Carolina Metal Fabricators

Lesson from My Grandfather: A Foremans' Wisdom in Manufacturing, 1948 part 10 Today's lesson is titled "Cutting Costs" and as many of you know, I am huge believer in cutting costs. The lessons shown below are taken directly out of the attached pages: ?? Costs and Profit: Profit depends upon keeping costs below selling price. ??Profit Keep Business Alive: A business that is not profitable cannot live for long. Profits are "wages" paid for the services of money. You would not continue to work for very long for a company that had no money to pay your wages. ??Where Profits Come From: Profit is the margin between the costs of producing and the selling price. ??The Way to Increase Profits: The safe and sound way to increase profits is to cut costs. If we try to increase profits by increasing the selling price, we may lose more than we gain. ??How Foreman Control Profits: Production obtained without regard for cost is poor management and it's poor foremanship. There's no use to spend a dollar to get ninety cents back. The foreman control profits by controlling costs! ??Leaks for Foreman to Plug: A foreman has direct control over labor costs. The way he handles his men has a good deal to do with how much work they turn out, how much scrap they make, how wasteful they are of tools, material, and time. By planning his work right, the foreman can increase the efficiency of his department and make production more economical. ??Try This: Make a list of ten places in your department where you have partial or full control of costs. While you are making this list, just see if you can think of any ways to make cost reductions. When I was a plant controller, I loved talking to supervisors and managers on how they can help in cutting costs. This didn't mean that we would lay off employees, there were so many other tools in our belt to use in cutting costs. We actually went line item by line item, just looking at costs and what impact they had to the bottom line. I used to tell them, they are in charge of the checkbook, I was just the one that signed the checks. I hope everyone enjoyed this lesson a day early, I have a travel day tomorrow and wanted to make sure I got it out.

Lesson from My Grandfather: A Foremans' Wisdom in Manufacturing, 1948 part 9. Today's lessons centers around the "Breaking in the New Man" and why new men are so much more expensive than a current employee. All the verbiage you read below comes directly from the book: ?? Where "New-Man Expense Comes from: The New Man expense will vary with different jobs and different industries. There are, however, certain "new-man costs" which are common to all plants, mills and operations. Just how expensive the new man is, depends largely upon how carefully the foreman breaks him in and "teaches him the ropes" ?? Scrape Pile Feeders: There is a very close relationship between the number of new brought into a department and the amount of scrap. New men must "get into the kinks" of a new job before they can turn out quality work like an "old timer. ?? New Men Slow Up the Work: A green man may slow up the whole team. Thus, a few new men in a foreman's department may cause the loss of considerable production for the whole department. ?? Your New Men Are Hard on Tools and Equipment: You can think of many similar illustrations in your own experience where new men have broken tools and damaged equipment simply because they did not know any better. ?? Does the New Man Earn his Wages?: Most new men don't earn their salt until they get the hang of the job and get a little practice at it. ?? New Men Cause Accident Expense: A new man, be his ignorance, endangers the other men with whom he is working. Accidents cost money. ??New Men Takes Up his Foremans Time: The more careful the attention given them, the less expensive they will be. ??Foreman Can Slash "New-Man Expense": Special attention must be paid to giving the new men careful and thorough instructions right at the start. This lesson definitely resonated with me from being a supervisor, to running a factory, to then running a company. When I was a supervisor, I used to say, "I don't have time to teach them", and I remember a manager going "well then who will?". This lesson stuck with me, so as the plant manager, I would have other supervisors or superintendents say, "This new man isn't worth our time", my response was "how much did we really train him". We always lose sight of the fact that the New Man doesn't mean to be expensive, in fact he is probably just as nervous knowing he isn't contributing to the bottom line. I think it's imperative as a leader, we put our arm around that person and say, "it's going to be ok" and then teach them the right way to do things. It's always quicker to pull the trigger and let someone go, but in the end, training and diligence is what builds a successful culture. Until next week, I appreciate you reading and providing any comments or experiences that you would like to share from this lesson.

Lesson from My Grandfather: A Foremans' Wisdom in Manufacturing, 1948 part 8. Today's lesson is titled "Maintaining Quality" focuses on how quality is a huge driver in manufacturing, and there is only one way for a company to grow, and that is to put Quality into its product. ?? Why Quality is Essential - No company can keep on prospering unless its products live up to advertised standards of quality. People simply refuse to be fooled the second time. ?? Quality is up to the Foremen - Every foreman is responsible for the quality of the work his men do. ?? The Foreman is the Logical Quality Man - Quality will be no higher than the workers make it. The men will put quality into the job according to the way that the foreman impresses them with the quality idea. ?? Teach the New Man Quality - The new man gets his impressions from the foreman. The foreman gives him his first lessons in doing his work. This gives the foreman the chance of a lifetime to "put quality ideas across" ?? Profits Depend on Quality - The same old story, a company's bad reputation will risk customers not spending any money on their product and so they "just naturally went to the wall". We have all been at factories that have produced quality items and some not so much. I remember in 2008 running the sales organization for a plywood mill and just watching plywood fall apart at the customers routers. It took everyone in our organization to recognize the problem (from senior managers to the team member on the floor) and then focus on quality. A year later we were crushing it because we became known for a quality rather than just a product. It got us through the recession when other mills shuttered their doors. I think Henry Ford said it best (yep, found some old school quotes as well) "Quality means doing it right when no one is looking". I hope you all are receiving value out of these lessons learned and looking forward to what is coming next week.

Lessons from My Grandfather: A Foreman's Wisdom in Manufacturing, 1948 Part 7 Todays Lesson is titled "Making the Job Safe for Workers" and I will be honest with you all, I did not expect to read what I read in these lessons. I was naive to think that back in the day, worker safety was irrelevant, and boy was I wrong: ?? The Guardian of Shop Health and Safety - The first three pages on this lesson talk about the foreman disregarding the Safety Engineers recommendation for a guard and taking them off. Lo and behold, the employee lost his hand. The comment from the supervisor was "Right then and there something turned over in me, I realized that I was responsible for that horrible accident". ?? Preventing Sickness - The average worker loses between eight and eleven days a year through sickness (back in 1948). If the men in your plant average $5 a day, it means the total loss in wages to your men is about $47.5k. Sickness and accidents go hand in hand. ?? How can the Foreman Keep his Men Well - "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!". ?? Are you doing your Safety Duty - When a man comes to work for you, you should feel that the man's wife and family are putting their trust in you that you will send him home safe and sound at the end of each day's work. This lesson really resonated with me because throughout my entire career, it seems like I have been responsible for safety in some type of management role. I have come to appreciate how much time, and effort gets put into safety (especially at the mills) and you can never take your eye of it (definitely read the Dinner Bucket Topics page). I was fortunate to work with some really good safety people Nathan Brown. Robert Madison, Neil Burchard, Terry Evans, CSP, ARM and so many others that it would be impossible for me to name them all. These individuals have gone the distance to ensure that the employees always got home safely.

Lessons from My Grandfather: A Foreman's Wisdom in Manufacturing, 1948 Part 6. Our weekly lesson is titled "Working with the Organization" and why teamwork is essential in 1948. It focuses is on the following bullet points: ?? Teamwork Between Foreman: The foreman are the "king pins" of the plant. As the foreman goes, so goes his department. If you just sit and wait for the other foreman in the organization to go out of their way to cooperate, you may be waiting a long time. ?? Cooperate with your boss: You must co-operate with the man above you as well as the foreman beside you. There is such a thing as giving the supt. your "half hearted" to the operation, or you can give him your "full" co-operation. If you are going to go at all, why not go all the way. ?? Build a Team in your own Department: The organization as a whole, is one big team made up of many smaller teams. The foreman must develop co-operation between the men in his own dept. If he can get all of his men working together as a unit, he can go to the Supt and say "My boys are all back of me, and we're ready to do our part of the work of the big team" The way for you to win the co-operation of your men is to deserve it. My Thoughts: How often have you walked into a factory and noticed team members smiling, joking, and working seamlessly together, with products flowing effortlessly down the line? There’s an undeniable energy in the air—everyone is in sync, and the supervisor is coaching rather than merely managing. These are the factories that excel not just in productivity but also in safety, quality, and sales. I often joke that you can literally feel the cooperation in the air, and that kind of environment naturally attracts high-caliber individuals. Now take the opposite, the employees are staring down with no eye contact (barely talking to one another), the manager is yelling more than he is coaching and there is depression in the air. This impacts your safety, quality and sales more than you can imagine. At the end of the day, everyone wants to work in that highly cooperative, highly energized group. The question is, "What type of group do you currently work for?" Thanks again for reading through the next lesson plan, and I look forward to hearing your comments.

Lessons from My Grandfather: A Foreman's Wisdom in Manufacturing, 1948 Part 5. Today's lesson is titled "Carrying Out Managements Policies" and the theory behind "Don't 'Pass the Buck' to the Company" and the lessons are shown below: 1. A buck passing foreman merely handicaps himself - Every red blooded man likes to see a fellow "stand on his own fee". The fellow straddles every issue just to be a "good fellow" doesn't win the whole hearted respect of anyone. 2."Sell" your men on company policies - Don't apologize for them, and it is understood that the foreman who does not fully understand an announced policy will take immediate steps to learn all about it himself. 3. Don't kid yourself - You are actually part of management. You represent teh management to the men. Holding such a position you must stand for company policies. In fact, his men will be suspicious of him if he doesn't stand for company policies. In summary, the old adage (circa 1927) of passing the buck is even true today. How many times have we been in meetings and watched the supervisor say "this is the new policy and I don't understand it, but I am going to tell you anyways". The credibility of the policy is immediately devalued. What is even worse is when you are part of the management team, and possibly wrote the policy ?? Policies are there for a reason, but how many times as leaders did we follow a policy that we knew was almost beyond ridiculous (post your most ridiculous policy below)? I hope everyone continues to enjoy reading through this foreman manual with me, and I have included all the pages in the pictures below. Yes, the pencil scribbling on the title page is from Grandfather.

Lessons from My Grandfather: A Foreman’s Wisdom in Manufacturing, 1948 Part 4. Todays lesson is titled "The Foreman who can't handle himself, can't handle his men". It focuses on the following: 1. Learn to Handle Yourself - First Unless a leader can handle himself his followers can not respect him. 2. Hair Trigger Tempers - When he loses his head, the foreman may undo more teamwork among his men than he can build by months or several years of work with them. 3. Arguments stir up more than they settle - When a foreman engages with a man, the man is at a disadvantage because he realizes the foreman is his boss. The result is that he comes out of the argument feeling abused and unconvinced. 4. The Danger of "Over Talking" - Some foreman make the mistake of talking to much and they should never criticize the company or any of its executives or officials. 5. Keep your mind open - The foreman who keeps his mind open to the ideas, the view points, and the suggestions of his men will find his men more willing to accept his ideas. 6. Friendliness without Familiarity - Every foreman needs to us his best judgement deciding where friendliness ends and familiarity begins. 7. Setting a good example - As a foreman you should always handle yourself with the knowledge that your men are observing you closely. Your every act and word are noted. These seven points are spot on when it comes to handling yourself as a foreman, manager, leader, exec and owner. I think through the years of finding my own leadership skills, I have negated all 7 of these (especially the danger of "Over Talking" and "Hair Trigger Temper") and find myself then coming back to doing what's right. A number of my mentors carried all 7 of these behaviors, but also failed to do them all the time ?? I hope everyone enjoys the Dinner Bucket Topic, that section is by far the favorite of it all.