Part 1: Personal Apparel Assessment Helps Manufacturers Cut Costs in Unexpected Ways

Cutting costs and improving performance is complicated by the fact that companies within various industries face different challenges. Automotive manufacturers, for example, must reduce overall supply chain costs. Chemical processors must be able to compete with low-cost producers from developing countries who have entered markets typically considered traditional for the U.S., Japan and Europe.

Manufacturers across almost every industry face skyrocketing health care and insurance costs. Many are asking what they can do to reduce operating costs and enhance worker performance.

Small changes can reap big savings
It may seem simple, but a personal apparel assessment (PAA) can help companies maximize their strengths and identify improvements that can positively impact their bottom line. A PAA often pinpoints small changes that can lead to big savings. It can also identify best practices that other facilities can adopt.

A department, for example, may already have best practices in place that are helping reduce injuries. The PAA will identify and document those practices so they can be implemented in other areas.

A PAA can also improve operational efficiencies. Food processors, for example, often pay workers for the time they spend acquiring, putting on and removing personal protective equipment (PPE). At one processor, workers formed two lines with five or six people to obtain gloves and other equipment from a table pushed against the wall.

The PAA revealed that each worker required up to nine minutes to obtain and don PPE and return to the production line. Study results showed the company could shave up to four minutes from this time by moving the equipment table away from the wall, adding another table and forming four lines

While this type of change may seem insignificant, it can save thousands of dollars over time for a larger company.

Stay tuned for parts 2-6 of this Personal Apparel Assessment series, or visit Ansell Guardian for more information.