Cameras in Manufacturing
Point of View
What if I told you that you could maintain safe practices, increase production, reduce theft & vandalism, walk fewer steps, and monitor ways to become more efficient with a small 5” x 3” x 3” tool? The tool I am talking about is small surveillance cameras. When we first investigated installing cameras, we had to define our goal. The point of using surveillance cameras should not be to catch employees doing something wrong or poor work. The goal should be to review the good practices of our employees and reward them. We wanted to use cameras for improvements, not for spying on employees, co-workers, or vendors. With this goal in mind, here are some ways that installing cameras may help improve your business.
Curtail Crime
Putting surveillance signs and cameras on your property is a great deterrent to criminal behavior. Since installing cameras, we have seen over a 95% reduction in theft of personal belongings & vandalism. This has been especially helpful during weekends when the plant is not operating. We no longer need the Sheriff's intervention and all the time that the process takes due to crime and vandalism. No one wants to be seen doing bad behavior.
Monitor Inventory
We placed cameras strategically around our storage areas to save travel time. It has eliminated all the walking to and from the storage area. We no longer have to go see what is in the storage racking for lumber inventory. Before cameras, checking lumber took about two minutes to walk there and back. With cameras, we have saved over 300 steps per day. With a few clicks of the mouse, we see our inventory and can create purchase orders.
Safety Compliance
We all know how important it is to hold safety meetings and then continue to improve. When processes change or new equipment is installed, operators get trained in the safe operation of the equipment. We want to keep our employees safe by operating the equipment safely and properly. Cameras provide a platform for random audits of personal safety equipment and proper safety protocol. Perhaps a workman’s compensation case can be avoided by reviewing an unsafe action on film. You can instantly review what happened if an operator comes to you reporting an incident. Video reviews can also help supervisors spot potentially unsafe practices and then make proactive changes before an injury occurs.
Genchi Genbutsu
Translation: Go and see for yourself. As our company has read the book “The Toyota Way” we have learned more about what waste is and how to eliminate it. We practiced what is called in the book the “Ohno Circle” by standing in one spot in the production area for an hour of in-person observation. The cameras are ideal also for observation from another point of view. What company does not have processes that need to be improved? The time and motion study has been employed as a technique to optimize business efficiency ever since the late 1800s. Today, cameras and video observation are extra tools that help management identify opportunities for waste reduction and work on continuous improvement. By analyzing workstation video footage, you can observe unnecessary movement by employees or if certain tasks are wasteful. This video footage can even be reviewed in slow motion to catch details that are unseen by the naked eye upon first watching in person. In manufacturing, reducing unnecessary transport or conveyance in each step of the production process are constant focus areas.
Summary
When a camera is present in a workstation, production workers are more likely to follow established processes and procedures just as they were trained to do. Surveillance cameras show up to work 24/7 and never take a break or a day off and can be on the job site as long they are required to be there. This constant monitoring when managers are unable to be present also creates opportunities for capturing actual video that can be reviewed with the production workers and management. This can aid in additional training and facility improvements as well as safety for you and your team.