NOVEMBER 20218 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSI've spent my career working in a variety of manufacturing roles. Currently, I oversee all manufacturing and sourcing for more than 30 manufacturing facilities around the world for MiTek, a diversified global supplier of integrated software, services, engineered products, and automated solutions to the building industry. Many are familiar with MiTek as the creator of steel connector plates, and while that remains the core of our business, the company has grown into a platform innovator and enabler with a mission to transform building.Knowledge is key. I believe it's crucial to the success of any organization that performance is accessible by all levels within the organization. Members must have the knowledge and understanding of the goals of the organization and be able to track the progress toward meeting those goals or falling short of them. Before joining MiTek, I spent over 10 years at TE Connectivity in various manufacturing leadership roles. During that time, I focused very intently on Digital Factory to drive technology in coordination with Continuous Improvement. As part of this team, we created a global playbook that emphasized the sooner team members are alerted to challenges, the quicker they are resolved. This is good for customers as well as for productivity and quality. Tiered meetings drive accountability and visibility. An agenda establishes who is responsible for leading the meeting and gives all attendees a road map of the information to be covered during the meeting. Each meeting offers the opportunity to reflect on the previous day's work, review any outstanding tasks, and look ahead to the coming days.It's not enough to simply share that information during a tier meeting, but progress reports should be readily available at a glance. We must break down knowledge silos and give team members access to information in plain view of all tools, parts, production activities, indicators of production system performance, and accountability to actions, so the status of the system can be understood by everyone involved. Creating visual indicators helps motivate action by letting team members measure their own success.To really create a culture of improvement though, communication must be multi-directional. IN MY OPINIONMake Performance Visible and Easily Trackable to Empower Team Members By Douglas Krauss, Vice President, Global Manufacturing and Sourcing, MiTek
< Page 7 | Page 9 >