Page 28 - MetalForming February 2013

Workforce Development\Diemasters Manufacturing Inc.
MetalForming/February 2013 www.metalformingmagazine.com
“Teaching and preaching out on the shop floor builds the enthusiasm that drives the ongoing practices we’re teaching our supervisors and production work- ers,” says director of sales and market- ing Eric Toriumi, shown here (right) with Paul Rimington, DeLay’s partner.
to identify and exploit a constraint, and the authorization to subordinate all decisions necessary in order to elevate the constraint.
As noted in the workbook as a fundamental of The Diemasters Pro- ductivity System bottleneck man- agement:
“The long-term strategic applica- tion of The Diemasters Productivity System does not call for the contin- uous removal of the constraint; rather, the idea is to choose where the constraint should be in order to best exploit business opportunities, and then keep the constraint stationary.”
Adds DeLay:
“As the system strives for increased knowledge and skill levels, our LISSTs training puts many of our employees in a position that deserves advance- ment and promotion. So far, some eight to 10 employees have enjoyed
these specific benefits, but many oth- ers who either started the program a little later or who have been hired more recently also are on track to achieve these benefits soon. Though we do not have a formal pay-for- training system, LISSTs training and
Meet Octavio Villegas, Material Handler
One of the newest employees at Diemasters, material- handler Octavio Villegas, also happens to be one that presi- dent Virgil DeLay presents as a “poster child for the type of employee we look for, to fit into our culture based on learning and continuous education.
Villegas may not have known
what ‘lean’ was when we inter-
viewed him (in early 2011), but
he showed us a willingness to
learn and a hunger for informa-
tion. That’s exactly what we’re
looking for—open-minded and
curious employees committed to
self-improvement.”
Villegas joined Diemasters as
a temporary worker working in
the assembly and stamping
departments. He worked with
such dedication and enthusiasm,
says DeLay, that the firm offered
him a full-time position, in
March 2012, as a material han-
dler/fork-truck driver. Since then
he’s completed numerous
Diemasters LISSTs courses, including those on safety first, product flow and 5S. In less than one year, his hourly pay rate grew by 19 percent.
Asked about Villegas’ performance and continuous improvement, manufacturing manager Bill Curtis says:
“He exemplifies the idea that training works best when employees seek it, rather than management pushing training
down on people. He has the spark, we just add the fuel, and because of that, he’s destined for bigger things here.”
Asked how he’s contributed to the overall well-being of the company since feeding his hunger for information,
Villegas describes an idea he recently brought forth to improve productivity.
“This is a big plant, and driv- ing the fork truck back and forth from material storage to the pro- duction areas can take and waste a lot of time. I thought that it would be a good idea to install a small tablet computer in the fork truck to give me access to production schedules and job status, so I could more efficiently plan my routes through the plant. I learned through the LISSTs training to have an open mind and to always look for ways to work smarter, and recognizing the opportunity to install a com- puter in the fork truck is a direct
result of that type of thinking. And as with all improvement initiatives, a new safety-first procedure was created.
“I want to attend more LISSTs classes here,” continues Villegas, “to continue to improve and elevate my status. I like the challenge of learning new things, and appreciate that Diemasters gives me the opportunity to move forward, and not work at the same job day after day.”