If you’ve been in manufacturing for any length of time, you know that continuous improvement is both the key to success, but also difficult to sustain. That’s why OMEP hosts regular learning tours to allow manufacturers to learn from one another, gathering information, feedback, and ideas for their own facilities while providing encouragement and advice for the hosting company.
You can’t ‘do lean’ from the office, Alan reminded attendees. You have to be on the floor in person.
For our first 2019 Learning Tour, hosted by AmFor Electronics, Jesse, Jerry, and Alan shared their company’s story with attendees. Amfor Electronics offers custom wire harness and cable assembly, as well as sub-assembly, panel assembly, device assembly, box builds and mechanical assembly, for a wide range of applications. They are also the leading manufacturer of alternator and starter testing equipment for the automotive industry in the U.S. AmFor provides customers in the automotive, transportation, construction, and agriculture equipment, as well as commercial product industries, an efficient, cost-effective outsourcing option that consistently exceeds the highest quality standards.
Here are seven tips we took away from the tour.
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Don’t be afraid to try things
Follow the Plan Do Check Act model to make small iterations, and sustain positive changes.
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Look for talent from within
AmFor promoted a line worker to a more senior position due to her dedication and commitment to implementing lean and continuous improvement on the floor. She’s a great champion of lean with her co-workers.
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Leadership is key is supporting change
This point relates to the last one. Make sure that as a leader you are hiring and firing based on your values. When there was resistance to the new promotion, the leadership team at AmFor advocated for their employee and supported her growth. Along the lean journey, the leadership team at AmFor stayed completely involved in the improvements from beginning to end. They reinforced and rewarded positive changes and new ideas.
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Hold daily huddles to expose obstacles
Have open communication and work as a team. Use obstacles as growth opportunities and encourage open dialogue. This is crucial to help sustain change.
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Just Do It
A half baked plan violently executed today beats a meticulously laid out plan that’s never implemented. Do and then iterate.
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One Play at a Time
Things will go wrong, sometimes a change will make things go more slowly or too fast. That’s ok – adjust and run the play again.
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If you can’t explain it to a 5th grader, you don’t understand it
Really seek to understand why and how lean works.
The hardest and least effective phrase in the Lean Manager’s toolkit is “Because I said so.”
A lean journey is the project of a lifetime, but AmFor has made great progress. Tour attendees also got to hear from OMEP’s Sheila Cuyler, who has been supporting them in their latest projects.
Stay tuned for more details on our next tour!
In the meantime, be sure to visit the Maker and Manufacturer Supply Chain Event >
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