Blog - Part 3

Five Tips for Building an Effective Energy Behavior Change Campaign

May 12, 2021 By

When we talk about energy, the focus is usually on technology and technical solutions. However, energy behavior is gaining more attention as a “hot topic” in energy innovation. Until recently, in my experience as an ISO 50001 auditor of energy management systems, I found that in many organizations consideration of the role of energy behavior in energy savings efforts has been confined to “Turn off the lights when you leave” stickers on light switches or “Close the door” signage, and the like.

What has been lacking is a focused and structured approach to achieving and sustaining energy behavior change. But it appears this is beginning to change as organizations look for new low-cost energy opportunities in the face of increasingly constrained capital budgets; as more case studies are published on the application of social marketing and psychology to achieving sustainable behavior; and as organizations adopt and benefit from implementation of the ISO 50001 standard for energy management systems.

There are a number of resources that can help organizations build and implement behavior change programs. Some of the organizations that have published useful case studies on this topic include the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) and The Carbon Trust, among others.

Published by The Carbon Trust and modified based on my own experiences, the “Five Top Tips for Building an Effective Behavior Change Campaign” that can help organization get started on developing a behavior change program are:

Understand where energy is being consumed: Evaluate energy consumption across your organization and identify where behavior is a factor. Where the highest potential exists for energy savings may surprise you.
Prioritize the behaviors you want to change: Determine where you can realistically have the greatest impact. Potential energy savings should be balanced against the probability of achieving change.
Define the outcomes that you want to achieve: Decide specifically what goals or targets you are trying to achieve, so you can plan for how to monitor performance and feedback on the results.
Research what motivates or hampers good energy behavior in your organization: Use your understanding of your own organizational culture to help build your program. Find out what is important to your employees and how they think, behave and interact with the facilities, technology and others around them.
Secure top management support: Top management commitment and support is critical. They hold the resources. They can facilitate or block what it is you are trying to do. And, there is no substitute for leadership by example!

There appears to be enormous potential for energy savings from behavioral change. ACEEE recently estimated that the U.S. could cut energy consumption by 25% without hurting its economy. We know that technological advances will always provide important new solutions to reduce consumption within our highly energy-dependent society. But human behavior also matters in managing energy and achieving continual improvement in energy performance.

By: Holly Grell-Lawe, Project Manager (retired) Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

The Do’s And Don’ts of Preparing A New Facility For The First Audit

May 4, 2021 By

Starting a new facility is an enormous undertaking. There are thousands of things that must be accomplished, from hiring and training new staff to ordering and installing equipment. This scenario is a perfect example of “Too much to do and not enough time to do it!”. There’s always significant pressure to get up and running to start the return on the company’s enormous investment. To further complicate the situation, most customers require one or more audits of the site’s Food Safety Quality (FSQ) System before the first sellable product can be produced on the line. These qualifying assessments range from a casual, on-site visit by the customer to a Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) audit.

Meeting the ever-increasing standards of something as daunting as a full-blown GFSI audit can be an intimidating prospect, and success can only be achieved through strategic planning. There is so much to be done to get the plant running before looming deadlines, which often leaves little time to prepare for initial audits. This is a race against the clock, but success is possible through alignment, engagement, planning, and prioritization.

Get Everyone on the Same Page

The biggest pitfall of any quality leader is trying to execute all the audit preparations themselves or only relying on members of the Quality Department. The key to avoiding this is to engage management and distribute audit preparation activities across different departments. Before this can happen, a strategy, or Audit Preparation Plan, must be developed and agreed upon by all applicable stakeholders. Upper management must be involved and aligned on the resources needed. This process starts with an internal assessment of the audit requirements to understand where the gaps are and determine the best solutions. Create a sensible timeline and have routine follow-up meetings to discuss progress and assign resources. Make adjustments to the plan where needed and ensure that there is proper accountability for those responsible.

Another mistake is ignoring employees outside of upper management. Understand who is going to be executing these programs and involve them from the start. Sometimes the creation of effective systems isn’t as big a challenge as creating sustainable ones. The best way to ensure that FSQ Systems will continue to operate smoothly comes from engaging the employees that carry out the day-to-day operations. Gain buy-in from empowering them to take part in how quality tasks are monitored. Simply asking advice about how worksheets should look or where to store tools can go a long way. They are the ones that are going to take these newly-created programs and make them into a reality.

Dealing with Delays

If there is control over the audit date, ensure there is sufficient time for all the preparations. Despite best efforts, sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Meet with the management team and see if there are ways to makeup the time or shuffle resources. It might be unavoidable that an unforeseen delay occurs and a deadline can’t be met.

If there hasn’t been enough time for the proper preparations, consider approaching the customer and asking for more time. It doesn’t set a good precedent to continually push back an audit date, but it might be necessary. This setback is usually a better choice than failing an audit or compromising the safety of your product.

This decision is just one more risk assessment to be done. Consider all the variables and decide if a delay causes more damage than an unsatisfactory audit score. Be transparent about progress to the management team, corporate officers, and applicable customers. A little warning will make a possible delay more palatable.

Borrow with Pride

It’s imperative to leverage every asset. Often, new plants have established sister plants with mature FSQ Systems already in place. Borrowing templates, verbiage, and existing systems are all extremely smart ways to save time when developing these programs for a new site. Remember that borrowed items must be carefully reviewed and tailored for that facility. The type of product, workforce, equipment, customer and regulatory requirements must all be taken into consideration. The best advice for starting a new facility is to never start from scratch unless that’s the only option.

There are a tremendous amount of resources out there. University extension specialists are a wonderful support option for understanding and complying with applicable governmental regulations. Trade and professional organizations are a well of knowledge and experience that can be tapped. There are also experienced consultants that can aid in almost any step in this process. Their services include creating HACCP (Hazard analysis and critical control points) and food safety plans, aiding with practice audits, training staff, and setting up specific programs. Interns or temporary staff can also contribute to creating new programs.

Vendors like pest control companies, chemical suppliers and outside laboratories can be a surprising source of aid. They are often a well of knowledge and have already prepared training, sometimes documentation that can be easily converted to meet the plant’s needs. They have a vested interest in the plant’s success and will often go to great lengths to offer support. It never hurts to ask.

Simplicity is the Key to Success

Quality leaders are often perfectionists, driven by the need to meet every requirement to the letter. One of the biggest pitfalls that a new plant can fall into is over-complicating their FSQ Systems. The harsh reality is that there isn’t always going to be enough time to do everything in the beginning. Some items on the list might have to be delayed due to time constraints or unavailable resources.

Producing safe food in a workplace that is safe for every employee is always the starting point. Everything else can be prioritized from there. Making a list of all the key tasks and required documentation and prioritizing it is the best way to ensure that the vital systems are in place. For example, having a statistical process control system in place isn’t going to be as vital to operations as a fully implemented Food Safety HACCP Plan. Determining the time and resources each task will take also needs to be considered in this prioritization planning. Ensure that input is gathered from other departments and members of management.

These first few months will set the tone for a site’s developing food safety culture. It’s important to be meticulous but not too rigid. The best FSQ Systems evolve over time but always start with a solid base that is created by prioritizing what is truly important. What has worked at one location might not work at another. If the deadlines are looming too close, don’t be afraid to recruit aid in the form of colleagues, universities, vendors or consultants. After the initial audit is complete, ensure that any corrective actions are established for any nonconformances identified. Share the results, not only with those that aided in audit preparations but all associates at the site. Celebrate the wins and learn from the losses together to build a stronger team for the future.

By: Wendy White, Industry Manager, Food Safety and Quality, Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Spotlight – On the GaMEP Team

April 18, 2021 By

Michael Barker

Michael Barker describes himself as, “a lifelong nerd,” who actually enjoys reading and writing about cybersecurity and information technology. He brings more than 25 years of practical experience as a business owner, industry speaker, and university professor, making him a fantastic resource for manufacturers trying to navigate the complicated world of cybersecurity.

Michael’s career has taken some interesting twists and turns from his beginnings as a nuclear engineer to his new role as cybersecurity project manager at GaMEP at Georgia Tech, where he helps manufacturers better understand cybersecurity and improve their cyber hygiene and resiliency. From website developer to private investigator, seminary student to climbing instructor, Michael has never shied away from following his interests and taking on a new challenge.

His love of adventure served him well as a Boy Scout and Sea Scout leader for twelve years. As an assistant scoutmaster and sea scout skipper, Michael mentored and trained hundreds of young men and women, helping 50+ scouts to achieve Eagle, including his three sons. He led two treks to Philmont and earned some of adult scouting’s highest awards, including Sea Badge, Wood Badge and Powder Horn.

In his previous role as the Director of the TSYS Cybersecurity Center at Columbus State University, Michael designed and implemented a Cybersecurity and Financial Technology curriculum that included, two cyber-related bachelor’s degrees and a 12-month rapid workforce development certificate. These programs are helping to meet the enormous need for qualified cybersecurity professionals to work in various industries.

Michael holds numerous industry certifications including the CISSP and CISA and is currently pursuing a doctorate in information technology from Middle Georgia State University. He holds a master’s degree in information security management and a graduate certificate in information security analysis from the University of Fairfax. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from Georgia Tech.

When not working at fighting cybercrime, Michael enjoys spending time with his grand kids or volunteering at his church and for community organizations.

Questions about cybersecurity? Contact Michael at ude.hcetag.etavonninull@rekrab.leahcim.

Katie Hines

Katie Hines joined the GaMEP team in late 2021 as a process improvement project manager. She loves working in operations and with people, so when she saw the opportunity to work with manufacturers across the state, helping them implement lean and process improvement projects, she knew it would be a perfect fit. Her background and skills allowed her to jump right into her new role and not miss a beat.

Originally from Alabama, Katie moved to Georgia in 2013 to work as a process engineer at Armstrong Industries in Macon, Georgia. She quickly found her niche in lean manufacturing and continuous improvement and moved into a value stream improvement champion role.

A few years later, she joined Proctor & Gamble in Albany, Georgia, where she led continuous improvement projects with the teams producing Charmin toilet tissue and Bounty paper towels. She then moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 2019 and worked for Georgia Pacific as a remote machine monitor and process engineer.

Now as part of the Operational Excellence team at GaMEP, she’ll be working with manufacturers across the state on process improvement projects and will also be an instructor for the Lean Six Sigma and Lean Boot Camp classes.

When asked about her hobbies outside of work, Katie replied, “is being a mom a hobby?”

Katie played softball in college, but today her sporting events look a bit different – she spends time cheering on her five-year-old daughter who just started playing T-ball, while holding her four-month-old son. Outside of work, she also enjoys reading sci-fi and fantasy novels and staying fit (and sane) by riding her Peloton.

Katie holds an M.S. in Chemical Engineering, B.S. in Polymer and Fiber Engineering, and Graduate Certificate in Occupational Safety and Ergonomics from Auburn University.

Contact her at ude.hcetag.etavonninull@senih.eitak for help with your process improvement needs.

Charity Stevens

Charity Stevens has a long history with the GaMEP. She was the first co-op student to join the Dublin, GA office in 1997, and worked alongside Alan Barfoot, former Central Georgia Region Manager.

After graduating from Georgia Tech with a Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering, she went on to work for Lithonia Lighting, Armstrong, and Parker Aerospace applying her process improvement, Lean Six Sigma, and Value Stream Management expertise to real world projects.

In 2016 Charity wanted a better work-life balance, so she returned to her Georgia Tech roots as a project manager in the Lean and Process Improvement Group. She is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and is also trained in DDI Leadership and MDI practices. In 2020, Charity took over for her longtime friend and colleague, and was promoted to Central Georgia Region Manager.

Charity prides herself on creating long-term relationships, and delivering quality impacts for her clients. “I enjoy helping customers understand the commitment it takes to create a continuous improvement culture and also how to sustain it,” Stevens said.

Charity’s biggest joy is her family. She has been married to her husband David for 20 years this month (happy anniversary!) and her daughter Juliette motivates every decision she makes.

Contact Charity at ude.hcetag.etavonninull@snevets.ytirahc to see how GaMEP can be a resource for your company.

Don Pital

According to a study by Workplace Trends, 15 percent of American workers return to a previous employer. Don Pital, GaMEP’s Associate Director of Operations, is one of those people! He briefly worked on the team from 1998-2000, but then left to help start a fiber optics cable manufacturing company. In 2002 he returned to the GaMEP and has been an integral part of the team ever since. Fun fact, Don has worked in more regional offices than any other staff member combined!

Don started as a Project Manager in the Quality group executing ISO training for manufacturing clients. In 2008 he started the Growth Services group, which is now the Strategy and Leadership Development team, and led that team until 2019, before he took on his current role as Associate Director within the organization.

Don is a self-proclaimed problem solver who has always enjoyed the roll of continuous improvement. He has secured federal grant funding in areas such as Automotive, Cybersecurity and Machine Shop assessments, and leads internal process improvement efforts, streamlining our administrative initiatives so the GaMEP team can focus on client needs and continue to serve manufacturers effectively.

He stated, “The GaMEP is an objective third party that provides solutions for our manufacturers. We are able to offer clients tools for success, thus freeing them up to run their business versus getting bogged down in the weeds.”

Don has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Ceramic Engineering from Georgia Tech, and is a Certified Business Growth Coach. In his spare time, he likes to hike, read, and spend time with his 12-year-old dachshund.

Tim Israel

Tim Israel leads the Industry Services Team at the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI²), comprised of the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP), the Safety, Health, and Environmental Services (SHES) program, and the Southeastern Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (SEETAC), and has been with Georgia Tech for thirty-two years. In fact, he started with GaMEP (EI²’s largest and longest running program), in 1989 before it became a national MEP program in 1994 (when it was called Industrial Extension Services).

Tim’s path began as a field engineer in what is now GaMEP’s Gainesville office. He went on to work as a Project Manager for our initial skill center, called the Georgia Productivity and Quality Center, and later helped expand our Center for International Standards and Quality – which provided ISO 9000 training and assistance to clients. In his first management role in 2000, he created the Lean center. In 2002, the Quality and Lean teams merged to form the Process Improvement (PI) team at GaMEP, which Tim led. He became the GaMEP Associate Director in 2012. In 2019, he took on the role of GaMEP Director and added the rest of the Industry Services programs to his portfolio at the beginning of 2021.

Tim has many strength’s, but prides himself on finding good talent and the right fit for the organization. He has directly hired nearly half the staff at GaMEP, as he has a knack for seeing their passion for manufacturing and for serving these clients.

“The GaMEP is a place where clients can go to get reliable advice and solutions without being sold something they don’t need. If we don’t have the answer, then we have the resources to help our customers find it. We are evolving as our manufacturers’ needs are evolving and are a trusted advisor and source of information for our clients,” he said.

You could say Tim is committed fully to Georgia Tech. Not only has he worked here for 32 years, but he has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech, has been married to a Georgia Tech graduate for 27 years, and his son currently attends Georgia Tech. Tim is an AVID sports fan, loves to cook, and has traveled to 46 of the 50 states in the continental United States.

Derek Woodham

Derek is no newbie to the GaMEP. He’s been part of the team since 2002. In fact, he almost went to work for the Alabama MEP, but quickly realized the MEP system is made up of a center in every state, so he stayed in Georgia and came to work for the GaMEP.

Originally joining the team as a project manager, specializing in lean and process improvement, Derek spent five years in that role before being promoted to West Georgia Region Manager (RM) in 2007. In addition to his responsibilities as the West RM, he also manages the entire RM team, made up of 9 other region managers across the state.

Those two jobs all rolled into one keep him rather busy, but Derek takes pride in maintaining his customer relationships, and finding the right GaMEP solution for each client. He said, “As manufacturing companies are evolving with new technology needs, we have to evolve with them and continue to learn and make sure our resources are relevant.”

He is a Georgia Tech alumnus with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, and holds an MBA from LaGrange College. Derek got his first experience with lean as a co-op in college, working for Freudenberg-NOK, one of GaMEP’s clients. Check out a success story we wrote on their Northeast Georgia plant.

In his spare time Derek likes golfing, fishing, and giving back to his community through volunteering at his church. He has been married for 25 years and has three children. Contact him at ude.hcetag.etavonninull@mahdoow.kered for more information on how GaMEP can help you.

Olivia Pitts

Based in the Savannah GaMEP office, Olivia joined the team in April of this year as a project manager specializing in Quality Management Systems. Olivia graduated from Georgia Southern University with a Bachelor of Science in Printing Management. She applied this specialized degree, which is unique to the manufacturing industry, to her first job at Fort Dearborn Company, and has been working in the manufacturing field ever since.

She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt who has demonstrated success in leading complex projects for operations, quality, safety, IT, and procurement across a global organization. In her previous position, she led an award-winning, global document management system integration project. She worked with other company departments to design the system, which gave plants access to over 15,000 documents. This multi-year project was implemented across twelve plant locations in four different languages, and she did this all remotely! The result kept document control consistent across the entire company.

She’s now excited to bring her 18 years of work experience in the quality industry to the GaMEP, where she will work with manufacturing clients across the state, helping them implement, audit, and improve their quality management systems.

In her spare time Olivia likes spending time at the beach, doing yoga, and traveling. Contact her at ude.hcetag.etavonninull@sttip.aivilo for any process improvement, quality and regulatory compliance needs.

Wendy White

Wendy White is our resident Food Industry expert, with a Masters in Food Microbiology and a Bachelors in Biology from the University of Georgia. Prior to joining the GaMEP two years ago, she worked for several food manufacturers and distributors focusing on food safety and quality assurance.

When Wendy joined the GaMEP team, she described it as a career turning point. “I was looking for a change and was familiar with University Extension programs. I wanted to utilize my industry experience to help others, interact with clients of all different sizes, and share my food safety knowledge.”

Wendy specializes in helping food companies achieve governmental compliance, building HACCP (hazard analysis critical control point) plans, facilitating 3rd party food safety audits, and supply chain management. She holds several international leadership positions including Chairperson, International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) Affiliate Council, Georgia Association of Food Protection (GAFP) Executive Board, and serves on the Food Safety Magazine Editorial Board.

In her spare time, she enjoys judging BBQ contests with her high school sweetheart and husband. They are both certified and formally trained in sensory and food attributes!

Contact Wendy at ude.hcetag.etavonninull@etihW.ydneW for any food safety and quality needs and visit our Food and Beverage Manufacturing webpage for the latest trainings, webinars, and resources.

Adam Hayes

Adam is a former GaMEP client turned team member. He is a triple threat, with a Bachelors from Clemson, Masters from Georgia Tech, and an Executive MBA from Kennesaw State. We are excited that he has joined the GaMEP as a Senior Project Manager for the Strategy and Leadership Development team.

His career started in civil engineering and he is a licensed Professional Engineer. Over time, his focus shifted to environmental consulting and remediation work and that led him to start his own consulting company. When that company sold, he stayed on to lead operations, but wanted to hone his business and leadership skills to compliment his technical expertise, so he decided to get his MBA. It was during this time he worked on a Capstone project for an ice cream manufacturing company, and won The Georgia Bowl, a “Shark Tank” type competition, for the team’s business plan and overall company strategy. He later went on to work as the Chief Operating Officer for that same manufacturing company where he helped lead plant expansions, a business acquisition, and tremendous growth with several national retailers. The business was recognized in 2019 as one of the Top 10 fastest growing companies in Georgia by the Association for Corporate Growth.

At the GaMEP, Adam helps companies understand their high-level business vision and then assists them in developing an organization-wide strategy in multi-year increments to align the company goals and ensure that everyone on the team is working towards the same objectives. He also helps businesses assess their business valuation and strategically close the gap between how much a company is worth and how much the owner wants it to be worth, in preparation for succession planning, selling of the company, or involving a financial consultant for long-term success.

In his spare time, Adam likes spending time outdoors kayaking, boating, and camping. He is an avid runner, completing several marathons, and loves a good steak.

Contact Adam at ude.hcetag.etavonninull@seyah.mada for help building a plan that ensures your company’s vision and strategic priorities are achieved and sustained.

Sandra Enciso

Sandra’s career has always been centered around the environmental field. Her first manufacturing job was working at a Purina plant handling the wastewater treatment facility, where she designed the processes and operations needed to treat the industrial wastewater to help the plant fulfill its regulatory requirements and reduce the plant’s environmental footprint. This is where her love of environmental work began, and her desire to help companies to structure and implement environmental management systems, based on ISO standards, fulfill regulatory compliance and to achieve their sustainability goals.

Sandra said, “I enjoy working with companies to help them become more efficient in managing their resources/materials, increase productivity, while reducing their operational costs. At GaMEP we work as a unit. This opens the door for our clients to also work with our different service groups, and creates a pathway to the other GaMEP offerings, so that we can effectively help them achieve their business goals and remain sustainable and prosperous in the region.”

Sandra joined the GaMEP in 2013 and provides technical assistance, training and assessment services for environmental, energy, and health and safety management systems that are based on ISO 14001, 50001, and 45001, as well as environmental regulatory compliance assessments for industries. She has also been recognized twice by GaMEP as The Outstanding Project Manager of the year with the highest Sponsored Client Revenue.

Sandra earned her Masters from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from America University in Bogotá, Colombia. She is bilingual with excellent communication skills in both English and Spanish. In her spare time, she enjoys tennis, dancing, and her favorite food is everything her husband cooks.

Contact Sandra at ude.hcetag.etavonninull@osicne.ardnas for any environmental and ISO management system needs.

Sean Madhavaraman

Welcome to the GaMEP! Sean is one of our newest team members, starting in December of 2020 as a project manager on the Strategy and Leadership Development team, leading our Industry 4.0 efforts. He has 17 years of process engineering and advanced manufacturing experience with a passion for technology and Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT). He has both a Bachelors and Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Madurai Kamaraj and Louisiana Tech Universities (respectively), as well being Six Sigma Green Belt Certified.

Sean’s favorite quote is, “In God we trust, all others must bring data.” – Dr. W. Edwards Deming.

This is a cornerstone of his thinking that has helped him to create a proven track record of utilizing data, communication, and organization skills to influence team members in delivering key business objectives through alignment of self-actualization and leveraging next generation technology.

One of Sean’s first automation projects, that he led on a vision grading system, ignited his passion for technology. As this grew, so did his desire to reduce a common fear amongst company employees – that technology is going to replace jobs in the plant. He works with team members to showcase that machines are accurate, with the right software, but people are still needed to manage the process, analyze the data output, and take action on what to do with that data. Sean’s experience in reliability and maintenance, continuous improvement, process control, and manufacturing execution systems have allowed him to hone his technology skills and led him down the path to his Industry 4.0 specialty.

In his spare time Sean likes spending time with his wife and kids, experimenting with the latest technology gadgets, and eating Mexican food.

Need some help identifying or implementing technology solutions that will lead to productivity gains for your company and help you make the quantum leap by leveraging data and technology? Contact Sean at sean.madhavaraman@ gatech.edu for any questions related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), Industry 4.0, automation, cybersecurity, and other technology needs.

Tips for Implementing Technology Solutions to Help Offset Productivity Issues

April 8, 2021 By

Change is hard. If this pandemic year has taught us anything, it’s how to adapt and adjust our way of thinking and doing business. The same goes for technology. It is always changing. Whether it is the latest upgrade for your smart device or the newest gadget to simplify your life, technology touches every facet of our personal and professional lives. The choices out there can be daunting and sometimes overwhelming, especially if you are a small to medium manufacturer. Do I really need technology to grow my business and thrive? Is technology safe for my company? What about my personnel, how will they be affected? The answer is not the same for everyone, but using these tips below can help guide you to the right solution for yourself and your company:

One size does not fit all: The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) is the use of technologies to form an interconnected and autonomous manufacturing environment. You do not have to implement all of these technologies at once. First, identify the pain points in your business such as operational inefficiencies, quality issues, or asset reliability. Then, let that business case help you decide the technology to pursue first and the depth of that technology that is needed to solve the issue on hand.
Start small: A complete overhaul is not necessary and unfeasible in most cases. You do not have to start over and connect your entire production line to the cloud all at once. There are affordable, easy to implement options available. Examples include adding a sensor or two to a machine center to track performance data in real time to better understand missed opportunities, or integrating one standalone machine to the network to facilitate smart decision making. These types of solutions allow you to ease your business into Industry 4.0 and simultaneously use technology to positively impact your business. Adding up a few of these technology implementation wins over time will help build confidence in your team and lead to a long-term Industry 4.0 strategy that becomes an integral part of your core business.
Don’t be afraid: Implementing technology does not necessarily lead to a reduction in employment. In fact, in many cases it will lead to workforce development. Even though machines are accurate and repeatable, people are still needed to manage the process, analyze the data output, and act on what to do with that data. Also, by adding a technology solution (like a sensor), you can capture that employee’s tribal knowledge and machine data, then create a recipe to automate the process of how to run that machine in the future. This helps create a culture that emphasizes learning, which leads to an increase in team members feeling more comfortable working with technology.
Data, data, data: If you have a choice, do you want to know when a machine will fail? Most will answer “yes” to this question but are still doing maintenance the old-fashioned way and guessing when it will fail (preventative maintenance). But by using the right technology you can tell exactly when a machine is going to stop working and do the corrective action just before it happens (predictive maintenance). Over time, using a conditioning monitoring device will give you the data to know when a failure will occur, and time to prepare for maintenance issues to avoid a catastrophic problem. This will lead to less unscheduled downtime and increased productivity, which impacts your bottom line and revenue. This is just one example of how a technology solution can help capture data and use it to solve real problems in your business.
Safety and security: As your organization progresses through implementing technology solutions and leveraging the power of data, there is an inherent risk of cyberthreat that must be carefully managed and mitigated. It is not a matter of if, it is matter of when your data could be compromised. The same principle of starting small and following basic data hygiene such as controlling when and who has access to your data and managing how data moves in your organization would go a long way. If you are planning on doing any work for the Department of Defense, the need to establish and demonstrate your organization’s maturity level on the cybersecurity front is key to your success. Working with professionals who can assess and guide you through each step in Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is paramount as this certification will be a requirement for all vendors in the very near future to be able to be awarded contracts from the Department of Defense.

By keeping these tips in mind, your path to implementing Industry 4.0 solutions can be less intimidating, more manageable, and allow you to leverage technological innovation to grow your competitiveness and gain new business.

If you are a small to medium manufacturer who needs help identifying or implementing technology solutions, contact your GaMEP Region Manager and they can connect you to one of our experts on questions related to Artificial Intelligence (AI), Industry 4.0, automation, and other technology needs that will lead to productivity gains for your company.

By: Raine Hyde, Marketing Strategist, Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

How to Avoid the 10 Biggest Quality Mistakes

March 29, 2021 By

Learning from other people’s mistakes is one of the most effective ways to improve. There are plenty of mistakes out there to learn from, but the trick is to recognize them and understand what to do instead. Let’s examine the 10 most common quality mistakes and see how they can be corrected.

1. Limiting quality objectives to traditional quality topics

Quality is reflected in everything your organization does, and a quality objective can be anything measurable that relates to your organization’s success. A quality objective might relate to finances, customer feedback, safety, efficiency, speed or innovation. All these attributes relate to quality in one way or another. When selecting quality objectives, it’s important that your organization examines what matters most to its success. Whether the resulting measure is tied to traditional quality control or quality assurance is irrelevant.

2. Holding infrequent management reviews

Management review is the process by which top management analyzes data, makes decisions and takes action. Ideally, it’s a preventive process because data should indicate developing threats before they blossom into full-blown problems. Top managers should be able to analyze data proactively to prevent problems. Holding management reviews frequently allows you to review real-time data so that actions can be preventive. If these meetings are held only once or twice a year, however, you will not get the information that is necessary to make important decisions for your company’s success.

3. Sending out long, complex customer surveys

Instead of a survey, why not simply ask your customers what they like and dislike? Don’t limit their responses to survey topics. Let your customers dictate the content of their feedback in response to open-ended questions. Few questions are more powerful than the following: What do you like? What don’t you like? What would you like to see different in the future? Open-ended feedback is also much easier to understand and take action on. A customer-satisfaction index of 3.8 is hard to interpret. On the other hand, seven out of 10 customers telling you that your Web site is confusing and pinpointing what makes it confusing provides a clearer path to improvement.

4. Assuming everyone knows what “nonconforming” looks like

When I visit organizations, one of my favorite questions is, “Where do you put the nonconforming products?” Control of nonconforming products is one of the most basic kinds of controls, and it speaks volumes about the rest of the controls embraced by the organization. Smart organizations positively identify all nonconforming products, and really smart organizations segregate them to remove all chance of accidental use. Error-proof your control of the nonconforming product process so that assumptions don’t have to be made.

5. Failing to use the corrective action process

Corrective action is the systematic way to investigate problems, identify their causes and keep the problems from happening again. Nobody wants problems, but it’s essential to have a way to deal with them when they come up. The more the corrective action process is used, the better the organization gets at addressing its risks and problems. An effective corrective action process is typically seamless, simple and intuitive. Actions developed correctly add a little structure to problem solving and don’t create additional bureaucracy.

6. Applying document control only to official documents

Most organizations do a decent job of controlling “official” documents: the procedures and work instructions that form the core of the quality management system (QMS). These are often written, approved and issued according to very specific guidelines. What organizations don’t do very well is control unofficial documents, many of which are more important than the official ones. These may be memos that include procedural steps, Post-it Notes with special requirements, emails with customer specifications, and many others. These informal resources become documents when they’re shared for people to use, and they’re some of the most important documents within an organization. Apply document control to all documents, and scrutinize your document control process to keep it streamlined and effective.

7. Focusing audits on petty, nonstrategic details

Auditing is the process of comparing actual operations against commitments the organization has made. It’s a simple, fact-driven process that can generate huge improvements. However, these improvements happen only if auditors focus on the right things. Too often, internal auditors become preoccupied with petty details and neglect the big issues. They’re uncomfortable examining the big, strategic issues. It’s important for your organization to provide training and skill-building to your internal auditors to avoid these common pitfalls.

8. Training some personnel, but not all

Most organizations provide significant training to hourly production personnel. Salaried and managerial personnel are often neglected, however. Why? Because there’s a perception that salaried workers don’t affect product conformity. This is a serious error. All personnel must be included in the training process. Salaried and managerial personnel need more—not less—training because their decisions and actions have larger and more lasting effects. When an hourly employee makes a mistake, it could cost money. When a top manager makes a mistake, it could put you out of business. Train your employees early and often.

9. Doing anything just because an external auditor told you to

In my travels to companies, I often ask people why they’re carrying out a process the way they are. I always raise this question when the process seems unwieldy or illogical. In a surprising number of cases, the answer will be, “Because the external auditor said we should do it that way.” Before you jump into any recommendation, conduct a reality check to make sure it makes sense for your organization.

10. Employing someone who only oversees the QMS

Having a person who does nothing but oversee the ISO 9001 (or any other) QMS is not a good
idea as it guarantees two things:

First, the QMS coordinator will become isolated from the rest of the organization.
Because the person does nothing but serve the QMS, he or she loses touch with why
the organization exists and what the organization’s objectives are. The system becomes
paramount over the organization’s business concerns.
Second, the QMS will become bloated and bureaucratic because it must expand to
completely fill someone’s time. Procedures become more complicated, methods more
cumbersome and the benefits more ambiguous.

A quality management system needs to be a streamlined and simple engine for success. Instead of being an adjunct to the way an organization conducts business, it needs to be The Way business is conducted. Weave the system into the day-to-day flow of activities and watch it produce results.

And by all means learn from the mistakes of others.

By: Craig Cochran, Project Manager, Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership