Balancing Innovation and Compliance in Modern Manufacturing Facilities
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Regulations are a reality of manufacturing. From supply chains to operations to safety, manufacturers must consider regulatory demands and compliance concerns at every step. Environmental regulations have become particularly important in recent years, and the perpetual change in what is expected has made it challenging for manufacturers to remain compliant while also maintaining operational uptime and profitability.
If your company is struggling to balance innovation and compliance, especially in a constantly changing area like sustainability and environmental regulation, this resource can help. Discover key steps to ensure you understand some of the most common regulatory demands, consider the quickly evolving area of environmental regulations, and discuss strategies to address compliance without sacrificing efficiency and innovation in modern manufacturing.
Understanding Regulatory Demands and Their Influence on Manufacturers
There are many regulatory guidelines that influence the manufacturing sector. Some of these are for niche operations, while others impact anyone with a manufacturing or warehouse floor. For example:
- ISO 9001 regulations apply to all manufacturers as it pertains to maintaining consistent quality, process improvement, and customer satisfaction.
- FDA cGMP (current good manufacturing practices) guidelines are critical for manufacturers producing pharmaceutical, cosmetic, supplement, medical, and food-grade products.
- HIPAA guidelines influence companies manufacturing medical devices, including connected devices and other technologically powered products that handle patient information.
Regulations are often thorough and extend beyond assembly lines to include supply chains, ingredients, and packaging. The larger environmental impact of a manufacturer’s activity is also a factor — and it has become a central concern for many industries.
The concern is warranted. The industrial sector is responsible for nearly 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Others put the number closer to 23% percent. In either case, emissions from manufacturing, in particular, are expected to increase by 17% by 2050.
This has made environmental regulatory concerns a priority for many politicians, lawmakers, and other sustainability advocates. At the same time, the vacillating nature of elected leadership that changes on a regular basis has made the environmental regulatory landscape one of the most fluid areas of change at the moment.
In 2023, manufacturers had to be aware of things like the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). While these remain factors, the new administration rolled back significant portions of the previous administration’s climate policies.
Manufacturers must be ready to adapt to stricter regulations and act when those are no longer a factor. At the same time, they should have their own internal standards for how they wish to operate and be clear on the degree to which sustainability should play a natural role in their organization.
The Impact of Regulations on the Manufacturing Process
The ever-changing regulatory landscape has a significant influence on manufacturers. A few of the most common areas of impact include:
- Increased operational costs that come with new, additional, or more complex equipment required to follow environmental standards.
- Delays through longer permit processes when upgrading equipment or expanding facilities. Impending or possible changes to regulatory law can also extend timelines and generate a sense of analysis paralysis on the part of leadership.
- Production limitations, resource allocation challenges, and competitive disadvantages are also factors.
Navigating regulations is necessary. However, leadership must invest in a balanced approach that simultaneously prioritizes compliance, maintaining sustainable operations, and investing in innovation over time.
Strategies for Balancing Innovation and Compliance
Whether it’s environmental regulations or other compliance concerns, it’s important to maintain a sense of balance that follows guidelines while maintaining profitability and promoting innovation. Here are five steps you can take to create a company that thrives while respecting regulatory boundaries.
1. Integrate Compliance Early
It’s never too early to start considering compliance. Start on a company-wide level through mission statements and sustainability documentation. As an example, refer to EAM-Mosca’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) stance.
This is a public document expressing our commitment to key areas like health and safety. It also contains explicit statements on our positioning toward environmental sustainability and green initiative objectives. We also call out specific areas where we align with compliance and regulatory demands, such as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Section 1502 regarding mineral policy.
Embedding compliance considerations into the fabric of your company in this way can naturally position you toward compliance and make it easier to follow regulatory requirements over time.
2. Foster a Culture of Compliance
Once you have a top-level framework in place, you can begin to initiate company-wide iterations of those beliefs and commitments. This could come through a variety of efforts.
Train employees on regulatory standards. Educate them on areas of environmental, health, or safety concerns within your industry. Promote accountability across all levels of your org chart (starting at the top). Also, consider involving regulatory experts in product development.
3. Leverage Technology
Technology is a powerful option in the effort to remain in step with regulatory expectations without losing your competitive advantage as a manufacturing operation. Technology creates efficiencies that can simultaneously impact your bottom line while reducing emissions.
Tech can help in simple yet effective ways, like digitizing complex (or constantly updated) work instructions. Artificial intelligence is another rapidly developing area to consider. AI tech is doubling its training capabilities every six months. That means there are always new developments taking place. Watch these and similar tech sectors and consider how you can use them to create compliance efficiencies within your factories.
4. Create Flexible Compliance Frameworks
Make sure your compliance frameworks can adapt to your company over time. This happens often, and not just in the environmental sector. The FDA, for instance, has an entire section of its site devoted to housing newly added guidance documents.
Set broad guidelines that you can adjust as regulations are updated. This allows you to adapt to change as it occurs without creating unnecessary downtime or expenditures in new machinery, methods, and other manufacturing investments.
5. Measure Success
You cannot measure whether you are maintaining balance or not without establishing clear metrics to measure your outcomes. Establish KPIs, such as results based on industry regulations or profitability and innovation benchmarks.
Once you have these in place, create a review schedule. Check-in every quarter or a couple of times each year (whatever cadence makes sense for each area of your facility) to ensure you are making progress toward your goals.
Finding Balance With Regulatory Strategy in Manufacturing
The way a manufacturing firm approaches regulatory and compliance concerns makes a difference. Setting up a strategy can help you strike a balance between following regulations, continuous improvement, and maintaining a high uptime. The result is an airtight factory floor that is efficient, sustainable, and maintains profitability.
If you’re looking for ways to create sustainable regulatory strategies for your production line, EAM-Mosca would like to partner with you. Our innovative products consider all regulatory standards and can adapt to whatever end-of-line packaging needs are required in each assembly line. Contact us today to learn more about our strapping and stretch-wrapping solutions and how they can contribute to a compliant and profitable operation.