Manufacturing is a team game. We succeed or fail based on the level of communication and collaboration between the different team members. Need to boost collaboration in your manufacturing organisation? Read on.
Collaboration is the defining characteristic of any organisation. Without it there would be no “organisation” at all, just lone individuals working towards personal goals.
It goes far beyond sharing ideas and working together to solve problems, although those are key elements. Collaboration exists on many levels. It means building relationships and understanding the needs of another person, another team, or even another company entirely.Think about all the activities that come together to produce a product, procurement, design, development, human resources…
But a single organisation rarely performs all the necessary functions it needs in-house. We have suppliers bringing in goods through to couriers delivering finished products. We can look at collaboration inside an organisation, within its value chain, and we can consider the broader interactions externally, from one company to another, one value chain to another. The deeper we look, the more complexity we find. Perhaps that’s why we talk about manufacturing “ecosystems”. An ecosystem is a network of inputs and outputs all in balance, all sustaining and augmenting each other.
How to improve collaboration in your organisation
Begin with culture
Collaboration is first and foremost a question of company culture. Simply put, it’s the way you do things. Lead by example. If employees see senior leaders working together and calling in folks from all around the organisation, they’ll be more inclined to do so themselves.
It’s about respect for each other, recognising that other viewpoints are just as valuable as your own and there is always someone smarter than you. If that person isn’t in your team – why not? Establishing a collaboration culture also means creating a safe space for exploration and innovation. Teams should feel encouraged to experiment, fail and learn together as they help each other solve the challenges that face your organisation. Each individual should feel responsible for the team’s success, promoting a shared perspective on goals and outcomes.
Use the right tools to break down data silos
Remote working, fragmented teams, different time zones – collaboration in the manufacturing setting has many obstacles which is why it’s important to get the right tools in place. With the right technology stack we can take data out of departmental silos and make it broadly accessible.
We can group these tools into broad categories. Remember that one tool may cover multiple categories, but there may be better functionality by combining different solutions:
There are communication tools like Zoom and MS Teams. Then there are collaboration tools that allow groups to work together on the same tasks regardless of their physical location, often simultaneously. Think of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Of course, there are many industry specific tools that cater to the functional needs of each different sector.
Most excitingly is a set that can best be described as connected worker tools. These harness knowledge from across the business – learning, evolving and improving from digital and human inputs. This means you can optimise workflows, maximise productivity and digitise the time-earned expertise of your longest-serving engineers while harnessing the digital skills of career entrants. Read more about connected worker tools in this previous blog on this topic: digitisation and collaboration – the power of connected worker solutions.
Training
Getting the right tools in place, is just part of the challenge. Your employees need to know how to use them effectively and get most out of them – but this topic is about more than learning to use the equipment.
Training, in the context of improving collaboration, must go beyond the technical aspects of each tool and how to use it. Training encourages employees to understand the purpose and value of these tools in daily work and collaboration efforts. It boosts their willingness to use and adapt to new systems, to engage with them to the fullest extent.
Training must be seen as a continuous process rather than a one-time initiative. As new tools are adopted or current ones are updated, you need to conduct regular training that ensures all employees are onboard with these changes.
Allocate sufficient time and resources for troubleshooting and support. Quick access to support minimises disruption and maintains continuity. Technical support staff are vital to the success of implementing collaborative tools. Make sure they are easily contactable, friendly and empowered to provide a quick solution.
Makes your teams as diverse as possible
Collaboration inside an echo chamber is collaboration curtailed. Cross-functional teams bring together employees with different expertise, perspectives and experiences. This diversity enhances creativity and innovation. This in turn leads to more effective problem-solving.
Often, departments within an organisation work in isolation and struggle to communicate effectively with other areas of the business. When we talk about company culture, there might be specific variants of your company culture within different departments. The way we do things in engineering might be different to the way we do them in the machine shop, for instance. By encouraging multi-functional collaboration we can help to unlock true innovation, share tribal knowledge and break down the information silos.
Having diverse teams also encourages people to learn from one another and this gives us a sense of progression and achievement. Introducing diversity within your teams is good for the individuals within the team as well as the wider organisation. It creates shared responsibilities, and shared sense of success which will ripple through the company.
Remember collaboration extends beyond your company walls
Engaging with third parties is just as important as internal collaboration. By building strong connections and communications channels with your suppliers, with customers and with academia, for example, you open the door to broader viewpoints and wider information sources and more opportunities for innovation.
This is the “whole of business” approach and it means you can alight objectives, share insights and develop mutual understanding. When you collaborate more closely with external stakeholders you build better relationships which will help you create new efficiencies and ultimately serve your customers better.
The nature of the manufacturing sector is absolutely connected to many other organisations. Manufacturing supply chains are famously complex involving many different stakeholders often on a global scale. The opportunities for collaboration, and the opportunities that collaboration brings are potentially limitless. By incorporating these diverse stakeholders you stimulate creative problem-solving and drive progress in many different parts of the business. Collaboration with academia, for instance, can tie you directly into cutting-edge research, opening up fresh avenues for innovation that you may not be aware of internally.
