Page 43 - MetalForming March 2013

Work Teams
Says Gaston: “You can’t improve what you don’t measure. If, for example, the goal is to produce 200 parts/hr., we may have individual operators pro- ducing anywhere from 60 to 150-per- cent of that goal. So while we won’t single anyone out, we encourage team leaders to work to understand the rea- sons why an operator’s performance is at the lower end, and address them. Maybe he needs more training, or dif- ferent tools.”
Expanding the SDWTs Across the Facility
According to Steve Dicke, CSS vice president of sales and marketing, one of the most gratifying outcomes of CSS’s expansion of lean to include SDWTs is how the boundaries and guidelines for the initial team have expanded over time. “The people on that team are now training and providing guidance to the 20 other teams we have estab- lished,” he says.
As CSS has adopted the SDWT phi- losophy throughout the company, its steering-committee members have become leaders of 12 of the self-direct- ed work teams. And recently this group decided to go from meeting monthly to weekly, sharing ideas and tracking SDWT progress. No management employees attend these meetings except for Pelletier, who only commu- nicates the needs of the teams so that management can provide any request- ed resources. The SDWT approach is backed by a new company-wide phi- losophy emphasizing that all employ- ees who do not touch parts must pro- vide support to those who do.
Pelletier concludes by stating that any organization can benefit from the SDWT approach, but it will only suc- ceed with the commitment and sup- port from management. “It takes tremendous effort and commitment from the highest management levels to the supporting office functions, and on the shop floor. But the results are well-worth it.” MF
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