Page 27 - MetalForming February 2013

Diemasters Manufacturing Inc.\Workforce Development
www.metalformingmagazine.com MetalForming/February 2013
—The Diemasters Produc- tivity System (TDPS). Tenets of the system aim to show supervisors precisely where, when and how to best- apply management tools and techniques like lean and Six Sigma to generate the biggest return.
management, throughput accounting and other man- agement principles.
Comprising the center- piece of the productivity sys- tem is the company’s five- section employee-training series, dubbed the LISSTs Training Series. Its compo- nents: lean manufacturing, inherent simplicity and the Theory of Constraints, safety first, Six Sigma and TS 16969.
“Each section comprises several components, includ- ing classroom lectures and learning, books and web- based learning, and case studies and exams,” notes Baranowski. “Employees earn points based on the number of classes completed, and earn uniquely colored badges reflecting their level of train- ing achievement.”
Baranowski explains fur- ther that the company has assigned five levels of TDPS education, based on the number of courses completed. And it also has specific goals for the number of employees it would like to attain those education levels. The company employs 90 people, some 60 percent of which are skilled labor. “We feel that all workers need to strive toward growing their skill set and knowledge base,” says Bara- nowski. “This is a holistic view that is
driven by TDPS.”
After completing basic orienta-
tion training, new employees are des- ignated as TDPS trainees. Next comes TDPS practitioner, “and we expect 35 percent of our employees to reach that level,” Baranowski says. “Anoth- er 20 percent will proceed to become TDPS Green Belts and another 10 percent to reach TDPS Black Belt sta- tus. At the very top of the pyramid is TDPS Bottleneck Blaster, and we expect six percent of our employees will progress that far.”
Bottleneck Blasters, according to the TDPS workbook, have the ability
In November 2010, fol-
lowing an audit by the Gov- ernment Accountability
Office, Diemasters received
a $75,000 matching grant
from The Midwest Trade Association Center, to sup-
port training initiatives designed to further imple-
ment TDPS and to improve decision making at all lev-
els. Results, as gauged by a Balanced Scorecard includ-
ing several traditional mea- surables, have been impres-
sive. Since 2009, net sales
are up 30 percent while
direct labor as a percent of
been reduced by 20 percent. At the same time, inventory days are down 25 percent and receivable days have dropped by 50 percent.
Diemasters’ customers also see the results of the company’s efforts to upgrade the knowledge and skills of its employees.
“Vendor scorecards for two of our largest customers are at record highs,” says Rimington.
Adds DeLay, explaining how the system’s parts work together:
“Lean is our culture; theory of constraints is our infrastructure; safe- ty first is what we promise our employees every day; Six Sigma is our problem solving tool; and TS is not only a quality system—it’s how we ensure customer satisfaction.”
“Teaching and Preaching” Out on the Shop Floor
...builds the enthusiasm that drives the ongoing practices we’re teaching our supervisors and pro- duction workers,” says Eric Toriumi,
Diemasters president Virgil DeLay lays out his management principles that have resulted in notable improvements in sev- eral key measurables, including a 30-percent reduction in direct labor as a percentage of sales:
“Lean is our culture; theory of constraints is our infrastruc- ture; safety first is what we promise our employees every day; Six Sigma is our problem solving tool; and TS is not only a quality system—it’s how we ensure customer satisfaction.”
sales has
director of sales and marketing at Diemasters. The training Toriumi refers to has been memorialized in a nearly 200-page TDPS Training Man- ual & Handbook, written and pro- duced inhouse by DeLay, director of learning Arden Baranowski, and oth- ers. In the handbook’s introductory remarks, DeLay writes:
“It is The Diemasters Productivity System’s commitment to knowledge and training, including our core com- petencies, that makes The Diemas- ters difference...fully realized when each employee works in concert knowing how they contribute to our overall success.”
“The training system is what has allowed us to move forward and progress into value-added assem- bly and automated assembly,” adds Toriumi.
In its 20 chapters, the book intro- duces the Theory of Constraints; cov- ers lean manufacturing (with infor- mation on safety, 5S, total productive maintenance, etc.), material-require- ments planning, Six Sigma, time