Page 35 - MetalForming September 2011

Survey Questions
We have a preventive maintenance plan for each of our machines.
We always perform preventive maintenance as scheduled.
Each year we expect our shop workers to make substantial improvements in their own method of operations.
Given the chance, workers at our plant might try to take unfair advantage of management.
Workers sometimes feel reluctant to share their ideas about improved work methods with management.
We rarely use data regarding sources of defects in past production to modify our processes. (Not applicable (6.85%) is not shown)
Fig. 2
involvement via quality circles and for- mal preventive maintenance in rela- tion to sales.
Fig. 2 shows how pervasive some continuous-improvement practices have become amongst stampers. In many firms, the study finds that process improvements are data driven, preventive-maintenance programs are in place and adhered to, and that a sense of teamwork pervades.
Distinctive and Systematic Strategies
The data further distinguishes two forms of the high-road strategies called out by Helper: Those that are “distinc-
Neutral
2.17% 19.57%
40.43%
27.50%
25.64%
10.64%
Strongly Disagree
6.52% 0.00%
2.13%
40.00%
12.82%
61.70%
Somewhat Disagree
4.35% 10.87%
8.51%
27.50%
43.59%
25.53%
Somewhat Strongly Agree Agree
28.26% 58.70% 39.13% 30.43%
23.40% 25.53%
2.50% 2.50%
17.95% 0.00%
0.00% 2.13%
deprive suppliers of the financial or organizational resources they would need to implement such prac- tices. Increasingly since the 1980s, the supply base is a shared resource, with most suppliers serving various OEMs and higher-tiered firms. Customers want to do cost-shifting and get a free ride on investments made in their suppliers. They want the time and money to come from their competi- tors or the supplier firms themselves.
But what also is missing, according to Helper, is the kind of government support for manufacturing that is found elsewhere around the world. “Public policies do
Use of Problem-Solving Teams Waning
0% 10%
Firms with teams before 2007
Firms with teams since 2007 or later
Firms that have abandoned the team approach
Firms that have never adopted a team approach
20% 30%
40% 50% 60% 70%
% of Respondents
Fig. 3
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MetalForming/September 2011 33
tive” and those that are “systematic.” Distinctive firms develop deep skill and novel products that are hard to imitate, whereas systematic produc- tion focuses on data collection to iden- tify and eliminate sources of waste.
While combining the distinctive and systematic strategies is particularly effective, firms usually do not use both, and many firms do not pursue such practices at all. It is somewhat surpris- ing that two-thirds of stamper-respon- dents have never implemented formal problem-solving teams, and interest may be falling (Fig. 3).
This certainly is due in part to cus- tomer purchasing strategies that
not do enough to pave the high road and block the low road,” Helper says. Furthermore, based in part on the transactional perspective of many pur- chasing departments and their incen- tive structures, there is no coordination of the supply chain as a whole system. That is, though individual customer firms may be unwilling to fund it, as a nation we collectively want manufac- turing to be strong.
Strategies for Crisis Survival
The high road clearly represents a good strategy for the long run, and the best firms had already started down that road before the crisis. In contrast, while the cost-cutting, low-fixed-cost strategy did help some firms get through the crisis, it’s not a solid long- term strategy.
Workers with years of experience may never return to many of these firms. About two-thirds of firms sur- veyed chose to postpone investment in equipment, but eventually the phobia over investment will have to fade. The data shows that those who continued to invest in their processes, people and new-product and market development are faring better in the wake of the recession. MF