Improving productivity is an objective that is sought by companies in all segments, focusing on increasing profitability and achieving even better results. Improving productivity in industries is one of the main challenges in this sector, mainly due to increased competitiveness and changing consumer expectations.
We can understand productivity in the industrial environment as the ability to produce more without the need to increase the amount of capital and work involved . This means that it is necessary to deliver more without increasing the availability of resources, doing more with less.
In this sense, Industrial productivity is related to the ability to use resources more efficiently and intelligently . For this reason, it is necessary to adopt strategies that help to use raw materials, machinery and labor in a more strategic way so that the industry can increase its profitability and deliver better results.
Understand how industrial productivity can be calculated:
Given this, how is it possible to increase productivity in the Industrial environment? To help you, we have put together seven essential tips to improve productivity and reach a different competitive level within the industry.
Productivity in the industrial environment
Regardless of the segment, productivity is considered a synonym of agility, efficiency and good results. This means that productivity is directly related to how much is produced with the resources that are available for that purpose.
When we talk about productivity in the industrial environment, we are referring to efficiency and the intelligent use of resources and raw materials available for production with efficiency and quality. For this reason, it is necessary to establish intelligent planning so that there is adequate productivity within management expectations.
For this to be possible, it is necessary for the company to exercise assertive control over all aspects related to the production stages. This includes everything from the acquisition of raw materials to the logistical processes of products already produced , ensuring their respective control and adequate storage.
This control and management must be implemented in all industrial sectors, such as:
- Chemical industry;
- Food products;
- Construction;
- Health equipment;
- Metallic structures;
- Apparatus and equipment;
- And much more.
In addition to productivity control, it is essential that there is a quality management process to ensure that what is produced meets expectations. In the case of the chemical products industry, for example, it is necessary that the procedures comply with the guidelines established by regulatory bodies , as well as in the case of the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry.
All processes must be executed with excellence, such as product sampling, documentation, release, in-bottle, etc. Each stage of the industrial process must adhere to quality and safety standards to meet the expectations of the end consumer.
Between 2019 and 2022, effective labor productivity in Brazil fell by 9% . Among the 11 countries that took part in the research, Brazil presented one of the worst performances after the pandemic. The research carried out by the National Confederation of Industry took into account labor productivity in the manufacturing industry, showing a historic drop in the indicator.
How loss of productivity harms industries
Unproductivity is directly related to the drop in a company's financial performance. The less an industry produces, the lower its income will be at the end of the period, harming its growth and the desired results.
The less an industry is able to deliver with available resources, the greater the waste of raw materials and costs of labor and equipment maintenance will be . If a company is unable to produce with a certain amount of resources, it means that these resources are being wasted and the company is suffering significant losses.
Failing to produce does not just mean that the industry is failing to earn, but rather that it is spending more than it should on its processes. In addition to spending on raw materials and labor costs, this company is investing in space, machinery maintenance, electricity and much more.
Productivity can be considerably impacted by the industry's lack of strategic planning, making it essential that managers establish more intelligent and well-informed processes. This way, companies can produce according to business expectations.
In this sense, it is the role of managers to find resources that allow employees to remain productive, as is the case with internet access control, for example. Although it is an essential tool, internet access can cause distractions during working hours and favor the incidence of cyber attacks, highlighting the need to invest in tools to guarantee information security within the industry.
Digital security in industry: investments in cybersecurity
Industry 4.0 has brought significant concern about the security of information stored by companies . Data security has reached a level of extreme priority within these organizations, making it necessary not only to improve productivity in industries, but also to invest in strategies that help maintain information security .
In many cases, productivity can be related to cybersecurity . This is because it is common for employees to access pages and content in the digital environment that put information security at risk and create points of vulnerability that expose confidential data and the integrity of the company. In this sense, investing in cybersecurity is essential so that sensitive information, access passwords, formulas, strategies and plans do not fall into the wrong hands.
By avoiding these risks and mitigating the losses that may result from cyber intrusions and the damage caused by cybercriminals. It is very important to avoid financial losses and the impact on image that can be caused by today's cyber threats
In addition to causing financial losses to the company, cyber threats can also cause significant impacts to the organization's image. Businesses that suffer from cyber attacks end up having their image considerably damaged in the eyes of consumers and the market, harming their growth and profitability. In the first half of 2023 alone, Brazil suffered more than 23 billion cyber attacks , which highlights the importance of adopting strategies aimed at protecting information.
For this reason, it is essential that the company takes daily measures to increase the security of the information that is collected and stored. There must be a total change in organizational culture in order to protect information and prevent confidential data from being accessed by unauthorized users.
What can impact the performance of industry employees?
To improve productivity in industries, it is first necessary to understand what can harm employees' performance. In this sense, we have separated the main factors that can impact this income and harm the productivity of your business:
Organizational climate
Problems with the organizational climate are directly related to low employee productivity. For these employees to be able to deliver the results expected by managers, they must be motivated, engaged and happy with the activities carried out and the climate within the company.
It is essential that there is a process of continuous assessment and optimization of the organizational climate to prevent problems of this type from impacting profitability and harming business results. Gossip in the workplace, communication problems, friction between managers and employees, all of this can be related to low productivity and should be avoided.
Dissatisfaction
Job dissatisfaction can be related to numerous factors. Whether due to the lack of encouragement from managers and leaders, low probability of growth, the company's lack of interest in the growth of these employees, etc... All of this can make the employee feel undervalued and dissatisfied with the company.
In this sense, it is necessary for managers to be able to identify these failures and establish efficient measures to resolve these situations. A partnership relationship between the company and employees is essential so that there is a harmonious and fluid exchange relationship, which is beneficial for both parties.
Lack of communication
Communication between the company and employees is essential to understand what the expectations of both parties are. Communication problems between leaders and teams can impact employee productivity and bring increasingly worse results for companies.
People want to be heard and have their questions, complaints and suggestions always validated by the company, so good communication can make all the difference. Good communication will help to avoid dissatisfaction and continually improve the organizational climate, allowing for a clear and intelligent exchange of information regarding the completion of tasks, possible improvements and feedback to be provided.
Lack of training
In order for workers to be able to carry out their activities with quality and efficiency, it is the company's role to offer the necessary training to do so. This way, the worker will be able to carry out their activities with quality and will also feel valued by the organization.
Establishing a continuous training process will make all the difference when it comes to improving productivity in industries, ensuring that workers remain up to date in carrying out tasks and are able to perform them without the incidence of errors and failures. This employee will feel seen and valued by the organization, improving the climate within the company and satisfaction over time.
Distractions on the internet
As we said previously, the internet is an environment full of risks and can expose a company's confidential and delicate information . Furthermore, it is also full of distractions that can harm workers' productivity within the industry. For this reason, indiscriminate access is a real risk for companies that want to combat low performance.
Access control tools can help keep your employees away from online distractions by blocking resources and pages that may pose some type of risk. Personal emails, social networks , gaming and betting sites, entertainment pages, among other content, can be blocked to help your employees stay out of trouble.
How to improve productivity in industries? Check out these seven tips!
As we can see throughout this article, there are many problems that can harm industry productivity and cause numerous problems for your business. However, combating these problems may be simpler than you think.
To help you, we have put together seven tips to improve productivity in industries and help your company guarantee even better results:
01. Process standardization
Within the industry, there are numerous processes that must be carried out to ensure that items are produced in accordance with managers' expectations. For these processes to happen, it is necessary to establish an order and methodology that ensures that all steps are followed and established as expected.
The standardization of processes will help to deliver better results in terms of the final product, ensuring not only that all steps are followed but also that there is greater quality in the results. This standardization will help employees to establish themselves in intelligent and efficient tasks , even if there is a change or restructuring of the sectors in which they operate.
02. Eliminate waste
Waste is one of the main problems faced in the industrial environment. In addition to representing a large financial and raw material loss, waste demonstrates that the processes established by the industry are not adequate and do not deliver the productivity expected by managers.
It is necessary to identify where this waste is happening so that modifications and improvements can be established to help eliminate this problem. For example: if waste occurs when storing raw materials, it is necessary to adopt a storage strategy that avoids the loss of this material and ensures that all this material is used and utilized in the best possible way.
03. Training of employees
As we said previously, it is very important that there is a training process for employees involved in industrial processes. These workers need to understand how processes occur and the best way to carry out their activities so that there are no errors or failures during the execution of tasks.
Training will help prepare these workers so that they can carry out their activities more quickly, helping your company to improve productivity and deliver increasingly better results . Furthermore, it is possible to make even better use of talents through targeted training, adapting and allocating employees according to the company's needs.
04. Use performance indicators
Peter Drucker , the father of management, once said, “ if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it .” This means that if you cannot quantitatively measure your organization's results, it is practically impossible to establish efficient management.
The adoption of performance indicators can make all the difference in improving the productivity of your industry and can be applied as:
- Productivity per employee;
- Absenteeism rate;
- Downtime;
- Quality indicator;
- Equipment productivity;
- And much more.
These indicators will help to measure the efficiency of your production and, based on this data, establish improvements and modifications in processes that help increase your productivity.
05. Automate processes
We are currently experiencing Industry 4.0, characterized mainly by the presence of technological resources that help to optimize and bring more intelligence to industrial processes . Adopting smarter tools can make all the difference within the industry, helping to increase productivity and delivering superior results.
There are technological tools that can help your company establish smarter processes and adapt tasks to a more modern and efficient reality. Industrial automation can make all the difference in your organization's results , helping you to remain modern and competitive in a market that is so fierce.
06. Perform preventive maintenance
Equipment downtime is one of the factors that most impacts your company's productivity. To improve productivity in industries, it is necessary to reduce this downtime through a preventive maintenance process, which will help to avoid equipment failures and maintain process continuity.
The preventive maintenance process will help to identify failures before they happen and cause even greater problems, not only maintaining continuity but also increasing the useful life of your machinery . This preventive maintenance is essential to keep your company active and productive for longer.
07. Eliminate distractions on the internet
Employees who are responsible for administrative tasks within the industry may end up being distracted by unnecessary content in the digital environment on a daily basis. Improper access to social networks, gaming and betting websites, entertainment websites, and other content can harm the smooth running of your company's activities and cause a major loss of productivity.
Although these employees perform important functions in the routine of your organization, using a cell phone during working hours , for example, can be extremely harmful. In addition to increasing the risk of errors and accidents, accessing unnecessary content during working hours also harms productivity.
Blocking this type of content will help your employees stay focused on what is really important to the company and prevent these distractions from having any impact on your industry's productivity.
The risks of indiscriminate internet access in industries
As we can see throughout this article, indiscriminate access to the internet is a real problem within companies in all segments . In addition to being a major distraction for all employees, this completely free access also represents a major cyber risk.
There are extremely dangerous pages on the internet, which act as real traps for the most inattentive users. Cybercriminals take advantage of these users' distractions to plant traps that cause false links to be accessed or malicious files that can corrupt devices or facilitate free access to your company's confidential files.
In addition to the risk of information leakage , it can cause a major financial loss for your business. Imagine losing confidential projects or having formulas leaked to the competition?
The protection of information stored by industry must be a priority and indiscriminate access to the internet must be blocked to avoid security and productivity problems for industries. More than just improving productivity in industries, the objective of blocking indiscriminate access to the internet is to ensure greater security and protection for the information stored by these businesses.
Internet access control: the strategy can make all the difference
Faced with the digital transformation we are experiencing today, the way we carry out activities within companies has completely transformed. For this reason, it is essential that we adopt resources and tools that help not only increase productivity, but also bring more security and protection to our information.
Internet access control will help you stay focused on what is really important to the company and ensure that the data stored by your business remains confidential. Lumiun Lumiun DNS is an internet access security and protection platform that does not require hardware. It allows this company to add an extra layer of protection to the network and apply content filters to monitor access through Artificial Intelligence.
Lumiun Lumiun Box is a more robust cloud-based firewall and Business VPN service to provide granular security and internet access control. With the help of this solution, your company can make your team more productive and ensure greater network security.
Having these resources will guarantee access flow control and efficient monitoring so that your company can add a more complete and efficient layer of security on the network . This way, information can remain more protected and managers will have more control over the organization's internet.
