sign off that this is what they recommend. We use this same method for a $10,000 purchase or a $2,000,000 purchase. We have just completed our 149th
project (Fig. 8).
Another team-building policy at Dotson is our GEMBA trips. GEMBA means go to the “real place” to gather first- hand information. Our goal is that each year more than 50% of the employees will go on a trip to visit a customer, sup- plier or another foundry. We have been doing this for many years, and the value really hit me when we had a customer quality person walking through our plant. He said hello—by name—to four of our shop floor workers. On different trips, each of these employees had toured through the customer’s plant accompanied by the quality person.
people first…Then the Vision for next generation manufacturing
Engaged employees and empowered teams are the first essentials for long-term success. The next essential is us- ing an alignment tool such as Hoshin Kanri for strategy and initiative development. For all this to be success- ful, however, it requires the inspired leadership to create the vision for the organization. It’s the vision that says “Where are we going?” not this year or next, but ten years or more from now. It is the “What do we want to be when we grow up?” statement.
In developing this vision, one has to look out at the changes that are taking place in the world economy, spe- cifically what is happening in manufacturing. We should thank companies operating in Mexico, India, China, and other low-cost areas. They have provided the urgency that we in manufacturing need to move us beyond doing busi- ness as usual.
Our response at Dotson was to look at “The Toyota Way” and adopt many of their lean principles, especially waste reductions, kaizens, continual improvement tools and the strategy planning approach. These are only aids for short- term improvements, however, and don’t really help deter- mine the vision.
The Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP) has defined six attributes for industry’s future success. Their belief is that America’s manufacturers must achieve world-class performance in at least one key attribute and achieve parity with leading competitors in all others. These six concepts are a good basis to begin the vision plan- ning. Google “WMEP Next Generation Manufacturing” for the full report and the success benchmarks for each attribute: 1. Customer-Focused Innovation 2. Advanced Talent Management 3. Systemic Continuous Improvement 4. Extended Enterprise Management 5. Sustainable Product and Process Development 6. Global Engagement
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At Dotson, our vision is “Becoming the World’s Most Agile Foundry and Machining Facility.” The important emphasis here is on the word, ‘becoming.’ Much like our journey for engagement, our vision is a journey. It has a planned destina- tion, but it is always being revised. For us, agility is having flowing processes and engaged employees that quickly de- liver great performance to our partners. Dotson’s strategy to meet this vision falls into five areas.
1. Process—From Stop and Go to Continual Flow Using lean principles to reduce waste and improve processes; eliminating unnecessary pauses as we strive for continual flow.
2. Quickness—From Days to Hours Quickness is the ability to give correct responses or deliver product without delay or difficulty; offer- ing our customers a competitive advantage through flexibility and agility.
3. Performance—From Good to Great The way to survive in the competitive world mar- ket is to be great; with repeatable, controlled pro- cesses; very low reject rates, near perfect delivery and services our customers’ value.
4. Teamwork—From Individual to Engaged The incredible advantage we enjoy is a well-edu- cated workforce. By emphasizing the joy of learn- ing and succeeding together, as an engaged team, we will provide a better quality work life and better results.
5. Relationships—From Transactional to Partnership Our core values are the basis for all interactions with our partners: employees, customers, suppli- ers, investors and the community.
Visions are not created easily and certainly cannot be done in a few brief sessions. The vision must challenge the organization and at the same time create a feeling of pride among employees that we are all taking this journey together.
Figure 8. Dotson’s signed $10,000 project summary for a forklift purchase.
International Journal of Metalcasting/Fall 2011
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