Top 3 Locations to install Digital Signage at your Manufacturing Plant

by Robert Mullen | Jul 20, 2017 | 0 comments

Digital signage is fast becoming a standard in the manufacturing sector. Companies that understand the importance of efficient and accurate communication with staff and workers know that they need digital signage with automated messages to inform employees about company news and to help them be more productive and safer. The question is where to put the displays and what content should they show?

There are three key areas in a manufacturing organization that can benefit from the use of digital signage. In this article, we will discuss the advantages of display placement on the shop floor, the office area, and lobby areas.

The Shop Floor

The shop floor is a network of digital KPI metric displays will have the most impact for your organization. Traditionally announcements have been posted via printouts on bulletin boards or written once or twice a day on dry-erase whiteboards. Typically, standard operating procedure (SOP) is to dedicate just one location, perhaps where an organization has the floor manager or foreman conduct GEMBA meetings with workers.

There are inherent issues though in this methodology for communication. These manual information boards are usually cramped for space, filled to the brim with old posts, HR announcements, safety announcements and KPI metrics printed from spreadsheet reports and reports generated from the ERP. Since digital signage can be installed in many areas and can be networked, companies are now able to display more targeted information to targeted workers and automatically keep that information up-to-date.

For example,

a manufacturing company can place the digital signage metric displays at the end of each production line, displaying only KPI metrics for that line

and perhaps neighboring lines including production metrics for the previous shift, amount of waste produced or errors made, and number of times that the line needed to be shut down within a certain period of time.

Other shop floor locations that are invaluable in placing digital signage can include displays at the time clock, near the main entrance of the shop floor and in the breakroom; all beneficial in communicating information that you want workers to know as they come to work, eat meals, and as they leave.

This information should be day-parted. For example, when they come into work and spend time in the break room the workers can learn about an initiative, incentives, and activities that they can take advantage of during the day, such as a meeting with an insurance rep, or a VIP visitor. As they leave, they can consume different information such as an announcement about a giveaway or a company picnic. Weather forecasts, traffic information, news items, company social media posts and other information is also important to place on these employee facing displays.

The Office Area

The needs of those in the sales office are different than those on the shop floor. For example, by having strategically placed displays around the office space and in the meeting rooms, the organization can show key sales metrics, fostering friendly competition and keeping everyone accountable and on task.

Also included on these displays are information from HR announcing upcoming events, meetings, new products and services, and morale boosting messages. Sales forecasts, department performance and production efficiency metrics are also beneficial. The use of visual reporting such as live dynamic charts, graphs, and gauges make it intuitive for the busy executive to take advantage of the data that is being presented.

The Lobby Area

A third area where digital signage will have an impact is in the lobby. In most cases, the lobby is the first place that most visitors will see once they enter your building.

A display playing promotional content about your products, a recent achievement, and recent social networking posts are a professional way to make a good first impression.

To entice visitors to look at the display show weather forecasts or traffic information for the vicinity of your building. Then show off your achievements and other news items related to your industry for them to view while they wait for the meeting.

Conclusion

Spending time to define what the goals are for an improved communications strategy will go a long way in deciding what locations to implement digital signage networks in. After the locations are defined, decided what targeted information goes on them will be the next step. It would be wise to then perform a walkthrough of the facility and examine the areas defined in these meetings to determine the most impactful locations for the displays to be installed. For more information on screen placement, please see our article entitled “The High Road, or the Low Road? – Digital Signage Placement”

For more information on digital signage with expansive database connectivity capabilities for the busy manufacturer, visit us at www.noventri.com or contact us at sales@noventri.com