With proper management, in-demand products, sound business decisions, and a little bit of luck in the market, a business can grow and thrive and so does the demand for the products it manufactures and sells. There’s no question that a company would want to take advantage of this demand by increasing its own production capacity and be able to make more products to sell. However, there are certain hurdles that one should be aware of. As such, we’ll be taking a look at common problems when increasing your company’s production capacity and how to overcome them:
Shortage in Labour
In the manufacturing of products, you’ll need both skilled workers as well as those doing manual labour (lifting, sorting, cleaning, and so on). And when increasing your production capacity, the need for more workers increases as well. However, the UK (as well as the US and other countries) is facing the biggest worker shortage we’ve seen in the past 30 years, with around 81% of manufacturing firms and 70% of companies in the service sector reporting difficulties in finding skilled workers. As such, manufacturing firms may want to consider having their own training programs and facilities to hire and produce skilled staff and provide better incentives and compensation. Alternatively, you can partner with staffing agencies to help provide you with skilled or at least qualified workers.
Rapidly Changing Technology and Innovations
Another requirement in increasing production capacity is through acquiring more equipment and better (more efficient) technology. However, it’s hard to stay ahead of the curve when new and better technology becomes available. The machinery and equipment you may have invested in and installed this year to increase production may already have become obsolete or at least not as efficient and productive as newer models. Unfortunately, newer competition may end up using newer technology and can offer better prices or quality. It would be difficult, inconvenient, and fairly expensive for your company to continuously change and update your equipment. As such, you’d simply need to be more careful with your upgrades by consulting industry technology experts.
Lack of Supply
One of the most basic requirements in manufacturing is raw materials. It’s possible that you may have already exhausted all domestic suppliers, or if the raw material in question has limited suppliers in the country. Without additional raw materials, you won’t be able to increase your production. That said, you’ll want to consider going international or global with your raw material needs. Consider contacting a sourcing agent in China to help your business in the UK find the raw materials as well as components and parts that you need for your increased production capacity.
Space and Technology Limitations
Another constraint you’d have to face when increasing production is space and technology. Your current manufacturing plant may no longer be able to house additional staff and equipment, and the technology (manufacturing equipment) you need may be too expensive or require manpower and space that you don’t have access to. In this case, you might want to consider outsourcing part of the whole manufacturing to another company or set up a new site somewhere else that has the resources and space that you need.
Conclusion
Needing to increase production is a good sign that business is doing good and that the product is in demand. However, the aforementioned problems can the much-needed increase in production, which is why it’s important to take note of these issues and the suggested solutions.
