Page 46 - MetalForming-Nov-2018-issue
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innovation? Adler: In order to remain forward-think- ing, we empha- size networking and plant tours. I bring man- agers from other plants through our shop—ours is a very open shop—and I
Joshua Hopp, president, HK Metalcraft Manufacturing Co.
MetalForming
& Clay, Inc., Grand Rapids, MI
• Colin Cosgrove, president, Lay- strom Manufacturing Co., Chicago, IL • Jody Fledderman, president/CEO, Batesville Tool & Die, Inc., Batesville, IN • Joshua Hopp, president, HK Met-
alcraft Manufacturing Corp., Lodi, NJ • Patrick Steininger, president, Sko-
Die, Inc., Morton Grove, IL
MetalForming: During the next five years, what steps must metalforming companies take to ensure continuous evolution and
show them our equipment and processes, and then I ask where we can improve. Then, when I’m invited on a plant tour, I do the same. That’s how you get better. The fact that we embrace laser welding is a direct result of such networking efforts.
with everyone benefiting from the shared expertise.
William Adler, president/CEO, Stripmatic Products, Inc.
Steininger:
Agreed. Being
open to change,
all the time, is
important. We
work with local
noncompeting
manufacturing
businesses to
learn what’s
going on at all of
our facilities. We
have different
groups repre-
senting operations, sales and manage- ment. Companies provide representa- tives of those job functions and those groups visit one another, providing objective criticism and suggestions,
Hopp: It’s
about pursuing
intelligent
benchmarking
with like-sized,
like-minded
companies.
What you gain
could be as
simple as a
template for
quality metrics
or displaying
employee pho-
tos with their
start dates on the shop floor. From oth- ers, you can learn how many toolmak- ers they have per press operator, or who should be in charge of production planning. After a networking meeting I changed the responsibilities of who controls our production planning and who controls the dispatch list, and our new system runs much smoother.
Patrick Steininger, president, Sko-Die, Inc.
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44 MetalForming/November 2018
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