Before even starting this article, let’s first define our terms: define the goal and define the objective. A goal is a final place that something strives toward; an end point or destination. An objective, meanwhile, is a measurable action or event that leads toward accomplishing a goal. When you set manufacturing goals, you will be setting the destination; which is your “goal.” But how do we reach this goal and what steps can we take to get us there? That’s where objectives come in.
So, let’s begin:
1) Know your company and know what motivates its members
Many of you might be thinking “Wait – I thought this was about setting company goals?” Well, good observation! There are some factors that affect your employees’ ability to reach production goals aside from themselves. For example, knowing whether or not they have kids helps determine specifically what time they need to leave for daycare each night. What if their kids don’t go to daycare? What if they pick them up and take care of them at home instead? Knowing such information will help you more accurately plan for their hours. You can’t expect an employee with children to work late, but you also can’t expect him to leave early. There is more information on this in the next section: Define Objectives.
2) Make a list of all your selling products and services
Once you have a good understanding of what your company produces, it will be much easier to know where it’s going and how to get there. At this point, even just making a simple list with two columns – one for product/service names and the other column next to it describing each item – should suffice. If not, then feel free to draw a more detailed comparison.
3) Identify your company’s strengths and limitations
You can’t reach a destination without knowing where you are starting from, right? So, it’s important to know both your internal strengths and limitations as a manufacturing business. Make two columns again – one for internal strengths and the other for internal limitations. Some examples of internal strengths might be an experienced workforce, hard-working employees, or great customer service. An example of an internal limitation could be not enough capital, outdated equipment, or no experience with some processes. A good test is whether or not something can realistically change within the next year; if so, then you need to list it as a strength instead of a limitation.
4) Define production goals
Now that you know where you are starting from, it should be much easier to come up with production goals. You can either choose to use the same framework for this step as the one I used in #3 or if you don’t feel like repeating what you already did, make a list of both your internal and external short-term objectives within the two columns mentioned above. “External” means outside of yourself; whereas your “internal” means something that comes directly from inside yourself or an employee. An example of an external objective would be increasing sales by 10% all across North America while an example of an internal objective would be reducing the amount of scrap produced by 10% for all departments in the company.
5) Define objectives to reach production goals
You’ve taken your first few steps toward defining your manufacturing goals; now it’s time to move on to taking more defined actions towards reaching them. Take the list that you made in step #4 and divide it into two columns again – this time, one column is for short-term (1-6 months out) objectives and the other is for long-term (6+ months) ones. A good rule of thumb is to divide them like this: if an objective will take less than a month or even up to 6+, then make sure it fits under the “short term” category; otherwise, put it under “long term.” Long-term objectives could be things such as: expanding your market internationally, improving employee satisfaction rate by 5% or reducing scrap by 10%.
6) Implement long and short-term goals
After you have finished defining what exactly your company’s long and short-term goals are, it’s time to start working towards them, according to Saivian Eric Dalius! Now is when you put them into action! If an objective works better under a specific category, then feel free to move it accordingly. Work on the long-term objectives that you listed under “long term” just as if they were new short-term objectives – implement specific strategies and an action plan alongside them.
7) Evaluate your progress
A very important step in reaching production goals is periodically evaluating how far along you are towards actually fulfilling them. It’s also good knowledge for when you get asked about where your company currently stands or what it has done so far! You can assess your progress based on tangible metrics like the number of shipments sent out each month/year (increases productivity), amount of revenue generated (increases sales), or decrease in costs (increases profits.)
However, don’t forget to also keep track of some non-tangible metrics like the number of employees who have been with your company for more than 3 years (increases employee satisfaction), or decrease in scrap produced (increases efficiency).
