Diary of Small Production Floor

I have seen a lot of production facilities in my time and obviously I see mine every day.  The one thing that really amazes me is that every production facility I go to has its own personality and its own identity.  Every facility has its star employee and its struggling employee, every facility has its job everyone loves and the one everyone hates, the trick is finding that harmony to operate in.  With the many variables on a floor that harmony is hard to attain.  I will occasionally visit other production facilities and think to myself “Wow these guys really got it together!”  Then I go back to my shop and try and implement what I saw in my shop then CRASH!! It blows up in my face.  I really get discouraged when this happens, but looking at it now I realize that my shop has its own personality and that is why these implementations don’t work.  I can go to another facility that produces the same products and has the same men and I guarantee the two shops would be completely different.  Right now I have found tremendous success in implementing small changes and inspiring free thought.   I mean sure I could be hard about it and say look this is the way it is and that is all no discussion.  But I feel we operate the best when everyone feels like they are on the same level.  One person is not better than the other and we all work together.  One of my ultimate goals in life is to see our plant be NPCA Plant Certified.  This certification puts your company on a pedestal with other plants that are the best in the nation.  If you dissect every single piece of the NPCA Certification Manual, and believe me I have, it’s too much for a small company to absorb at once.  If I tried to implement this 100 % it would blow up in my face.  So instead what I am doing is implementing little small pieces at a time and this is working.  We are on our way.  I tell you I cannot wait for the day when Dalmaray joins the ranks as the top precasters in the nation. 

Quality Thinking

I was reading one of my favorite magazines the other day when I came across an article on the Cost of Quality.  This intrigued me and as I was reading the author made the statement that quality cost can be 20%-30% of sales.  These costs are the costs not only of implementing quality programs, but the costs associated with diagnosing and fixing the errors of your day to day production.  I really have to agree with this 100%.  I have seen our company fix product and even scrap poor products and that just really hurts.  We as managers/owners really get a pain in our side when we have to do things like this.  Not only does hurt the pocket book, but the morale.  It is so easy and so cheap to implement quality thoughts in to your production staff.  It’s the retention that is hard.   We are going through that right now.  We have a younger work staff and we struggle to retain the quality trains of thought sometimes. We are actively reinforcing over and over again the teachings.  That is where the implementation costs really come into play.  But I would rather spend money teaching and reinforcing than patching and scrapping.  A perfectly delivered product speaks volumes for who you are and what your company is about.  I really am starting to see the tides turning as guys are more about how to progress than feel sorry about themselves.  The other day we had an issue with a form that was not caught in time and we had to patch a product.  This was a setback, but what I saw for the first time was immediate discussion about what we can do to correct this in the future.  There was no finger pointing, no complaining, just instant brainstorming and evaluation.  That is quality thinking in my mind and this making me very proud that the retention is happening.  Good things are happening! 

Maintenance of Your Machine

I wanted to start tonight’s blog with a quote.  Here it goes

The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there.”
― Robert M. Pirsig

Why this quote is so relevant is because what I want to talk about.  Maintenance.  Yes we develop maintenance plans for our machines, our mixers, our trucks, but do we our employees?   How does one develop a maintenance “plan” for people?  It’s not like you can change the oil every 3 months or replace a belt every 12.  What do we do?  Is it necessary?  My opinion is yes it is necessary and what do we do…three things. Listen, learn, and educate. First listen.  Listen to your employees.  Stick your finger on the pulse of the company.  Is your employee going through tough times, is your employee hiding something, is your employee elated about something?  Every day is different, but this goes back to some of my old blogs, you are only as good as your employees make you.  Listen to them!  There may be something affecting them that could swing you positive or negative.  But like I said every day is different; keep your finger on the pulse.  That is the only way to maximize productivity.  Second and third learn and educate run together.  Your employees can teach you things and you can teach things as well.  It’s a give and take.  I always find it amazing, at our plant we have one guy who can look at something and take it apart in his mind.   Any engine, any machine, he can dissect it.  Well every time something needs repair it’s a learning experience.  I find myself thinking every time what happens when this guy retires?  You can’t replace this knowledge, but what can you do?  Learn and educate.  Teach another, teach each other.  Along the same lines we have an employee that is time and time again the most recommended delivery driver job after job after job.  What does he do differently?  Again I find myself thinking, “We need to keep this mentality up, what happens when he is gone?”  Every person on your floor or in your fleet has value! They all can teach and they all can learn!  Open it up let them be teachers, let them be the students!  I cannot stress this enough.  We are a society of learned citizens who always yearn for the next step, the next plateau, and we as managers/owners need to lead to those plateaus.  And a lot of times those plateaus are within the company, we just never knew it.  That being said we also have more resources than our shop employees.  Why not use them?  Case in point.  I have started an education fund for our employees where I will match whatever money they put into an “education fund”.  This fund will pay their way to educational courses put on by our national organization, the National Precast Concrete Association.  Why do I do this?  Everyone wants to reach that next plateau, they just don’t know how.   Flip the coin over, this is preventative maintenance on my part.  I invest money in my employees to be better educated in their job, what is my return?  A better understanding of their job and a better respect of what they do.  Money well spent period.  That will give more of a return than any extended life filter or belt you will ever buy.  So it’s like Robert says, “The place to improve the world is in one’s own heart and head and hands, then work outward from there. “  Maintenance on a man will go infinitely longer than any machine.  Listen, learn, EDUCATE!

Good Times, Good Friends

Fresh off my recent trip to Florida for the NPCA Precast Show and fresh off my presentation on Social Media I thought I'd blog about my experience.  First thing I learned quickly...traveling with two kids under the age of 5 is a nightmare.  I don't recommend it, but hey they are just kids.  We made it down there and all throughout the trip I was able to relive my childhood by riding on roller coasters with my mother in law and watching my boys in awe as they meet and greet their favorite Disney characters.  It was very special for me.  All fun aside, the NPCA did a wonderful job this year.  You can still tell by the trade show floor that the economy is still down, but the staff did a great job making the show what it is.  One of the things I hold dear to my heart is the relationships I have formed and am still forming with the NPCA staff and other NPCA members.  At a time during the show I was invited into the "backroom" of the NPCA and I got to mix it up with some of the NPCA staff I never knew.  I had a blast with all of them and it made it me realize how lucky I am to part of such a fantastic organization.  On the plant tour I met a new precaster from Mississippi and am learning new things from him and growing a new relationship with him.  So for me the Precast Show is all about the networking.  That is why I go, that is why I am part of the NPCA.  I feel like I'm member of a big family.  A family that is not quite as special as my personal family, but they are just as giving and I hold the relationships I have just as close to my heart.  So Kirk, Claude, Roland, Bob, Ty and everyone else thank you so much for another memorable trip.