A business owner I worked with once told me something that will sound familiar to many manufacturing CEOs.
He said, “Shrikant, every morning we set production targets. Every evening, somehow, we still miss them.”
And this wasn’t a capability problem.
The machines were available.
The manpower was there.
Orders were clear.
Yet, daily targets kept slipping.
Not occasionally.
Consistently.
When we looked deeper, the issue wasn’t effort.
The issue was how production was actually being managed.
And this is more common than most businesses realize.
Because daily production targets are rarely missed for one big reason.
Usually, it’s several small operational gaps adding up through the day.
The first issue is unrealistic planning.
Many factories set targets based on ideal conditions.
Assuming machines will run continuously.
Assuming no quality issues.
Assuming material will always be ready.
But manufacturing rarely works under perfect conditions.
One machine stoppage, one delayed material movement, one urgent change in priority—and suddenly the target starts slipping.
The second issue is unclear ownership.
Everyone knows the target.
But nobody owns the interruptions.
Production blames maintenance.
Maintenance blames stores.
Stores blame purchase.
And while departments are figuring out the cause, productive hours quietly disappear.
The third issue is reactive firefighting.
An urgent customer order comes in.
Schedules get reshuffled.
Teams switch priorities midway.
Machines undergo extra changeovers.
And what looked achievable at 9 a.m. becomes impossible by 4 p.m.
What makes this dangerous is that many businesses start accepting missed targets as normal.
“This is how manufacturing works.”
But missed daily targets don’t just affect production.
They affect delivery commitments, overtime costs, customer trust, and eventually, profitability.
Because if small misses happen every day, they become very expensive by the end of the month.
The factories that consistently hit targets are not necessarily working harder.
Usually, they are planning better.
Clear priorities.
Visible bottlenecks.
And faster problem-solving during the shift—not after the day is already lost.
The question worth asking is this:
Are your daily targets genuinely achievable?
Or are they simply optimistic numbers that your teams are expected to somehow chase every day?
Video By:
