Welcome to 2023! With the onset of a new year, it’s the perfect time to review and revive best practices in order to achieve peak equipment performance and product quality. In this blog, we’ll provide 10 resolutions we believe are instrumental to supporting internal efficiencies while providing the best results for your customers.

Resolution 1: Prioritize Safety

Resolve to recommit your team to daily safety practices. This includes highly visible safety signage on the shop floor, recognition of safety excellence, and a company-wide safety checklist with your top priorities. We put together a list not too long ago that you can access here.

Resolution 2: Review Equipment Checklists

Now is a good time to review maintenance checklists for every major line component as provided by your equipment manufacturer. The extruder is a good place to start. Get your free printable PDF extruder checklist here.

Resolution 3: Align Your Extruder

A poorly aligned extruder causes excessive wear and tear on both the screw and barrel. Here is a short read about extruder alignment and a step-by-step video tutorial on borescoping.

Resolution 4: Clean Your Feedscrew

Periodic purging of your extruder and cleaning your feed screw can improve your overall product quality. To help, we have included a step-by-step purging video.

Resolution 5: Assess Your Capabilities

Are you getting the most bang for your buck from your equipment? How is your energy consumption? Are there ways to reduce waste? What factors could improve outputs and profitability? How can you improve operator effectiveness? A system assessment by your equipment manufacturer may lead to big cost savings and better results for your customers with a few cost-effective upgrades. If you wish to schedule your assessment, contact us here.

Resolution 6: Celebrate Employees

Let your employees know they are appreciated! If you do not already have an employee recognition program, consider implementing one. Periodic recognition, staff celebrations, and employee success stories work wonders for boosting morale. Here are some great links from the following companies that offer inspiring and creative ways to give recognition:

Culture Amp
Snack Nation
Insperity

Resolution 7: Purge the Junk

Purge the junk from 2022 before the end of January. This not only includes junk on computers (e-mails, obsolete apps, etc.) but physical junk on the shop floor or in the office area. What can you recycle? Visit your local government website for proper recycling methods and procedures. Consider doing this practice monthly or bi-monthly to keep technology primed and your facility immaculate.

Resolution 8: Get Involved in Your Community

If your company is not already involved in the community, look for ways to make your presence known. What local charitable or business organizations align with your company’s philosophy? For those organizations or causes you already support, what are some ways you can improve or alter your involvement? How can you encourage employees to get involved? Whether it be a community clean-up, food or clothing drive, donation to a local cause, sponsorship of an educational event or something else, it’s important that all of us in the industry do our part to make our communities better.

Resolution 9: Reconnect at Industry Events

It’s important after the past few years to reconnect with each other in person.  Take advantage of these opportunities to collaborate and meet with fellow industry leaders face-to-face. Some of the events Davis-Standard is attending in Q1 and Q2 can be found on our events page here.

Resolution 10: Read the DS Connect Blog!

For your last resolution, please repeat after us: “I resolve to read the DS Connect Blog every month.” 😜
Our team of experts regularly collaborate to provide you with timely information that supports your manufacturing team and process improvement. By frequenting our blog, you will receive high-quality content twice a month, direct to your inbox. Encourage your staff or colleagues to sign-up as well. If there is a topic you would like to see covered, let us know!

We wish you a prosperous year full of new innovations, many successes, and a healthy bottom line. Any questions, e-mail marketing or drop us a line in the comments below!

Cheers,
The D-S Connect Blog Team