help monitor and manage work in progress and make manufacturing more efficient.

• The just-in-time

Just-in-Time is a system that was designed to increase efficiency and reduce waste by ensuring that you have the stock you need to meet demand, without overstock. Just-in-time inventory management helps manufacturing companies map and optimize their value chain, creating flows and implementing a pull flow system. This reduces the costs of holding inventory, improves cash flow, and decreases unused inventory. However, just-in-time implementation requires continuously low inventory levels, an accurate demand forecasting system that integrates inventory and customer demand information. The systems integration required to implement just-in-time is typical of the technologies that manufacturing companies need in the age of Industry 4.0.

• Monitor and manage excellence

For manufacturing SMBs that want to compete in the world of Industry 4.0, it is essential to identify and implement KPIs to reduce costs and optimize inventory and production. Global profitability, respect for delivery times, average profit margin, work-in-progress management and just-in-time implementation are some of the key performance indicators, the most important for manufacturing companies . State-of-the-art KPI monitoring and management requires automated systems integration and real-time connectivity to anticipate machine breakdowns, supply chain, and inventory hazards or meeting schedules, enabling smart decisions , dynamic and proactive for the business.]]>