SAMA to Host Manufacturing Seminar on Shop Floor Metrics, Productivity and Continuous Improvement

The San Antonio Manufacturers Association (SAMA) will host the seminar Keeping Score on the Shop Floor: Driving Performance Through Metrics and Planning on August 26, 2026, focusing on how manufacturers can use performance metrics, key performance indicators and planning tools to improve shop floor operations. The event will take place at Southwest Research Institute, Building 68, in San Antonio, Texas.

The seminar is built around a simple principle: what gets measured gets managed. Much like a scoreboard provides coaches and players with the information needed to make decisions during a football game, shop floor metrics give manufacturing teams visibility into operational performance and help them focus on achieving common goals.

According to SAMA, effective metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can trigger desired behaviors, guide team priorities and help sustain operational improvements. While customers may never see these indicators, they experience the results through improved on-time delivery, quality and cost performance.

Key manufacturing metrics

The seminar will cover the planning required to establish effective performance metrics, as well as core indicators used to improve shop floor productivity.

Participants will explore metrics including:

• Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
• Takt Time
• Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF)
• Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR)
• On-Time Delivery (OTD)

The course will also address data gathering and reporting practices, effective ways to communicate and monitor metrics, and the development of SMART goals to translate operational data into measurable results.

Driving continuous improvement

Continuous improvement will be another key component of the seminar, with participants introduced to the Kata methodology.

The approach provides teams with a structured framework to identify challenges, test solutions and establish continuous improvement habits. For manufacturing organizations, this can help create a more disciplined approach to improving productivity and operational performance.

SAMA's role in San Antonio manufacturing

The San Antonio Manufacturers Association represents more than 400 businesses across sectors including transportation, aerospace equipment, metal products, diversified products, materials and electricity, as well as companies supporting these industries.

SAMA is one of the largest and most active manufacturing associations in Texas. Its mission is to serve as the voice and advocate for manufacturing in the greater San Antonio metropolitan area while supporting workforce development, best-practice sharing and business opportunities.

The organization also works on public policy and regulatory issues affecting manufacturers and helps connect companies with education and training initiatives aimed at developing the next generation of manufacturing professionals.

The training is particularly relevant for professionals working in manufacturing operations, production, quality, maintenance, safety and plant management who are looking to use data and performance metrics to strengthen operational results.

More information: https://www.sama-tx.org/events/sama-seminar--keeping-score-on-the-shop-floor-driving-performance-through-metrics-and-planning