Agile Manufacturing Guide

Agile Manufacturing is an approach to manufacturing that leverages flexibility, bottom-up innovation and augmentation in order to adapt, through an iterative process, to changing conditions.

Four major shifts in the manufacturing landscape have made Agile methods necessary.

1. Rapidly evolving environment – Technology is driving significant changes in manufacturing. But technology is not the only moving part. Customers are also evolving quickly. They now have higher standards. They expect product customization, fast delivery, and cheaper production. Regulations are changing as well, increasing in number and severity. Add to this increasingly complex supply chains and questionable trade stability and you have an environment that demands flexibility. 

2. Constant technological development – New technologies appear every day, and manufacturing is getting its bearings in the digital age. Moving forward, manufacturers will feel the effects of new technologies in unexpected ways. According to a report published by McKinsey in 2018, manufacturing will experience more disruptions in the next five years than in the past twenty years combined.

3. More access to information – Connected factories product data on an unprecedented scale. Data will enable leaps forward like predictive maintenance and supply chain optimization. Companies will be able to act on real-time data at every level. Upper management will be able to evaluate plant-level performance in real-time. Production managers will diagnose quality issues before they reach downstream. And executives interested in contract manufacturer performance will gain new visibility.

4. Workforce transformation – Low unemployment rates and an enduring skills gap make it difficult for manufacturers to recruit skilled workers. Research by Deloitte shows that this skills gap may leave over two million manufacturing positions unfilled between 2018 and 2028.

The 4 major shifts in manufacturing: rapidly evolving environment, constant technological development, workforce transformation and more access to information.

By incorporating Agile, manufacturers can survive these shifts and remain competitive. But too often, “agile” is a buzzword, dissociated from its real meaning and principles. Let’s go back in time and recall the development of the now-famous approach.

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The Lean and Agile approaches are both wildly popular. However, they should not be confused. On the one hand, Lean Manufacturing is focused on increasing efficiency by reducing waste. On the other hand, Agile Manufacturing aims to increase efficiency via flexible, parallel problem solving.

While some of the ideas of Lean Manufacturing and Agile Manufacturing overlap, the fundamental principles are different.

The intersection and difference between Agile Manufacturing and Lean Manufacturing.

Key principles of Agile Manufacturing:

1. Iterate Faster

The idea of delivering smaller pieces of value more frequently is central to Agile Manufacturing. Rather than attempting to design a single, perfect product in one go, the objective is to rapidly produce multiple versions. Each iteration, with its flaws and strengths, reveals new insights that make it possible to improve the process. As the process improves, each new version of the product surpasses the previous. 

Why does this incremental, iterative method result in a superior result? Because process engineers deal with many variables. Iterations allow them to test different solutions, and gather data on individual variables. Without this data, it is difficult to determine which changes are necessary at a given stage to optimize production.

2. Flexibility

According to McKinsey, “Volatility is rising and taking its toll. Whether from increasing fluctuations in demand, labor rates and input prices, or from disruptive events like natural disasters and financial crises, volatility has damaged supply chains, increased costs and eroded profits. […] Companies are increasingly recognizing that they must alter their manufacturing strategies in the face of rising volatility.” 

In order not to bend under external forces, manufacturing companies need to have flexible systems. Their internal structure needs to be dynamic enough to rebound quickly from external disruptions. Agile manufacturers are aware that environmental factors – economic, political, environmental, social, technological – require them to constantly stay on their toes. They make sure that every component of their system can grow organically and adapt to changes.

3. Bottom-Up

For decades, goals and directives have passed from the top of the organization, to the bottom. The top-down approach has its advantages, such as the quick implementation of decisions taken by upper levels of a company. However, this comes at a cost. Employees at the bottom can feel disconnected and disengaged. Low engagement can discourage accountability and innovation. 

Agile manufacturers favor a bottom-up approach, in which ideas and directives flow seamlessly between all layers of the company. With this approach, directors and managers give operators and shop floor workers a voice. Agile Manufacturing supports the idea that those closest to manufacturing challenges understand them best. The more operators, engineers, managers, and business executives collaborate, the more effective operations will be as a whole. Collaboration across functions and seniority levels yields higher value products and processes.

Agile organizations abandon the hierarchical, top-down approach to adopt a flexible, bottom-up approach.

4. Augmentation

Augmentation is best understood in contrast to automation. Automation consists of automating workers’ tasks – in other words, of replacing workers by machines. Augmentation, on the other hand, enhances workers’ capabilities through technology. 

For years, automation was considered the solution to high labor costs and human error in the factory. Yet automation is also expensive, difficult to maintain, and inflexible. 

Agile manufacturing argues that humans will perform best if they have tools that enable them to evolve their work. From computer-vision assisted quality checks to error-proofing work instructions, Agile manufacturers use technology to help their people do more work, better.

Manufacturers can bring agility to their organizations by adopting the right technologies.

To iterate faster, Agile manufacturers turn to technologies that help them collect data. To become flexible, tools and software that enable quick turnovers are essential. To follow a bottom-up approach, Agile manufacturers award their workers more trust and power. To augment their workers, they equip them with the proper tools and training.

Let’s look at some examples of enabling technologies in action.

Using Real-Time Data to Guide Iteration 

Contract manufacturer Jabil supports a wide variety of customers and is subject to fast-changing requirements. Moreover, Jabil’s customers need to receive their products as fast as possible. This means Jabil also had to increase its speed. 

Thus, non-value-add steps had to be identified and eliminated quickly. The only way to achieve this is to run processes again and again, and collect data on each iteration. Jabil started using IoT connected tools and sensors to collect real-time data on every iteration. This data, collected through the use of a manufacturing app platform, allowed process engineers to incorporate feedback after each process completion. This cycle of iterative improvements stripped processes of non-value-add steps. With such visibility into their processes, process engineers were able to take control over their operations, following a bottom-up approach. The result: cycle times were reduced, and production yield and throughput were significantly increased.

Using 3D Printing to Prototype Faster

3D printers have the potential to greatly accelerate designing and prototyping. Iterative cycles become shorter as new versions of products are tested in a fraction of the time. Indeed, new prototypes no longer need to be designed and manufactured in a process that can take months. Rather, they are simply printed and tried immediately. Products are thus tested early and often, and improvements are made with each version. The result: optimal end products that satisfy customer demands.

3D printing also makes mass customization realistic for manufacturers. For example, 3D printing is transforming the jewelry industry by allowing the rapid production of highly detailed, custom parts. 3D printing allows manufacturers to be much more flexible to changing customer demands. 

Using Computer Vision to Augment Operators

Computer vision systems can assist operators through a production process. These systems track the operator’s movements and inspect the product as it is being made. Based on ongoing context analysis of the manufacturing environment, the computer provides assistance and performs the relevant quality checks. 

With computer vision, manufacturers can deliver a much greater array of products without sacrificing productivity or quality. When used to assist operators in line, computer vision systems can help fatigued workers detect defects, and provide error proofing in complex assemblies where workers or prone to miss or mis-execute steps. With computer vision assisting with cognitively taxing tasks, operators have more attention and focus for problem-solving and innovation. 

Using Manufacturing Apps to Amplify Training Programs

At Merck, a multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company, the complex lab equipment requires highly skilled operators. Training used to be excruciating and expensive. The firm’s paper-based training instructions were difficult to follow, and training programs required taking experienced operators to supervise new hires through each step of the training process. 

Interactive training apps with step-by-step work instructions were a game changer. The photos, videos and live stream sensor data transformed the training experience, making it more interactive and constructive. For Merck, the outcome was remarkable: training costs were reduced by 57%, and training times by 92%.

The new training program augmented workers’ capabilities: rather than using technology to automate workers’ tasks, Merck leveraged it to simplify re-skilling and close the skills gap. 

Using Digital Work Instructions to Error-Proof High-Mix Assemblies

Dentsply is the world’s largest provider of dental solutions. Their implants division receives thousands of custom orders every day, and each requires a very specific kitting combination.

A senior process engineer at Dentsply created an app to simplify the kitting process. The app was connected to IoT devices like pick-to-lights and break beams that would guide workers to the bin with the right part from for each kit. 

Process engineers were able to improve the process by building the apps themselves. They no longer needed to go through IT or get the change reapproved as part of their Quality Management System. Moreover, production became as flexible as Dentsply’s customized products required it to be.