How to Keep Your Manufacturing Project on Schedule

Manufacturing projects require companies to juggle a wide range of moving parts. From ordering materials to finalizing product shipments, manufacturers are responsible for ensuring not only product quality but also a timely delivery of goods to their customers. Keeping your manufacturing project on schedule requires manufacturing efficiency and strict attention to variables, such as production lead time and shipping delays, to ensure that your products get to their final destinations within the agreed-upon time frame.

Every manufacturing project and schedule is different, so there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for keeping your manufacturing project on track. However, you and your team can adopt a handful of best practices to maximize your metal manufacturing productivity and punctuality.

So how can you make sure that you keep your manufacturing timeline consistent throughout the various stages of your project? Check out our tips for optimizing your manufacturing schedule below.

Manage Your Manufacturing Project Schedule With the Right ERP System

When it comes to delegating how your manufacturing project will run from beginning to end, there are three main factors you have to consider — the product you’re making, the quantity you need to make and the amount of time you’ll designate to production. While the manufacturing process is designed to be linear, every manufacturing professional knows that the process contains many variables, which could lead to delays in production.

Stay on top of these variables as well as data from every stage of production with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that integrates with processes already in place. While you’ll still need to perform a certain degree of manual data entry, the right ERP system can help your factory manage its production schedules and track manufacturing project progress on an easy-to-use platform.

Communicate With Your Customers

By all means, you should adhere to original customer order dates as often as you can. But due to unforeseen bumps in the manufacturing process, such as supply chain delays and machinery glitches, production may overlap at certain points and force you to rearrange your schedule.

When this happens, it’s important to notify your customers immediately to maintain trust. Proactive work saves sales — and relationships — in the long run!

Partner With a Single-Source Contract Manufacturer

When you’re working on a particularly long or complex manufacturing project, it can be easy to run into a “too many cooks in the kitchen” scenario — unless you choose to partner with a single-source contract manufacturer such as Summit Steel, Inc. Single-source contract manufacturing helps businesses save time and money by offering a one-stop shop solution for their manufacturing needs.

Single-source contract manufacturers have the capabilities to perform complex manufacturing tasks in-house, which reduces lead time and overall costs. This reduction is a huge plus for those looking to tighten their manufacturing project schedules. Single-source manufacturing better organizes production stages, and working with a single-source manufacturing team will connect you with trusted, experienced professionals with all the tools needed to create a product that exceeds your expectations.