Page 26 - MetalForming February 2013

Pioneer Metalformers
Invest in Workforce Development
Case Study:
Diemasters Manufacturing Inc.
Training to develop and rein- force skill sets of managers and production workers becomes most sustainable and purposeful when it’s driven from within the work- force—you want employees to seek training opportunities, not respond to
mandates from management. That’s an oversimplified view of the investment being made in devel- oping the human capital at Diemas- ters Manufacturing, Elk Grove Vil- lage, IL. The firm, entrenched as a tool and die shop and metal stamper from its inception in 1948 through the early 1990s, has evolved greatly in the last 10 years to become primarily a manufacturer of value-added assem- blies—emphasis on
value-added. And key to that evolu- tion has been a business plan focused on giving supervisors the tools and vision necessary to take manage- ments’ goals to the shop floor, as well as providing shop-floor workers with clear paths to growth. From the top down, employees at Diemasters are motivated to seek growth opportu- nities afforded by continuing edu- cation, which gives them a reason to be excited about coming to work every day. As a result, they are driven to take the company to new levels of success. And, in so doing they can improve and help secure their posi- tion within the company.
That much becomes clear when speaking with Diemasters president and CEO Virgil DeLay and his partner Paul Rimington, and others at the company. Diemasters, which pro- duces more than 250,000 stamped parts and assemblies daily, has been using conventional management tools and techniques such as lean and Six Sigma for decades. Real progress, beyond the proverbial low- hanging fruit, came when the com- pany developed its proprietary pro- duction, quality and training system
The Diemasters Productivity System (TDPS),
detailed in a nearly 200-page training manual
and handbook, reflects the company’s “com-
mitment to knowledge and training, including our
core competencies...fully realized when each employee works in concert knowing how they contribute to our overall success,” says company president Virgil DeLay.
Elk Grove Village, IL
BY BRAD F. KUVIN
Editor, MetalForming magazine, a publication of the Precision Metalforming Association
MetalForming/February 2013 www.metalformingmagazine.com