3 Factors That May Be Limiting Your Small Business Production Output

Published January 23, 2019

As a small business, each and every decision you make has the potential to leave a lasting impression on your business. New labels can increase customer loyalty while a bad ecommerce website can drive away potential business. You don’t have lots of time or money to invest over and over again until you get things right; you want to know that when you do decide to go in on an update to your business, that change will have a lasting positive impact on your business.

At INSITE, we work with companies large and small to optimize their packaging processes through case erectors and sealers. With machines that are ready to go straight off the shelf and out of the box, you won’t need to spend endless time assembling or finessing our machinery. We take pride in making packaging solutions that just work; period.

Some small businesses don’t even know that industrial packing solutions exist, or even if one is right for their business. This mindset is not uncommon; nor are any of the other factors that we frequently find limiting the production output of our customers listed below.

Limited Space

Sometimes the sentimental value of a location can cloud our mind when it comes to the practicalities of running a business. And while it’s easy to say that you should simply move when you run out of space at your current location, there are many factors that may trip you up. The first is emotional. Don’t discredit this point, because when you approach the idea of moving out of the warehouse your parents bought years ago or the one you bought when you first opened your business, even the most calculating individuals may find themselves hesitant.  

Even if you can leave emotion out of the decision, moving is a huge undertaking no matter how you slice it. From rerouting your supplies to physically changing location, moving your production center can seem like more trouble than it’s worth. But trust us; it’s not. A lack of space is one of the most common traits that hold back small businesses when everything else is going right. You’ve paid your dues and now there’s more demand than ever for your products or services, but if you don’t have the physical space to keep up with these new demands, stock your supplies, and house your employees then all the sales in the world won’t matter.

An Understaffed Production Setup

You’ve been working hard and have brought your company up from nothing. Orders are pouring in, you’ve recently converted some old offices to expand your manufacturing floor, yet production fails to increase. Why? It could be as simple as being understaffed.

We understand the frustrations that come with a transient workforce; it can be expensive and time-consuming to train them when you know that you’ll only be able to cash in on that training for a very limited amount of time. But the solution shouldn’t be to limit your dependability on additional help. There are smart ways to optimize your workforce while still keeping everyone safe and well trained, more on which we’ll go into later.

The key when working with outsourced, internal, full-time, part-time, or seasonal help is to work smarter–not harder. That’s why we make our machines easy to use and learn. Minimal training is needed to work our erectors and sealers, making them a popular choice for businesses with a high employee turnover rate.

If you’re looking for staffing help Business.com has some great tips for determining how many employees your small business really needs and Forbes offers some helpful insights when it comes to small business employee training.

Failure to Automate Systems

As a small business, you’re most likely familiar with doing things yourself. Whether you make candles or eco-friendly cleaning supplies, you created your first product with insight, ingenuity, creativity, and most likely by hand. If you’re reading this article then you’ve done something right and demand for your products has risen.

One of the most common issues we see when interacting with small businesses is a lack of automation. From machinery to digital processes, some believe that automation lessens the value or care that goes into making a product, but nothing could be further from the truth.

By utilizing automated systems you give yourself and your team the opportunity to focus primarily on the product itself as opposed to all the little things that can get in your way. Some prime examples would be a digital tracking tool to let you know when supplies are getting low and automatically place orders for you. If you have a team member whose only job has become erecting boxes, sealing them, and then loading them onto a pallet, there’s a lot of room for improvement in his or her daily duties, and that improvement could be a case erector or sealer.

Small businesses who work in consumer packaged goods often overlook the “small things” when trying to optimize their production output. But erecting the boxes that transport your packaged goods to their final destination is by no means a “small thing.” Automating your end of line production process can save you time and money. Our E20G and E20T erectors can process 130 cases in under seven minutes, while our E30G and E30T configurations can handle 190.

Keep Your Small Business on Track with INSITE

If you’re looking for ways to increase your production output in your small business, INSITE can help. With easy to use case erectors and sealers, we can help you to automate your end of line process. If you’d like to learn more about how INSITE can help your business to succeed give us a call today.