Increasing productivity in an industrial company does not, in most cases, require large investments in new machinery. It requires the right tools to organise work, measure what is happening and eliminate waste. Here are the most effective — and accessible — tools that Portuguese industrial SMEs can implement today.

1. Attendance recording system

The most basic tool and, at the same time, the one with the fastest return. Knowing exactly who is present, when they arrived and when they left is the starting point for any improvement. An automatic time tracking system eliminates time lost to manual records, ends discrepancies at month-end and provides objective data on punctuality and hours worked.

2. Visual management (Kanban)

A visual board — physical or digital — where each order or task moves through columns such as to do, in progress and completed gives the whole team an immediate view of the production status. It reduces meetings, eliminates the need to ask the supervisor for updates and makes bottlenecks visible.

3. Value stream mapping

This Lean Manufacturing tool involves drawing all the steps an order goes through, from request to dispatch, and measuring the time of each. The objective is to identify where time is lost without adding value: waiting, unnecessary transport, rework.

4. Process standardisation

Defining the best way to execute each operation and documenting it ensures that work is always done the same way, regardless of who does it. It reduces errors, speeds up onboarding of new employees and makes production time predictable.

5. Continuous improvement meetings (Kaizen)

A short meeting at the start of each shift, 10 to 15 minutes, where the team identifies a small problem and proposes a solution, generates more improvements over a year than any large transformation project. And it has a powerful effect on motivation.

Where to start

The order matters. Always start by measuring: install a reliable attendance system and collect data for a few weeks before making any decisions. Picco is an RFID attendance system built for Portuguese industrial SMEs, from 9.90 euros per month. Find out more at damastor.com/picco.