Posts Tagged ‘Change Management’

Learning about another culture

June 13th, 2013
By: Dan Davis

Got a culture clash in your metal fabricating operation?

That’s a terrible situation, because if the workforce is unsatisfied with their environment, their negative attitude is probably carrying over to their work. More than likely, that then affects the customers of that fabricating company.

In their 2012 book ALL IN: How the Best Managers Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results, Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton discuss how organizations with positive cultures actually have a greater chance of being very profitable. The authors gauge the health of an organization’s culture based on engagement, enablement, and energy. Is the employee engaged in all aspects of the company and willing to go the extra mile? Does the company enable the employee to perform up to his full potential? Is the employee energized each day, displaying the drive and effort to make a difference? If a company can answer “yes” to those questions, the authors said it is on the right path to prosperity.

To back up their findings, the authors closely examined a database with results from 700 companies compiled by a research firm in 2009 and 2010. They focused on the 25 companies that had “high-performance business results,” which suggested high engagement scores, and found that they had margins that were three times those of companies with low scores. Employees were engaged in their job duties and energized to make a difference. Meanwhile, employers put those employees in the best position to succeed. (more...)

Learning from other fabricators

March 9th, 2012
By: Dan Davis

Put two metal fabricators in the same room, and you might find a scene reminiscent of the Hatfields and McCoys. Those two individuals don't want anything to do with each other because one only wants to steal the other one's customers.

Thankfully, all metal fabricators don't feel that way. It's one of the reasons that The FABRICATOR's Leadership Summit has evolved into such a great learning experience for company leaders and managers in this industry. The metal fabricators in attendance aren't afraid to share winning strategies and difficult challenges with their counterparts from all over the U.S. because, more than likely, they aren't competing for the same customers and they actually can learn from the interchange. It's one of the reasons that some of these fabricators have formed formal groups—the Precision Sheet Metal User Groups (PSMUG), as the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association (FMA) has officially labeled these small groups. They know that they can learn the best lessons from others that may have been in similar situations. The FABRICATOR's Tim Heston covered the PSMUGs in December, and when reading it, you realize why those groups are so important. (more...)

The choice of reading about greatness

October 21st, 2011
By: Dan Davis

I once knew a gentleman in the metal fabricating business who said his favorite leisure-time activity was reading "business books." Wow. Nothing says "party" like a weekend with Blue Ocean Strategy or The Wisdom of Crowds.

Pardon me if I'm skeptical of such literary efforts. But I've met a bunch of people running metal fabricating businesses was don't have fancy degrees or the latest self-help book on their nightstands, and they do just fine. They know how to bend, cut, form, and join metal, and they run their businesses with an integrity that is often lost in the pursuit of "big hairy audacious goals" and "win-win strategies."

This comes to mind only after reading an excerpt of the latest book, Great By Choice, from management guru Jim Collins and his writing partner, Morten T. Hansen. You can read the excerpt here. (more...)

The need to adapt, no matter what happens

January 12th, 2010
By: Tim Heston

When I saw the words manufacturing and boom in one headline, I had to do a double take. An AllianceBernstein economist was especially optimistic, predicting that manufacturing may be gearing up for the biggest turnaround seen in 25 years.

"The evidence points to a 20 percent jump in output in the fourth quarter, as there finally has been an end to the inventory reduction process that has gripped the industry for most of the past two years," said Chris Kuehl, economist for the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, in a Monday e-newsletter. "The key point for Alliance is that new order growth is far outstripping the current inventory levels, and that is a recipe for growth under most circumstances. If this trend holds, the economy is in for some solid numbers in the months ahead."

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'It's all bad' (No, it isn't)

October 21st, 2009
By: Vicki Bell

Yesterday evening, I sat in a Jiffy Lube waiting room while my car was undergoing an emissions test—a requirement for tag renewal. A small, very old-school, rabbit-eared TV tuned to a local news station stood in the corner. As I attempted to wile away the time reading the latest but already well-worn issue of People magazine and catch up with the David Letterman situation, a fellow waiting room occupant began to talk to me about what was happening on TV. She laughed and said, "My husband keeps telling me to stop watching the news. It's all bad."

Throughout the years, I've heard this advice from several people, most memorably, an individual who taught courses at Rock Valley College, Rockford, Ill., in the early 90s about the mind-body connection. Myrna (not her real name, but close) said we should never watch the news, or read the newspaper; it isn't healthy.

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760 manufacturing companies

July 17th, 2009
By: Tim Heston

That number bounced around the blogosphere this week as CIT teeters on the brink of bankruptcy. CEO Jeff Peek told news outlets that 760 manufacturing companies could shut down if CIT collapses. And then comes the ripple effect, which is even scarier.

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A recession takes no prisoners

July 7th, 2009
By: Tim Heston

It seems Paul Gordon of the Peoria Journal Star hit a chord last week.

Two metal fabricators in Morton, Ill., southeast of Peoria, changed ownership on the same day: Friday, June 26. Morton Welding, previously owned by Michigan-based BHM Technologies, was brought back under local ownership by a group of small investors. Another firm—Morton Metalcraft, currently undergoing bankruptcy reorganization—was sold to a Canadian company.

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'Work like hell to win now'

May 27th, 2009
By: Vicki Bell

If you read last week's blog post "Leapfrogging the competition," you know about the Barclay's Commercial survey cited in the May issue of "Tube Talk" that said 54 percent of UK businesses view the ability to leapfrog struggling competitors as their key opportunity in the current recession. You also know that 31percent view staff loyalty, retention, and productivity as their greatest opportunity during the economic downturn.

That post included remarks from a "Tube Talk" reader who agreed wholeheartedly with the findings, particularly about the opportunity to retain skilled workers. This reader shared his frustration with the trend to cut the work force to trim costs. He said, "We need to start looking for creative ways to cut back so as to keep our most valuable asset, our work force."

Another reader believes the work force-related opportunities that exist in a recession go beyond retaining your skilled workers—it's time to weed out poor performers and find the talent that can take you to the next level.

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Leapfrogging the competition

May 20th, 2009
By: Vicki Bell

Yesterday's "Tube Talk" e-newsletter that went out to more than 10,000 metal tube and pipe industry professionals featured findings from the Turning the Corner survey conducted in the UK by Barclay's Commercial.

According to this survey, a majority of UK businesses (54 percent) view the ability to leapfrog struggling competitors as their key opportunity in the current recession. Thirty-one percent view staff loyalty, retention, and productivity as their greatest opportunity during the economic downturn.

Do "Tube Talk" readers share these views? Several wrote to say they agree—the downturn presents very real opportunities.

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Two steps to success?

May 7th, 2009
By: Tim Heston

This is going to sound strange, but a recession like this sometimes feels like a breath of fresh air. If a company can operate through a downturn like this relatively unscathed, that's really something. If a company's inefficient, it shutters its doors. Sometimes bad things happen to good companies, but often, the hand of the free market makes all those annoying things about business--political infighting and other wasteful practices--stop, because companies that continue that silliness close their doors.

A downturn like this takes no prisoners--and it doesn't put up with political bull, either.

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