Lean manufacturing: Resources or new ideas?

[Phillipi27]

Hello folks,

I just relocated here in Italy due to some work permit issues that have to be sorted out. Boy are they in real crap here it is really bad I hope it does not turn like this in the USA. Anyway my Dad has a small manufacturing company here that invoices about 3.2 million euros every year and this year we should be increasing production. My father has not looked at the company closely for a while and currently it is losing a bit of money every year.

Anyway it's really disorganized, but I have been given pretty much a free hand so I can try and mould and shape it in any way I want. Since as Dr. Paul says we are in the midst of an intellectual revolution I was hoping you guys could help me. I am looking for a book or some resources about how to make the manufacturing process more lean. The work culture he in Italy is bad and everybody does pretty much whatever they want. Also in the company there is very little procedures and hardly anything is documented.

The manufacturing mostly based on job orders and batch sizes. Is there any book you guys could recommend on lean manufacturing or a more "liberty" minded way of organizing the company? Please feel free to ask any questions.

 

[RickyJ]

The work culture he in Italy is bad and everybody does pretty much whatever they want. Also in the company there is very little procedures and hardly anything is documented.

What do you mean they do whatever they want?

 

[pauljmccain]

Uhhhh... start here?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_Manufacturing

Then read this http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=heioT9DPIJKq8AStnICtCg&ved=0CKwBEPMCMA4

 

[oyarde]

Kaizen , 5 S , etc etc

 

[oyarde]

Once you get your feet wet , if you have any specific problems , feel free to ask , doubt you could run into anything I have not before .

 

[oyarde]

While you get in and see where you wish to start , first thing , I would do is start selling .Sell the employees that improvements and company profits are in the employees best interest , it gives them job security.

 

[oyarde]

What do you mean they do whatever they want?

, ever been to France or Italy ?

 

[Knighted]

Implementing some sort of profit sharing scheme could help a lot in motivating the employees and improving production. The trick is doing it right and in a way that can't easily be abused.

 

[oyarde]

Let us know ho you are coming with it.

 

[oyarde]

Implementing some sort of profit sharing scheme could help a lot in motivating the employees and improving production. The trick is doing it right and in a way that can't easily be abused.

Easiest way to do that is pick percentage of profits to pay out evenly.

 

[tttppp]

Hello folks,

I just relocated here in Italy due to some work permit issues that have to be sorted out. Boy are they in real crap here it is really bad I hope it does not turn like this in the USA. Anyway my Dad has a small manufacturing company here that invoices about 3.2 million euros every year and this year we should be increasing production. My father has not looked at the company closely for a while and currently it is losing a bit of money every year.

Anyway it's really disorganized, but I have been given pretty much a free hand so I can try and mould and shape it in any way I want. Since as Dr. Paul says we are in the midst of an intellectual revolution I was hoping you guys could help me. I am looking for a book or some resources about how to make the manufacturing process more lean. The work culture he in Italy is bad and everybody does pretty much whatever they want. Also in the company there is very little procedures and hardly anything is documented.

The manufacturing mostly based on job orders and batch sizes. Is there any book you guys could recommend on lean manufacturing or a more "liberty" minded way of organizing the company? Please feel free to ask any questions.

There are books and classes for cost accounting, which could help you lower your costs.

 

[showpan]

Classes are bullshit...lol....the first thing you need to do is study every process and get your hands dirty. If you are going to take over this business in the near future, the only way to effectively to this is to learn each step of every process (actually do the work) and then come up with ideas to make them more efficient. As you do this, study what each employee does and it will become quite obvious what steps are to be eliminated. If you are a small company, then your employees will also respect you for having actually done the work rather than sitting in an office like some grad student who doesn't know what real work is...lol

 

[tttppp]

Classes are bullshit...lol....the first thing you need to do is study every process and get your hands dirty. If you are going to take over this business in the near future, the only way to effectively to this is to learn each step of every process (actually do the work) and then come up with ideas to make them more efficient. As you do this, study what each employee does and it will become quite obvious what steps are to be eliminated. If you are a small company, then your employees will also respect you for having actually done the work rather than sitting in an office like some grad student who doesn't know what real work is...lol

I would actually suggest throwing out learning the processes that are already being done and start from scratch. Identify what you are starting with and what your finished product is. Map out the most efficient way to get from your raw materials to finished product. You'll usually end up with improvements when you go this route.

Also, when managing people, focus on responsibilities, not procedures. Its the job of employees to get results, not follow procedures.

 

[Phillipi27]

, ever been to France or Italy ?

That's what I mean culture here is so different. Like a week ago I was watching the shop floor where manufacturing is done, and one guy was smoking a cigarette with one hand, and prepping a surface with sand paper on the other. and every 5 seconds or so he would take a break to take a drag. I mean here is the company losing money and I have to watch this guy working at the same pace of my 85 year old grandmother. And it's like this for just about every position in the company.

So I think the biggest thing will be to change the culture, now I could go out there and rip into the guy, but I try and put myself in this guy’s shoes, what does he have to gain by working a little harder? And like some people already said here sell the people on the changes that need to happen because sooner or later this company will have to close down if things keep going this way.

 

[Phillipi27]

Ok thanks for all the input guys. So far the first thing I did was draw out some projections for the remaining year of 2012. It looks like the company with the current staff and work rate can make 2,000 to 3,000 euros per month based on invoicing 315,000 a month.

We now have a management meeting every Friday to discuss changes and results the company needs to undergo. Everybody from the management team has seen the projections and provided their input so everybody seems to be on board for the most part.

Basically I need a stronger bottom line to make up the losses of the past 2 years. The shareholders have had to put money in the past and the suppliers have had to extend the terms they have given us. One of the biggest cost savers I see is overtime. Here in Italy payroll taxes are an astounding 48% compared to 8% I am used to seeing in Canada. But we also have an average of 400 hours of overtime a month, and when you consider overtime is paid double with taxes included if I can cut that down to even half I would save 8,000 euros a month right there.

 

[tttppp]

That's what I mean culture here is so different. Like a week ago I was watching the shop floor where manufacturing is done, and one guy was smoking a cigarette with one hand, and prepping a surface with sand paper on the other. and every 5 seconds or so he would take a break to take a drag. I mean here is the company losing money and I have to watch this guy working at the same pace of my 85 year old grandmother. And it's like this for just about every position in the company.

So I think the biggest thing will be to change the culture, now I could go out there and rip into the guy, but I try and put myself in this guy’s shoes, what does he have to gain by working a little harder? And like some people already said here sell the people on the changes that need to happen because sooner or later this company will have to close down if things keep going this way.

Don't be discouraged if you have some employees protesting your changes. Going from a poorly run company to a well run company almost always causes some employees to complain. I've seen this first hand. Some employees will surprise you how good they can be in your system, other employees will surprise you how bad they can be...and its not always the employees you would think.

 

[papitosabe]

like someone said, get your hands dirty...nothing better than leading by example...put in 6 days a week for awhile, 12 hours a day if needed to gain some respect...observe, coach, shadow, role play/perform tasks, and have them watch and ask if you're doing it right, and over perform....set goals, set expectations, and show passion...let them know you know how they feel ... and expect complaints and pushback, and if needed performance manage people out of there, bring fresh faces that want to work, and show who's boss... they need to know its business, not personal...if possible, set some small incentives...hell, it could be you bringing them a prosciutto di parma sandwich at work....small things that make someone feel good....don't be scared to be the boss, and don't start feeling you need to be friends with employees, thats where you will lose power.... keep us up to date...

edit** use overtime as an incentive, otherwise they'll work slow like you've stated, and abuse overtime privaledges...you may need to rock the boat a little, just do it incrementaly, not all at once...and set high expectations, if productivity is 60%, set bar at 90...but have that plan of attack to get there, don't just tell them to get there... if 90 % productivity, set it at 115%, so even if you don't hit 115, hopefully you still get 100%..they need to understand 90 or 95 is unacceptable...

 

[tttppp]

like someone said, get your hands dirty...nothing better than leading by example...put in 6 days a week for awhile, 12 hours a day if needed to gain some respect...observe, coach, shadow, role play/perform tasks, and have them watch and ask if you're doing it right, and over perform....set goals, set expectations, and show passion...let them know you know how they feel ... and expect complaints and pushback, and if needed performance manage people out of there, bring fresh faces that want to work, and show who's boss... they need to know its business, not personal...if possible, set some small incentives...hell, it could be you bringing them a prosciutto di parma sandwich at work....small things that make someone feel good....don't be scared to be the boss, and don't start feeling you need to be friends with employees, thats where you will lose power.... keep us up to date...

edit** use overtime as an incentive, otherwise they'll work slow like you've stated, and abuse overtime privaledges...you may need to rock the boat a little, just do it incrementaly, not all at once...and set high expectations, if productivity is 60%, set bar at 90...but have that plan of attack to get there, don't just tell them to get there... if 90 % productivity, set it at 115%, so even if you don't hit 115, hopefully you still get 100%..they need to understand 90 or 95 is unacceptable...

Getting your hands dirty definitely helps. Usually employees are willing to work as hard as you work. Its a lot easier to get employees to work hard when they see you are working hard.