Keep Your Workfoce Engaged

Do your employees have a ho-hum attitude about the work they perform for you? If you don't even know the answer to that question, then you need to make some time to spend it on the shop floor to see how engaged they are. Sure, they may act differently when "the boss" is on the floor, but in that case, spend some time to ask them, "How happy or engaged are you?" "What more could we do to make your workday better and you more productive?" You'd be surprised how happy your employees would be to know you were asking!

If you're in the start up phase and have to hire new employees, what steps can you take to hire and

keep an engaged workforce? Here are a few items to think about:

1. This should be a no-brainer, but you need to hire the "right" people. To do that you need to know what you expect of them and their specific roles. Don't try to fit the "perfect" person into a role just because he or she may seem perfect on paper. Hire to fill the role you need filled. 
2. Make sure your people are empowered to do their jobs. Sure there will be a training period, but once they've progressed past that timeframe let them do their jobs. Plain and simple. 
3. If your employees don't understand your business's mission and vision, how can they be expected to carry it out? 
4. Talk to them. Just as you talk with your upper management, you should talk to those on the shop floor as they are integral to your business's success. 
5. Offer feedback. Constructive criticism is welcomed by most people if it will help them do better at their jobs. Offer a criticism that also provides a way for them to improve. 

When is the last time you talked with your workforce to see how well they're doing and how happy they are? 

Salespeople Need To Be On The #Manufacturing Floor

Guest post by Peter Young, Street Smart Resources

In every company I’ve worked for as a salesman, I made an effort to get to know the Operation’s VP and get myself invited to the plant floor to connect with the line guys. Depending on the amount of “silos” in the company, I usually had no problems, although in one or two instances I had to do it on the sly.

How? Beginning with my opening question, “How close to capacity are you running?” would move us into a nice conversation about capabilities and concerns. (If your salespeople don’t have the answers to those "C" questions (capability, capacity and concern), someone isn’t doing their job.) For their part, they liked to hear about what was going on out in the real world of the market and the customer.

To Be Or Not To Be A Job Shop

If you were to ask #manufacturers ion Arizona if they are a “job shop,” I’d guess a great percentage would say, “Yes.” They’d say they work on “jobs” and of course a “shop” is just another name for a facility or factory.

In my mind, a true job shop is one that makes discrete quantities of parts on a purchase order and ships them all to a customer in one shipment. No long-term delivery or commitment requirements. On the other hand, a

shop that does have longer term purchase orders with multiple releases and/or formal purchase agreements or contracts is not what I would describe as a job shop.

Let’s go through some of the pros and cons of each so you can clearly see what type of business mix you have and whether it works best for you.
                                   
“Job Shop” (as described above)

Why Manufacturers Don't Really Need Six Sigma

Before you go apoplectic on me, let me explain. In a perfect world, there is no need for any manufacturing shop control systems. No ERP. No SPC. No labor reporting. And of course, no Six Sigma.  “Not possible” you say? “We need those systems,” you say.

Simply put, everybody would do everything correctly, on-time with perfect "repeatability". Workers would be constantly improving their work habits, workstations and processes on their own without the need of an external “system” to guide them. Parts would be released at the proper time to allow for the most efficient and least cost production methods. All costs would meet or beat those quoted and would be repeatable every time.  Even machine maintenance would be performed before any failures occur that would upset the perfection. Clearly, this is utopia and you can’t get there from here.

Part 2: Lock It Up Or Lose It

In my December newsletter, I wrote about the need to secure your data and hardware. You can read the article here.

For manufacturers,securing data and hardware is only half the battle. You’ve still got quite a bit of valuable information in your shop that you are contractually bound to secure and protect.  In a recent conversation with a large aerospace manufacturer’s IT security professional, I was told that a new DFAR (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation) will be issued and then “flowed down” to smaller suppliers that will require compliance in the cyber-security arena as well as the information you keep as part of the production process.

Is Your Management Style Conducive To Your #Manufacturing Firms' Success?

If you're the owner or operator of a manufacturing business, you likely have face to face contact with your employees and management staff on a daily basis. Because of this, have you ever wondered whether your management style was conducive to the productivity of the operation as a whole? It's something to think about as the new year has rolled in and you might be making changes in your plant to make it more profitable and productive.

A Great Topic to Talk About During the Holidays: Is College Right for Everyone?

I came across an article that specifically addressed the divide between those who think everybody should go to college and those that don’t. I’m not saying that college isn’t a great option for those who are thinking about a career in engineering, medicine and any other career that requires an advanced degree.

#Manufacturing Is Alive And Well In The United States

Contrary to popular belief, manufacturing is doing fine. Output is up, productivity is up and sales are up. So why does everybody think everything is made in China?

We get a bad rap because of two fallacies:

• Manufacturing is unimportant to our economy.  Not true!  When I hear this one, I know the person saying or thinking this has been in the basement for the last 125 years. Most of the wealth “created” in this country was made either by mining, farming or manufacturing. Everything else just moves the money around or services these industries. 

Support Small Business on #SmallBusinessSaturday

When you shop at a locally owned store, 52% of what you spend stays in the community. That is a

staggering figure, I think. When you consider that if you work with a local #manufacturer for your goods and services, you're also benefiting the community, the workforce and likely your own clients because you'll be getting high quality goods at a better price than if you had to ship/shop overseas.

As a small business owner (who will not be braving the malls or other stores on Black Friday) I encourage you to shop local, especially on November 30, which has been again designated, #SmallBusinessSaturday.

U.S. Needs To Up Its Manufacturing Industry

I came across this article the other day and have to say I agree with the information. How can the United States remain at the forefront if innovation isn't a priority? The manufacturing community also needs to step up and be part of the solution, don't you agree?

Check out the article on To Continue Innovating, the U.S. Has To Manufacture Things.

I'd love to know your feelings.

What, Me Worry?

I love this question. I’m a MAD magazine reader from way back. I was and still am amazed at how often I

see companies ignore things that are so obvious that could put them out of business.

Really? Yes, sad but true. I was an IT seminar last week and systemic risk was the main topic. The three presentations were designed for larger companies with multiple locations that have to protect themselves while complying with multiple governmental regulations. Not fun!

However, every company can and should examine risks that can put them out of business. Think it can’t happen? What if a lightning strike occurs and hits the power lines outside your company?

Reviving "Made In America" Pride

I came across this article recently and wanted to share it. Made in America products manufactured by workers in our country has always been something I have advocated for. We know that we need more workers skilled in manufacturing trades, especially if the trend is to continue.

In part the article states: The Made In America revival is gaining momentum with a majority of manufacturing executives now ready to consider pulling some production back from China. A new survey published showed a big jump in recent months in the number of companies considering "re-shoring" production from China, once favored for its low costs... Read the rest here

Four Key Considerations of Handling Rejected Manufacturing Parts

If you’ve been in manufacturing for any length of time, you’ve gotten some product back from a customer.

Regardless of whether you are a small shop or large, all manufacturing companies take rejects very seriously (as they should).

After the box gets opened and you’ve had the traditional informal meeting of everybody who isn’t busy at that time to see what’s up with the rejection, it is my belief that this event must be treated with care and urgency.  Here are four thoughts to keep in mind when handling rejects:

Paperwork
The paperwork has to be forwarded through order entry quickly and the type or response (repair, re-manufacture or replacement) be determined to allow the shop to turn the parts around.

Do You Know What Your Job REALLY is?

You’re the president of a manufacturing company. Do you know what your “job” is? If you’re the president of a smaller company, chances are you are wearing a lot of hats. In a bigger one, maybe not. In either case, there have to be clear lines of where your job begins and ends.

By the way, this applies to every employee of the company. Yikes! Does this mean that as an owner I’ve got to define exactly what each employee is supposed to do and just as important, what the boundaries are? Simply put: yes. That is your job as the president. If you’ve got an HR person, you can delegate it but ultimately it’s your baby.

If you’re not the president, this applies to you as well. You’ve got to know exactly what you are responsible for and what authority you have to carry those tasks out.

Profit Power Series: 'It's Like Finding Money On The Shop Floor'

We continue with our Profit Power Series which includes: Marketing/Sales, Quality, Engineering, Manufacturing, Finance, Purchasing/Procurement, HR, IT, Facilities/Utilities/Acquisition

As a manufacturer there are many areas of the facility that you need to concern yourself with and one of those is how to best utilize the manufacturing shop floor. As a manufacturing consultant I’ve found that the biggest problem facing shop owners is the use (or improper use) of the space in a manufacturing facility. When companies have a lot of space and are in growth  mode, they tend to use their space without a clear objective or without an eye toward either the bottom line or what they will do when the shop is at full capacity. I see that some planning has been done, but there are no long-term shop-wide plans in place for shop equipment placement.

What does that mean? Machines get placed, in many cases, without regard to how work will flow in and around this machine as well as those around it. Yes, it’s probably in the right department, but more often than not, little thought is given as to how this location will impact workflow in the shop.

Let’s Get Serious About Manufacturing

Hey manufacturers! It is time to step up and get involved. We, as an industry, need to emphatically tell the academics and governmental folks what we need and keep the pressure up until our industry has their full cooperation and support.

What do I mean?

First, you need to get a hold of your local school system and ask them how they are supporting STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education for their students. They will need to explain to you what programs they are offering and how they intend to graduate more students with these skills. Contact the curriculum coordinators and/or district superintendent in your area.

Engineering For Manufacturing Success

Engineering is one of my favorite subjects because I believe that most of the upfront planning and work done by any manufacturing company can be classified as “engineering”. The work done by either the shop engineer or the parts designer can dramatically influence how much money will be made.

Two functions of the shop engineer
Just as a train engineer decides how fast a train will go or how to vary the speed during various parts of a run, the manufacturing engineer sets up a routing or process as to how the job will run through the shop. On a more basic level, an engineer may also be responsible for the design of the part or items. These two job functions form the guts of the “engineering” of the parts.

The shop engineer as parts designer
On the drawing board, the engineer has a blank sheet. If he or she designs a part or item that can be readily made by their own shop or multiple outside vendors, out of obtainable materials and relatively standard specifications, chances are good that the part or item can be made to print AND meet the product’s expected price and profit margin. If not, well, watch out and be prepared to get your checkbook out!

I can remember a job my company ran that had a very difficult hole shape that we could not make in-house. When we got quotes to have an outside company make this shape, frankly, I had to do a double take and even a triple take. The price was SO high that I actually called them and they replied that if I didn’t like the price, too bad, as they knew that they had a monopoly on this process. I then called the customer’s engineer about this issue and he told me “that’s how I designed it and that’s how it’s got to be.” Clearly both of these responses are way wrong but I just priced the parts and got them made as they were “engineered.” This customer is no longer in business.

What to do Before OSHA shows up

The time to consider how you would do on an OSHA audit is not when they show up for the inspection. Any manufacturing company must review it's facility before an audit by initiating a formal safety process. My suggestion is the following;

1) Establish a safety committee and institute a safety policy within the facility.

2) The safety committee will become familiar with OSHA regulations that apply to this facility

3) Perform or Hire a consultant to do an audit of safety measures in place.

4) Correct any deficiencies found.

5) Repeat steps 1-4 at least quarterly.

Simple, yes. Complicated, also yes. 

Your committee must be backed 100% by upper management to remove and correct safety issues and procedures. As with any project that has somewhat limited control by management, the committee must make their case for issues to be fixed. There can be no doubt that their findings have to be corrected or the entire project will fail. 

While it is still possible that an OSHA inspection will find issues, they likely will be minor and less expensive to correct. Your employees will also feel better about working in a company that values their safety as it's first concern. You will also not get that sinking feeling when the OSHA inspector shows up at the front door.