Efficiency is Lacking

Whats going on everyone. Been all grain brewing for about 6 months now, but still cannot seem to get my numbers where I'd like them. According to beersmith I am only being 60-68% efficient. I batch sparge with a rectangular cooler with a braided filter setup. Most styles I mash at 154ish and hold for an hour. Sometimes I mash out, others I do not. Doesnt seem to effect my numbers at all.

So my question is, will a manifold increase my efficiency as it will pull sweet wort from each corner of the rectangle cooler instead of just the one side? I dont mind using 2 extra pounds of grain per brew to get the numbers I'd like, but I would like to just get everything working properly.

My efficiency runs pretty close to 68% on smaller beers and 62% on bigger beers and I have a manifold and rectangle cooler. I also use a pretty fine crush. My mill is set at .036.
I think the reason my efficiency is a little low is my mash ph is off because of very alkaline water.
I will fix that when I get a new RO system.
The good news is my efficiency is consistent so I can design my beers around it. I would rather have consistent efficiency than high efficiency.
I used to mash my smaller beers in a 5 gallon round cooler with a braid and I got 75% efficiency all day. I just couldn't mash more than 13 lbs of grain.

I doubt that your lack of efficiency has anything to do with your equipment as others use the same type and get good efficiency. I'll bet you buy your grains pre-crushed and that they aren't crushed well enough to get the efficiency you want. Look closely at the grains. Are there any whole or nearly whole grains? Large pieces?

When you add the grain to the water, the larger pieces won't get wet to the center so you don't get all the sugars out. There goes your efficiency. Do you know where the efficiency numbers come from? Search for "congress mash" and see how they achieve 100% efficiency.