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GaMEP Connects Atlanta-based Distillery With Resources to Provide Critical Materials to First Responders During the COVID-19 Pandemic

April 3, 2020 By

*Jeff and Craig Moore of Old 4th Distillery*

On March 18^th, on the evening news, Paul Todd, GaMEP project manager, saw a story of a distillery in Atlanta that had shifted gears to produce hand sanitizer. In the interview, Old 4^th Distillery said they were struggling to increase production. Paul went to their website and filled out the Contact Us form, introducing the GaMEP to the company and offering his assistance. Later that evening, the company had responded to Paul and the two met to discuss the opportunity further.

At the point they met, the company had been giving away free bottles of hand sanitizer to neighbors, but after having more than 600 people stop by in one day, they decided to switch gears. They are now giving away free hand sanitizer to local first responders, and have secured a contract with GEMA to make industrial quantities of hand sanitizer, which GEMA is then distributing to other agencies and first responders around the state.

GaMEP and Old 4^th Distillery agreed that if the 10-person company was going to produce industrial quantities of hand sanitizer under contract, they could use help from the GaMEP in sourcing materials.

Since that initial discussion, the GaMEP has done the following for Old 4^th Distillery:

Connected the company with two GaMEP client, one in South Georgia and the other in Atlanta, that make plastic bottles and jugs.
Located a source for Ethanol out of St. Louis, and has had a truckload of material delivered to their plant.
Connected them with a manufacturer in Mableton, GA, who will be supplying Old 4^th Distillery with containers, so that the company can transfer a tanker truck quantity of isopropyl alcohol to these smaller containers.
In discussion with an industrial supply chain to provide the company with pump dispensers.
Consulted on the issue of how to label empty bottles.

Paul is continuing to be a resource for Old 4^th Distillery, providing them with any information and connections to our clients, partners, and Georgia Tech, so that the company can continue to branch out into this new product line and serve a critical need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Katie Takacs, with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Two different trainings for Manufacturing Leadership. Choose your best path.

March 10, 2020 By

In manufacturing plants, change is a given. Embracing it is not an option but a matter of professional progression. Whether you’re looking to boost your credentials to keep moving up in your company, or gaining skills that are immediately applicable in helping your organization prepare for the future, we have several different leadership training opportunities at Georgia Tech specifically for you.

Our Manufacturing Leadership Certificate addresses the necessary skills gap for leaders implementing or managing continuous improvement cultures in their plants.

This certificate focuses on specific areas that will improve your problem-solving skills and increase your communication abilities, allowing you to become a better manager. The result is immediately implementable, hands-on principles that you will be able to apply to real-world challenges.

The Manufacturing Leadership Certificate consists of five required and two elective courses of your choice. Study at your own pace through a trio of in-person classes combined with online courses. The certificate is taught by GaMEP team members, with years of practical experience working in manufacturing companies. Learn about the certificate and how you can lead, evolve, and sustain operational success both now and in the future.

Hear what some of our Manufacturing Leadership Certificate graduates have to say:

If you are looking to dive deeper, Georgia Tech offers a Master’s Degree program specifically created for engineers in manufacturing. This intensive, two-year Professional Masters in Manufacturing Leadership (Online) degree, “brings together a unique combination of coursework and projects to provide working engineers with the skill set to quickly rise through the leadership ranks in advanced manufacturing,” stated Krista Walton, Academic Director. “This program provides the perfect fusion of engineering faculty-led experiences with the diverse skill sets of professional engineers to create a unique business-focused engineering degree.”

It is designed for experienced technical professionals who want to build their operations and personnel management skills and expertise while working full time.

The two-year program is taught in a hybrid format that blends face-to-face instruction and online learning, and consists of eight core courses and two additional courses in one of three areas of concentration, giving you the flexibility to focus on discrete manufacturing, forest bioproducts, or chemical manufacturing.

Application deadline is May 1. Join the next Information Session on April 2 to learn more.

Whichever path you choose, you are setting yourself up for success. Focusing on deepening current skills and acquiring new ones, is the key to meeting changing business demands and thrive in the modern workforce. Start transforming your career today.

By Raine Hyde, with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

The Generational Effect: How to Bridge the Gap for Maximum Production and Minimal Conflict

January 29, 2020 By

When most people think of diversity, they tend to think of things such as race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and culture. However, another aspect of diversity that almost every organization has, but many overlook, is generational diversity. According to the Boston College Center on Aging & Work, most organizations are still in the very early stages of formulating an organizational response to the demographic changes within their workforce. The Center’s National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development (a study of 578 organizations) found that 25.8% of the employers stated that their organizations had not analyzed the age demographics of their workforces at all and only 12.0% felt that their organizations had pursued this type of analysis to a great extent.

Although many organizations have not analyzed this data, many are starting to take notice. The literature shows that these generational differences in work values influence the requirements for all aspects of management: from recruitment, to training and development; to career development, to working arrangements and leadership styles.

These differences also have the potential to cause serious conflict within the workplace. Nearly 60% of HR professionals in larger organizations witness generational clashes in the workplace. While this number drops to roughly 32% in smaller and medium sized firms, these conflicts still seem to be a significant problem.

Having multiple generations in the workplace is nothing new. However, several key differences in today’s workplace exacerbate the challenge. First of all, in the past, generations were usually separated from each by organizational hierarchy. Older workers tended to be in upper management while middle-aged employees tended to be in middle management. The younger workers were everywhere else and their interactions were limited to their peers and immediate supervisor. However, as organizations strive to become more meritocratic with promotions, older staff can suddenly discover that their years of service no longer guarantee advancement. As the workplace becomes more technically oriented, the fact that youngers workers are more likely to be more comfortable with technology, has allowed them to overtake older candidates in jobs where understanding of such things helps.

This growing trend of older workers reporting to younger managers raises the question of how to keep the older workers motivated. When working under a younger supervisor, older subordinates are constantly reminded that they have failed to keep pace. Another source of conflict is the middle-aged workers who find themselves sandwiched between an older workforce that is refusing to or delaying retirement and a younger workforce that are treated far better than they ever were.

Managing the Generational Effect
Organizations can do several things to help manage the generational effect.

Leadership and Management Style
Studies have shown that the biggest differences in the world views of the generations are differing attitudes toward leadership and authority. These attitudes manifested themselves in accepting, questioning, or even rebelling, against traditional view-points and orders handed down from above. This finding stresses the importance of creating more flexible leadership and management approaches in order to address issues related to inclusiveness and alignment of varying worker values. A key to bridging the generation gap is the ability of leaders to create a supportive work environment for an increasingly diverse population of workers.

As a general rule, management styles preferences vary between generations. One example is Baby Boomers and Gen Xers desire for a greater level of autonomy in their roles; they do not like to be micromanaged. On the other hand, Millennials tend to desire more constructive feedback and praise than earlier generations. More than any other generation, Millennials expect their leaders to be accessible in person, through email and text messages, and ideally through social media channels.

Veterans and Baby Boomers prefer a hierarchical structure. Gen Xers prefer to work alone, and Millennials desire achievement by pulling together as a team. Baby Boomers demand consensus and Gen Xers need to be led by competence. Understanding how members on a diverse team may prefer to be led and have experience being supervised and the current management style chosen to accomplish organizational, team and individual goals needs to be communicated.

Coaching, Mentoring, and Training
The ability of an organizations management to coach to generational differences and promote generational similarities as strengths is another key to preventing generational impacts. Providing forums that are facilitated by management trained to coach employees to have provocative conversations that bring to light common points of interest, needs and goals between generations, and solutions for overcoming the differences as a team can be one of the first steps to understand how an organization is fairing today. Another benefit of such forums is that the assumptions, myths, and stereotypes need to be discussed.

The most effective mentoring programs are designed upon the unique makeup of teams, departments and other characteristics in the organization. Mentoring to strengthen generational impacts is helpful to create one-to-one relationships to increase the level of understanding and provide learning and growth for both the mentor and mentee. An example of an effective mentoring relationship would be between a Baby Boomer and a Millennial where the Baby Boomer acknowledges the Millennials need for personalizing work. Through conversation the Baby Boomer could determine key aspects of the Millennials role that was important to them and associate the significance of their role to the organization. This interaction helps make the Millennials role meaningful and inspires performance. Millennials need for a supportive work environment can be fostered by other generations and therefore increase job satisfaction. Another example of a benefit of cross-generational mentoring relationships is for new employees to understand the values and behaviors of the organization and individuals. A new employee being supported by a “veteran” member of the organization can increase employee retention when conflict and other stressful work situations arise. Other benefits include an informal way for younger workers to seek the experience older workers can provide while the older workers can appreciate the fresh perspective the younger workers bring.

Decision makers need to ensure training and education of leadership and supervisory roles, and in some cases the entire workforce, about the implications of generational diversity.
In addition to training and sharing information about generational differences, training programs can be created that support the unique skills offered by generations. A stereotypical example would be where Millennials provide training, a “lunch and learn”, or information session to other workers to increase their understanding of technology or how Facebook is supporting the company’s marketing efforts, or how an update to software will increase productivity.

The need for this type of training is becoming more important. Currently, Baby Boomers are retiring in larger numbers. The window for skills transfer is becoming smaller. Ensuring that training program allow for different learning styles will be crucial to effective skills transfer in the time allowed. Understanding the learning style differences between generations is required. For example, Boomers tend to favor more traditional methods such as classroom and textbook learning, while Gen Xers and Millennials may prefer more interactive learning methods. The learning style of Millennials has been described as more resembling Nintendo than logic. Losing is the fastest way to mastering a game because losing represents learning. This trial-and-error approach to solving problems can contrast with previous generations’ more logical approach.

Communication
Understanding and acting on communication style preferences between generations is another area that can have significant impact due to the fact that individuals in an organization are constantly communicating. Even when employees are not speaking or emailing they can be communicating other messages, such as “I do not need anything right now”, “I feel everything is fine”. Baby Boomers traditionally prefer face to face communicating or by phone. In contrast, a long-winded meeting or speech by a Baby Boomer can be frustrating for Millennials who have short attention spans and little tolerance for delays. Baby Boomers prefer formal and documented feedback such as those offered by many performance appraisal systems. Gen Xers prefer timely and direct feedback similar to Millennials who also prefer an open connection to their manager. In a cross-generational team or department, effective communication will include multiple channels of communication, such as texts, emails, podcasts, staff meetings and round-table discussions. Offering multiple channels ensures generations are not alienated and increases the likelihood that messages are not just received, but also receives the desired response. It is often wise to ensure the professionalism of communication is appropriate to the professionalism of the organization and delivered in such a manner to fit the communication style that the organization supports. Doing so links the communication style with the culture of the organization and is therefore generally more accepted and valued by employees. The best approach is the unique approach. Communicating with individuals in the organization in the way that best meets their unique style is key. Noticing that a team member calls you or stops by your office is an indicator to their communication preferences. Using their preferred communication style increases communication effectiveness. It can also be used as a tool to shape or modify behavior and lead an employee to become comfortable with your preferred communicate style or the one that best fits the needs of the organization.

Work Environment
Flexible work arrangements. Flexible work arrangements are becoming more popular within organizations. The Society for Human Resource Management found that 57% of organizations offer flexible work arrangements to their employees. These arrangements may include full- or part-time telecommuting, flexible scheduling or compressed workweeks. That number is up from 53% in 2012.

Flexible work arrangements should be designed to accommodate the personal needs of employees. Baby Boomers may be looking to pare back on hours as they near retirement and may be willing to take a cut in pay to do so. Many Boomers may also prefer a flexible schedule to care for a sick or elderly parent. Gen Xers may need time off to attend a child’s school or sporting even or to work on outside projects that have special meaning to them. Millennials may want a schedule that allows them to pursue an advanced degree or work outside of the office.

Career Advancement. In companies where there may not be many options to advance, you can attract and retain Millennials with a career web instead of a career ladder. The career web will provide them with more opportunities to be challenged, learn, and grow.
Job Redesign. In manufacturing environments especially, the performance requirements of the job that are impacted by age such as strength and endurance can be offset with job redesign and productivity tools that minimize the strain on older workers.

Conclusion
As the demographics of the workforce change with respect to age, understanding generational diversity within the organization has increased in importance. Across the generations, people demonstrate varying attitudes, values and working styles. Although four different generations in the workforce can present leadership challenges, the diversity can also add richness and strength. If employees are valued and organizations and leaders effectively manage their age-diverse workforce, companies will enjoy a competitive edge.

By Ben Cheeks, with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

How to Build a High Performance Maintenance Team

December 19, 2019 By

Many years ago I inherited perhaps the world’s most under-performing, unreliable, unpredictable, and unacceptable – and all other antonyms that are an antithesis for anything positive – maintenance team. The extreme lack of performance left all sorts of carnage piled up at the front door of the unemployment office. Maintenance managers did not last longer than eighteen months before quitting or getting fired. To be fair, it was the result of long term neglect and a few bad decisions by upper management. Nonetheless, my job was to roll up my sleeves, do a deep dive and fix it.

At the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are food and shelter. Simply put – SURVIVAL. It was exactly where the company was and its maintenance department was not helping the situation. However, my personal goal went beyond survival. It was to reclaim a higher quality of life by eliminating the late night and weekend calls that started out like, “boss, you ain’t gonna believe this!” Conditions were so bad that I personally helped extinguish two fires in one year that could have burned down the facility, which at the time did not seem like a bad plan. Just in case you or someone you know is experiencing a similar undesirable work environment, I will share a brief recap of the maintenance turnaround plan that was used.

Warning: Leading a maintenance turnaround is not for the faint at heart.
It takes guts, vitamins and a lot of prayers in addition to a good plan.

▶ First Things First: Deliver a State of the Union Address.

Pull together the facts, no matter how ugly they are and present them to the entire maintenance team in a clear and succinct message. It is best that all team members hear it at the same time. This is a message that you cannot afford to have delivered second hand or get misconstrued. Once the bad news is delivered, which is probably old news, begin painting a picture of the future which we will call “target condition.” Demonstrate passion and convey what a critical role the maintenance department plays in the execution of the business strategy, achievement of operational performance targets and safety. Next, highlight some of the initial steps that will be taken to get the turnaround process started. No need to communicate a long, boring comprehensive plan. Just stick to the key areas that will receive a laser focus so that the journey and dedication to achieving the target condition is crystal clear.

This meeting is not about searching for agreement or reaching a consensus. It is about setting a new direction and establishing a starting point for the turnaround. It is about encouraging those that want to change, converting those that are on the fence, and firing a warning shot to those that are dead set on maintaining status quo. Will there be teamwork, employee feedback and participation? You bet! It is impossible to reach target condition without a fully engaged workforce.

▶ Develop a Code of Conduct & Daily Standard Work.

This is the first team assignment. Pull together a mix of formal leaders and informal leaders. Why informal leaders? Because often they are the ones that others are going to follow. On a flip chart begin documenting the characteristics of a high performance maintenance team. At this point nothing is too basic. In fact, most of the items on the list should be fundamental and include such things as: start and stop times, protocol for shift hand-off, documenting work performed, providing feedback to operators, behaving in a courteous and professional manner, and so forth. Take the feedback and create two formal documents: a Code of Conduct and Daily Standard Work. I recommend that each document is no more than one page in length. Once completed, ask the sub-team to present the documents to the team. It is critical that everyone hears the message, understands the documents and signs a training record. Post the documents in very conspicuous places throughout the maintenance shop. It is also a good idea to have some of the maintenance team members report out on the new mode of operation at a monthly all employees meeting or at the operational team meetings.

Now that expectations are clear, all future group meetings will be conducted with a sense of urgency and in a celebratory manner for each accomplishment achieved, even the small ones that look like baby steps. Long term success is going to be built by putting points on the scoreboard, not by a single silver bullet. Will there be tough discussions? Yes, but probably with only a small percentage of the group. From this point forward those discussions will be held in private and on an individual basis. Everyone else will be receiving praise and encouragement.

▶ Purge the Junk.

This is not glamorous work. In fact, it can be extremely nasty. However, the result will make a huge impression, improve efficiency, safety, morale, and generate a cleansing feeling. It is like a new beginning. When we started purging the junk, over 14 flatbed trailers full of scrap steel and obsolete equipment was sent to the recycler – no kidding! Start with the red tag process. Expect some pushback because someone will insist that you keep that “one-of-a-kind inoperable 1968 strain gauge that was made by a company that no longer exists.” Target purging the junk in the maintenance department first, then attack all the other hidden areas scattered throughout the factory. Tackle the MRO tool crib, red tagging all junk and obsolete parts. Be sure not to forget or overlook cabinets and drawers.

During this process, keep the finance department or controller informed so that assets can be properly accounted for. Before hauling everything to the recycler, pull a team of engineers, operators and maintenance technicians together to review the red tag area just to make sure that there really is not something expensive, unique and still vital to maintenance and/or operations in the hold area. When completed and the junk is on its way to the recycler, the accomplishment will feel refreshing. Make a point to give the team positive feedback and celebrate! But don’t stop there, because this is only the first step in the 5S process.

▶ Conduct a Skill Assessment.

This is optional based on the demonstrated strengths and skills of the individuals within the department. But if you suspect that the skills are insufficient, then they probably are insufficient. Do not swing at this assessment alone. Team up with human resources and you local technical or community college. There are several great resources and tools already developed, tested, validated and ready to use. This assessment will be the starting point for building a strong competent team. I should add that the skill assessment we conducted was accomplished in a union environment. It was a result of working closely with the union leadership, sharing the vision, and getting their buy-in to the plan.

▶ Start the Training Process.

Once the job requirements have been determined and the individual capabilities assessed, provide individual feedback in a confidential manner along with a prescribed training plan. Again, this is best done through human resources and outside support. Establish a fair and reasonable timeframe for completing the prescribed training plan. There will be pushback, but there also will be those that are trail blazers and set the course of action for being the first to complete the training. The good news is that course work is now conveniently available on-line and the lab work can be conducted on-site or possibly at the technical school.

▶ Develop a Critical Equipment List.

Identify the key equipment that can bring operations to a halt. It can be a part of the process in which most of the products manufactured flows through a single piece of equipment. Or, it can be equipment that does not have a back-up or alternate process. Do not overlook infrastructure when evaluating critical equipment. If the facility or process is dependent on a boiler, compressor, cooling tower or electrical substation, then be sure to include those items on the list of critical equipment. A substation that has been ignored or overloaded can be dangerous, create costly repairs and cause significant downtime.

A good approach for dealing with critical equipment is to: 1) have a robust PM plan; 2) inventory critical spare parts; and, 3) have a back-up plan for a catastrophic failure. For example, identify and pre-approve a contract manufacturer for temporary outsourcing. Redundant equipment is also something to consider, especially if outsourcing options are unavailable or control of intellectual property is critical.

▶ Construct a Capital Plan.

Now that the junk is purged and a critical equipment list is constructed, identify the equipment that needs to be placed on an intensive care list. This list is for the equipment that is currently on life support. Engineering support or an OEM equipment technical representative should be able to help evaluate the options – e.g. invest in repairing and upgrading the equipment or purchase new equipment and unplug the life support. The costs and ROI for replacing or upgrading equipment on the intensive
care list are the beginning of the capital plan. Depending on the company’s health, a short term repair may take precedence over replacement until funding can support a long term solution.

Based on the size of operation, equipment condition, complexity, and advances in technology, the capital plan may be a 3-5 year outlook. This type of planning and detail will help with budgeting and eliminating surprises. There are other options to consider if capital is limited or non-existent, such as vendor financing. This is more common for very expensive equipment, like
machining centers, lasers, etc.

▶ Hire a Reliability Engineer.

I have found that a reliability engineer is extremely valuable, especially if sophisticated or complex equipment is involved. The ability to evaluate machinery, identify its weaknesses, develop a thorough preventive maintenance plan, and make engineering modifications to improve reliability will break the chains of unpredictable performance and reactionary maintenance. It is not unusual for a good reliability engineer to generate a savings of 6-8 times their salary in the first year.

▶ Toss the Spreadsheets and Flash Cards – go with CMMS!

There are many low cost options for a CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System). The ability to track and measure performance in real time is critical to achieving the target condition. A CMMS enables the maintenance team to optimize the usage of replacement parts, properly assign resources, plan for performing PM’s, and evaluate the effectivity of the work being performed. If your company can afford it, install a wireless system and purchase iPads so that entries and pictures can be made at the point of service. This is a big time saver versus going to a computer terminal and getting in line to make entries.

▶ Implement the Right Metrics.

It is not unusual to jump right to an OEE metric and wonder why performance is not better. Although OEE is an excellent metric, it is better to start off with basic metrics and master the simple things. For example, understanding equipment downtime and reason codes will provide guidance to root cause evaluation and corrective action. Understanding where resources (people and parts) are consumed can help with determining if there is a skill deficiency, equipment misuse, design issue, or some other assignable cause. Once these metrics are clearly understood, posted and discussed daily at the equipment, add metrics like MTBF (mean time between failures) and OEE to gain a deeper understanding on how to improve performance. The target condition should be great uptime (100%) and a strong, favorable ratio of time spent conducting preventive maintenance versus performing reactionary maintenance for unplanned downtime.

▶ Develop a Lean Maintenance Methodology.

What applies to operations applies to maintenance. 5S, SMED, Standard Work, Kanban and etc. can all be exemplified in the maintenance department. I admit that I am OCD when it comes to 5S. Everything should have a designated place and be in its place. (I even built a shadow board for my kitchen utensils at home.) Therefore, when we implemented a parking lot for maintenance buggies with clear visuals and signage, it sent a message that everything we do matters and should be done in an organized and efficient manner. This simple idea made it very easy to determine who was at work and who wasn’t. It
prevented a traffic jam at shift change and made it convenient to conduct a 5S inspection. Other simple ideas and techniques include quick disconnects for hydraulic units, standard work for tool maintenance, visuals for TPM plan and a Kaizen schedule for targeted areas of improvement. Value stream mapping events can be used for processes like the MRO procurement cycle. If there is a tool crib, implement a Kanban system for spare parts and consider vendor managed inventory (VMI) for small parts like nuts and bolts. Converting to VMI can reduce time spent managing small parts and swap inventory on the balance sheet for cash.

▶ Engage the Operators.

Many of us have used the phrase, “please treat the equipment like you would your house or car.” Then one day I had an epiphany and realized that many folks in fact treat the equipment they operate exactly the same way they treat their house or car – very poorly! So I changed my approach to, “please treat the equipment in a way that our target condition of being ready to run, clean and well maintained is achieved.” This can be a major cultural change. So the onus is on leadership to work with the operators to establish and achieve the target condition. It can be a challenge and requires a lot of training, auditing and follow-up. The best tools to use are a good TPM plan and 5S check sheets. Eventually the behavior will change, new habits will form and the target condition will be achieved on a daily basis. Make it fun! Have a competition and reward the shift or team that does the best job achieving and maintaining target condition.

▶ Summary:

Building a high performance maintenance team is not a three month undertaking. It is not a part time initiative or approach. Depending on where the department is on the maturity curve, the age and deterioration of equipment, and the overall health of the business, it can be a three to five year journey. However, significant improvements are often realized in the first three to six months by being relentless, firm and encouraging. Our company did survive and posted some impressive profits during its third year in the turnaround. However, perhaps the biggest reward that I observed during the turnaround was the bond and respect that the operators and the maintenance team developed for each other. It is a behavior that becomes contagious based on a common purpose of making the equipment better today than it was yesterday.

▶ Contact:

For more information on how you can build a high performance team, contact Mike Stonecipher at
ude.hcetag.etavonninull@rehpicenots.ekim.

Just Add Engineers to the Mix

December 5, 2019 By

For the state’s food manufacturers, a Georgia Tech partnership is the secret ingredient to growth.

You would expect a building where vinegar is made to have a sour smell, highly pungent, perhaps with a whiff of apple. World Technology Ingredients (WTI) smells nothing like this. Their manufacturing facility, off a county two-lane in Jefferson, Georgia, has a vaguely mineral aroma. More dry than dank, and not altogether unpleasant.

Maybe that’s because the vinegar made here isn’t destined for grocery store shelves, but for food preservation. It’s called buffered vinegar, an all-natural additive that protects meats and other products from microbes. WTI makes a lot of this vinegar, more than they used to in fact, and that’s partly because of Damon Nix.

On this Friday afternoon, Nix is taking a visitor through WTI’s plant, pointing out its sectors and stations. Here’s the wet vinegar, seven titanic tanks and even more smaller ones, emitting a hiss-and-motor chorus of mechanized blending. Over here’s the powdered version, mixed in towering contraptions on chalky floors (that will later be cleaned), then heated, blended and bagged.

Nix stops at a white board with dry-erase markings that tell another story of what’s going on inside the plant — one of continuous improvement. Sketched out are five days of the work week, four areas of focus (safety, performance, schedule, issues) and an assortment of metrics. One of WTI’s workers happens by, and after glancing at the white board, Nix congratulates him.

“I think y’all are doing great,” he says. “These are good numbers.”

Nix doesn’t work for WTI. He’s an industry manager for the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership, or GaMEP, a Georgia Tech-based, engineering-centric program that helps small and mid-sized manufacturing companies in the state perform better. As the partnership’s food and beverage point person, Nix applies his industrial engineering education from Tech to help manufacturers up their game and lower their costs.

“What I really do is facilitate problem solving,” says Nix (B.S., ISyE, ’01). He is careful to emphasize the facilitation part. He doesn’t arrive as the dreaded efficiency expert, handing down mandates and new processes to those on the floor. Rather, he operates as the quintessential engineer — conducting research, listening to people, and fostering ownership of change. When he introduces new knowledge, such as time-tested principles of lean manufacturing and quality control, it’s more as a coach guiding a player who’s motivated to improve.

“In organizations that really succeed, teams are empowered by top management,” he says. “The team has to own the process. I could go to a meeting and offer a bunch of ideas, but half of them wouldn’t be nearly as good as what people inside the company put forward and act on.”

Rise of an engineering partnership

Georgia Tech has been in the game of helping small and mid-sized manufacturers for a long time. A century ago, the idea of creating an engineering counterpart to America’s agricultural experiment stations was being debated in Congress. But the Georgia General Assembly didn’t wait for the debate to conclude — it voted in 1919 to launch an “engineering experiment station” (EES) at Georgia Tech.

Curiously, lawmakers didn’t fund the new enterprise. It wasn’t until 1934, midway through the Great Depression, that EES got its first state allocation of $5,000 and was assigned an acting director, Harry Vaughn, who described the experiment station as “Georgia’s first agency designed to aid in a comprehensive development of industry.”

In 1960, the General Assembly ratcheted up Georgia Tech’s assistance to industry, passing a bill to form an Industrial Extension Service as part of the earlier EES. That authorized Georgia Tech to create field offices around the state to provide “technical advice and assistance to local development groups and to establish(ed) business and industry.” The new service was the forerunner of today’s GaMEP. The partnership sharpened its focus on manufacturing in 1988 after Congress passed a national program, the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The Industrial Extension Service was later designated GaMEP as one of 70 MEP affiliates. (EES, by the way, later became GTRI, the Georgia Tech Research Institute.)

GaMEP, which turns 60 next year, is today housed inside Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute — a good fit, given its economic development focus. With 10 offices throughout Georgia, it now has a solid track record of helping small and mid-sized manufacturers grow. One of these is Dalton-based Precision Products, which manufactures a wide range of parts to order and has achieve two crucial ISO certifications that opened the door to new customers and industries. Sales grew by more than $3.5 million. And Goldens’ Foundry and Machine Co., a 130-year-old enterprise, wanted to strengthen employee communication and problem solving. GaMEP helped them introduce a management system designed to bring company conversations to the plant floor and improve information flow.

Packaging insight into food processing

One area historically underserved by GaMEP is the food and beverage industry. “It’s the state’s top manufacturing sector,” Nix says, “yet it had not been our number one customer.” So, in 2016, he was assigned to develop an initiative to broaden and deepen partnerships with businesses in the industry.

Driving much of the food and beverage industry’s growth in Georgia are companies of 50 or fewer employees. These are the makers of local craft beers, hometown jellies and artisan mustards. Nix says about eight of 10 food processing companies fit that size profile, though they are dwarfed in sales by the other 20 percent, the larger manufacturers.

So he developed a market analysis and concluded that super-sizing a commitment to food and beverage would be a good fit. The demand was there, too. Food processing employs nearly 70,000 Georgians and accounts for $12 billion of the state’s GDP every year, according to a 2016 report from Georgia Power. Since GaMEP stepped up efforts to serve the industry in 2017, the average number of projects with food and beverage companies more than doubled, from 20 to 45.

When asked to describe the greatest problems facing these manufacturers, Nix quickly cites compliance with safety regulations, which, to a small food business, run from complex to bewildering. “If you’re in a business of 10 to 20 people, you may not have a food scientist on staff,” he says. “So, you’ve got to figure out compliance on your own, or else bring in consultants.”

Safety, he notes, is more than just following protocols in production. It involves attending to details in reporting and paperwork, all the way down to the product label. Nix shares the cautionary tale of an Oregon maker of seasonings that neglected to include hazelnuts in its list of ingredients on the label. “Of course, nut allergies are a huge issue,” he says. “That one mistake could have ruined their entire product distribution. The damage to the brand, and the cost of bringing back the brand, is so significant.”

While GaMEP knew it could help food companies in an array of ways — from process management to energy usage to business growth — leaders found they had a gap in food science expertise. Food science determines the safety profile of every jar, tin, box and bag of product. So they brought in a food manufacturing safety whiz, Wendy White, who had experience overseeing a portfolio of food products. White is now leading a new GaMEP program on safety, funded by a three-year grant totaling nearly $1 million.

For the ingredients company WTI, the primary challenge has not been safety but improving processes and efficiency. When asked what impact he’s seen from GaMEP’s help, Stephan Georg, the company’s director of strategic sourcing, recounts a conversation between a shift foreman and consultant in front of one of the Gemba white boards.

“The foreman said the plan was to make two batches of a product,” Georg says, “but the consultant answered, ‘Well, I think you can do five batches. The foreman thought that was unrealistic. So we brought in Georgia Tech, and the first thing Damon does is conduct time studies. It gave us that baseline information we needed. After that groundwork, we determined that three batches would be a good goal.”

Since then, Nix has visited with workers from WTI’s round-the-clock shifts and consulted with management. Together, they work through improvements born out of lean manufacturing, which are processes engineered to reduce waste and improve customer satisfaction. The goal is to reach 40 percent OEE for producing buffered vinegar, a metric built on several components of the manufacturing process.

More recently, Nix introduced a new tool to these efforts: A software platform called Impruver, developed out of Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC). It’s designed to help small and mid-sized manufacturers of consumer products spot trends in metrics, track performance and monitor ongoing issues. “It’s great to have another entity inside ATDC working with us and our clients,” Nix says.

While all of GaMEP’s contributions are welcomed, Stephan Georg has special praise for the non-engineering side of Damon Nix. “While he looks at the facts and explains things in a scientific way, he also treats people here with respect,” Georg says. “They see that he’s not here to get them fired. He’s the guy who’s here to help.”

By Michael Baxter, with the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech