Definition of the Daily Management System or DMS
A Daily Management System, or DMS, is a way of enabling the best possible management of an organization’s processes. In other words, it’s the whole range of good practices (routines and other day-to-day operations) that ensure the results measured in the field are in line with the production site’s operational objectives.
It’s not to be confused with an MES, which is a factory production control and monitoring tool: it collects production data in real time and provides total traceability of the manufacturing process.
All these operational tracking measures apply at all levels of the company: from the position closest to value creation, right up to the highest levels of the organization, such as executives and senior management.
How is DMS organized?
In general, managers make regular site visits to ensure they have requirements, productivity, quality of operations and performance indicators under control. Audits are carried out to ensure compliance with established standards and continuous process improvement.
Afterwards, a communication structure is put in place to ensure effective information is shared at the different levels of the organization, and to enable collaboration to resolve any problems.
All DMS-related activities can therefore be grouped into three categories:
- knowledge management
- process inspection
- operational monitoring, communication and problem-solving.
What are the benefits of the Daily Management System?
The main benefit of the DMS is that it guarantees rapid and effective response to performance shortfalls at all levels of problem-solving. It has 4 pillars:
- Visual management, which enables staff to see clearly whether performance is good or bad on a given day and to suggest corrective measures at the appropriate time
- Shop floor tours, or Gemba Walk routines, which are used to observe compliance with defined safety or quality standards in the field, or any other standard defined by the company
- The action plan, through which to monitor the actions carried out and objectives achieved, on a daily basis.
- Escalation, so that information is dealt with by the person who is best able to make rapid decisions to get back to the expected performance level.
Why digitalize your Daily Management System?
Digitalizing your DMS is a must in terms of saving time, solving problems faster and ensuring your production staff are invested. Here’s why you should digitalize your daily management system:
Have a single source of information
This source of information is visible on all production sites, and data is updated in real time, and can even be supplemented by diagrams, photos or videos. This provides greater oversight on performance.
Save considerable time and solve problems twice as fast
Meeting preparation is faster for team leaders because they have all the necessary information at their fingertips thanks to dashboards or reports. For the production staff, problems are also solved more quickly thanks to faster communication and being able to speak directly to the right person. This cuts out ‘the middle man’.
Connect production teams and improve their investment
Production staff are more self-reliant, and have a tool for reporting any problems. This boosts everyone’s ownership and investment. All of this means risks are monitored more effectively, and fosters a collaborative working environment, in which everyone can work more freely. Problem reporting is more accurate, as each user will be able to describe them directly in the tool.
A rich database at hand
Creating a history of problems and solutions will help you to become more efficient over time. The problem history provides a back-up of problems that have previously been encountered and how they were resolved. Staff have access to a wealth of knowledge through the stored problem history. And that knowledge will certainly help avoid recurrences.
Implementing a DMS fosters a culture of continuous improvement, because every small step, every problem solved in the field, benefits the whole organization and reduces the recurrence of operational problems.
Now that you understand the importance of a DMS, it’s time to find out how to centralize and effectively tap into all this information to optimize your operations. At fabriq, we’ve designed a digital dashboard that lets you gather all the information to do with your shop floor rituals and routines. You’ll have access to features such as checklists, audits and field tours, action plans, performance indicators, as well as problem-solving tools.
Find out more about the fabriq digital dashboard to simplify your DMS management and bolster your continuous improvement culture.
