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Driving Advanced Manufacturing in Georgia

June 7, 2022 By

Advanced manufacturing in Georgia is a huge deal – the sector is responsible for 10 percent of state gross domestic product (totaling nearly $62 billion in 2019), 92 percent of exports, and employs more than 380,000 people. The sector’s importance is no accident. It’s the result of — according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Center of Innovation for Manufacturing — the pro-business climate in the state; a well-trained workforce; and a location and logistics network that allows companies to reach 80 percent of the United States in hours by truck, train or plane. The Port of Savannah, with its link to the rest of the world, doesn’t hurt either.

Georgia Tech contributes to this all-important economic driver in a number of ways, including through the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) and other programs of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, that support manufacturers through coaching, training, and on-site project implementation. These programs help to connect companies to other Georgia Tech resources including, the Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF), an R&D facility that provides space for industrial, academic, and government agencies, while also serving as a teaching lab for graduate students. Funded by a $3 million gift from the Delta Air Lines Foundation, AMPF is part of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute.

Learn more about how Georgia Tech contributes to the manufacturing ecosystem in the state in the recent article, “High-tech Makers,” in Georgia Trend magazine.

Contact us for information on how GaMEP can connect you with resources at Georgia Tech and partner organizations. Thinking about implementing a new technology in your facility? Visit our Technology page, to see how GaMEP can help.

Why Is There a Shortage of Baby Formula?

May 27, 2022 By

By now, everyone’s heard about the shortage of baby formula in the United States. It stems from the fact that over 90% of U.S. infant formula is made by only 4 companies: Abbot, Mead Johnson, Nestle, and Perrigo. But, how did this happen? There are three, primary causative factors:

There has been a lot of consolidation across the food industry over the past few years, with big corporations buying-up other companies.
The governmental food safety regulations for infant formula are extremely strict. Only companies with access to money and resources can produce these types of products. In addition, the FDA placed strict restrictions on imported formula, despite the fact that many countries have food safety standards that meet or exceed domestic standards. Because of this, the U.S. now manufactures 98% of our formula supply.
About 50% of infant formula sales go through the federal Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, which equates to about 1.2 million infants. WIC contracts utilize a sole-supplier methodology, so two companies (Abbot and Mead Johnson) account for about 90% of WIC contracts in the US.

Beyond the reasons listed above, baby formula manufacturers are currently facing the same supply chain and workforce issues faced by manufacturers across the world. Interruptions in the baby formula supply chain, coupled with the fact that the FDA shut down a major producer earlier this year due to an extensive recall, created a perfect storm for the shortage.

Read more about reasons for the baby formula shortage and what actions have been taken to help alleviate the problem, in this recent article that I contributed to in the Washington Post: US safety, savings rules set stage for baby formula shortage.

What can manufacturers learn from this and what actions can be taken by companies to guard against future shortages of other products?

Food manufacturers can take steps to put food safety and quality first, to avoid consequences such as recalls or shutdowns. Learn more about the food safety training and implementation services provided by GaMEP at our food and beverage industry page.
All manufacturing companies can review their supply chain and use strategies to diversify and mitigate risk. Contact us for more information on how GaMEP can help.

By: Wendy White, GaMEP Food Industry Manager

How Food Supply Issues May Affect Your Thanksgiving Table

November 16, 2021 By

GaMEP Food Industry Project Manager, Wendy White, discusses how food manufacturers have had to pivot to beat supply chain challenges & meet Thanksgiving demand. Learn More About GaMEP Food Industry Training and Services.

This month, many are marking their calendars and planning to gather around the Thanksgiving table with family and friends. But with supply chain concerns, there might be some added anxiety around rustling up all the ingredients for a feast this year. Many of us may not understand how complicated it is to get cranberries from the bog to the processor, then cooked down and into a can and shipped to a distribution center and finally a store so we can buy it and have it on hand beside the turkey.

“Supply chains are convoluted,” explains Wendy White, a nationally known food safety and supply chain expert who works with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership at Georgia Tech. Before joining academia, White spent 17 years focused on safety and regulatory compliance in the food manufacturing and distribution industry.

“Formulated foods encompass a lot of ingredients, and shortages can be caused by breaks in the supply chain for any of those ingredients,” she says.

These issues are not always apparent to the public, but we may feel the effects. Supply chain concerns can mean grocery stores aren’t getting shipments on time, and manufacturers don’t always have all the ingredients needed to make their products.

“We have a large global market, and shipping something from another part of the world has become so easy for us in this day and age. Sourcing cheaper and different ingredients from different parts of the world has become commonplace,” says White. “Now, we’re seeing bottlenecks in the shipping and logistics segments of our food supply and it becomes apparent how we sometimes are reliant on those imports.”

So what can shoppers expect and how can they be prepared this holiday season? White, who watches the food industry closely, shares her insights.

Don’t freak out.

White says the American food industry is robust and resilient. Throughout the pandemic, manufacturers have had to continuously pivot, and have done so with surprising success.

“We are lucky to have a wide variety of raw agricultural products here in America — the breadbasket in the Midwest, or tropical climates in California and Florida where fruit can be grown. We’re not quite so dependent as other nations on foreign imports,” she explains.

While there will be some changes in prices and availability, there’s no need to panic, White says.

Expect higher prices across the board.

According to White, there are two primary drivers of price increases right now: labor shortages and higher transportation costs. This isn’t limited to the United States, the United Nation’s FAO (Food & Agricultural Organization) Food Price Index states that across international markets, we’re seeing the highest food prices in 20 years. Domestically, some food manufacturers are having trouble staffing their facilities. To attract workers, they increase wages, which in turn increases price tags on products. Also, when oil prices rise, the cost of transporting products to stores increases. That gets passed on to the consumer at the grocery store as well. White says that while prices will go up, she’s optimistic that it won’t be enough to break the bank.

Watch out for specialty items, especially from abroad.

The challenges of unloading and shipping items at many of America’s ports will affect the food industry. “We’re going to see some disruptions with food ingredients and components that are only available overseas,” says White.

Specialty products that are typically imported may be more difficult to find, or more expensive. Think imported Parmesan cheese or cinnamon shipped from Sri Lanka. Often these products are transported by ships, and congestion and backups at America’s ports may mean delays or scarcity.

Sometimes a shortage is created by frenzy.

“We had a run on paper goods during the heat of the pandemic,” White explains. “There was no shortage in supply. This was a fabricated increase in demand.” A rumor circulates that may send people running to the grocery store and hoarding products. “It’s hard to predict what the next crazy in-demand item is going to be that works consumers up into a frenzy and artificially inflates demand.”

Right now, White says, the food supplies are there, but there are complications with processing, packaging, and transportation capacity to meet rising demand. Some spice companies like McCormick have announced a shortage of glass bottles, meaning their gourmet spices are on hold right now. A drought in the Midwest has wheat prices soaring. Some meat and poultry plants aren’t operating at full capacity due to fewer employees on hand and fewer truckers available to transport items.

Food companies are preparing for the holidays.

“The food and beverage industry is versatile and very good at contingency planning,” White says. Turkey companies are processing birds and freezing them now to build up a surplus in anticipation for demand. Many companies are holding extra inventory — keeping three or four months of supply on hand instead of the more typical one or two months.

White describes the versatility of the American food manufacturing industry as “incredible.” She says this may mean consumers will see different types of packaging or different products this holiday season as companies pivot to handle supply chain issues. How might consumers see this? Fewer boneless, cured, or smoked hams, for example, where processing companies had fewer employees available to do the extra processing work.

To save costs, be flexible if you can.

If you’ve got time to shop around, check different retailers and grocery stores in person.

“They are continuing to use specials and deals to entice shoppers,” White says. “During the pandemic, many shoppers making grocery purchases online have actually been spending more because it’s a bit more difficult to make selections by brand.”

By perusing a store shelf in person, you may see six different types of canned green beans — and you can choose a store brand or a lower-cost item to save money.

Buy shelf-stable items such as canned cranberry sauce, boxed stuffing, and pumpkin pie filling ahead of time if you are feeling concerned. Planning in advance will help you make sure you’re not part of a last-minute, frantic search if supply chains become more disrupted than they already are.

Wendy White is one of America’s leading food supply chain and food safety experts. As project manager at the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership at Georgia Tech, White helps food manufacturers improve their food safety and quality systems. She is also on the editorial board of Food Safety Magazine.

Learn More About GaMEP Food Manufacturing Training and Services.

Own the Skills Gap: Workforce Readiness Starts with You

March 19, 2021 By

Hiring and retaining talent is a continuous concern and investment for every manufacturer, large or small, rural or multinational. It is hard to find and keep people with the right skills. It’s also expensive. According to The Society for Human Resource Management, in 2016 it cost over $4,000 and took 40 days to complete each new hire. Those 40 days spent looking for the right person impact productivity—and then there’s the time it takes to train each new employee and get them up to speed.

Even as the unemployment rate has skyrocketed during the pandemic, manufacturers continue reporting difficulty filling open positions. It’s not a problem that will go away by itself. Coming out of the pandemic, U.S. manufacturing is expected to increase at 3.6% annually. Manufacturers are smart to be planning now to meet future business needs — finding and hiring the right people and upgrading training to retain top talent once they have been hired.

Recently, the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech, part of the MEP National Network, interviewed three of their manufacturing clients, all different-sized companies, about strategies they have found successful for hiring and retaining talent.

Workforce Solution: Hire for soft skills and the right fit

Mohawk Industries is a flooring manufacturer based in Calhoun, Georgia. Founded in 1878, the company employs 10,000 people in Georgia and 40,000 worldwide. Mohawk’s leadership values technical expertise, but they also look for soft skills, which are much harder to teach.

Leadership skills, discipline and motivation can signal great potential. This was Nathan Bennett’s skill set when he applied for a job at Mohawk with no manufacturing experience. A two-time NASKA World Martial Arts Champion, he demonstrated strong discipline and leadership skills. Although he didn’t get the job he applied for, a Mohawk hiring manager saw his potential and offered him a job in chemical compounding – something Bennett had never even heard of and had to look online to understand. The hiring manager told Bennett that Mohawk wanted him for his leadership skills and they could teach him the rest.

The company’s focus on finding the right fit for their team paid off. Bennett is now the safety manager of two plants, leading more than 650 people and looking for others who are adaptable, motivated, and willing to learn new skills in order to cultivate new leaders in the organization. As a leader, Bennett feels it’s all about making personal connections with employees to cultivate their inner confidence and nurture a culture of working toward a common goal. “I’m boots-on-the-ground every day and address each person as a professional,” he said. “We are one of the biggest companies in a small town in northwest Georgia, so it’s important to have our team’s loyalty.”

Bennett is one of many leaders at Mohawk who are investing in their employees. The company fosters leadership at all levels by attracting, motivating, educating, and—just as importantly—promoting employees from within. This keeps the team loyal to each other, to the processes they’ve created, and to the company.

Mohawk runs its own internal training program, putting each person through a one-week safety course every four years. The company is also invested in their employees’ well-being. Monitors located in employee gathering places at Mohawk promote monthly health and wellness topics such as stress management that are also discussed in pre-shift employee meetings, and list training opportunities and supervisory openings. The company also encourages employee advancement through a 100% tuition reimbursement program for degree programs, certifications, and other professional development related to the employee’s field.

Workforce Solution: Create talent through apprenticeship programs

Corrugated Replacements is a 140-person, family-owned manufacturer in Blairsville, Georgia, that makes replacement parts for corrugated machinery. President Jenny Chandler spent much of her childhood observing on the shop floor of her family’s business. She knew how to run the machines by age 7 and could program them by age 11. As a child, she also observed management styles and how workers responded to them, which helped shape her management approach—leading by example.

A few years ago, Chandler worried about the company’s aging workforce—the average employee age was 53—and the institutional knowledge that could be lost as they retired. The company knew they needed to get ahead of this problem and began researching recruitment strategies to attract younger employees. Corrugated Replacements determined that an apprenticeship program would create a pipeline of skilled, younger workers and improve collaboration throughout the company — resulting in knowledge transfer through a structured, systematic training approach.

Corrugated Replacements created a 36-month apprenticeship program with the local high school. The company pays student apprentices as full-time employees and assesses them throughout the program—looking for leadership traits, initiative, assertiveness, punctuality and maturity. This program’s success led the company to create a shorter, 28-month, apprenticeship program for existing and new employees. Apprentices start in the company’s shipping department and work in each area of the plant, meeting skills requirements in each department before moving onto the next.

Chandler said, “I’ve had 25 apprenticeship program graduates and each person is still with us. When they join the team, I’m looking at how they interact with people and take initiative. That way we can groom them for supervisory and leadership positions.” A special benefit of Corrugated Replacements’ high school apprenticeship program is a fully paid college education — wherever participants want to study and whatever degree they want to pursue — as long as it’s applicable to the business. Students enrolled in nearby colleges schedule work hours into their week, and those studying farther away work during breaks. In return, the company requires a three-year commitment after graduation. In addition to the apprenticeship program participants, Corrugated Replacements pays for any employee’s higher education, as long as the degree is relevant to the business.

Workforce Solution: Invest in your employees to keep them happy

Once you find skilled employees, how do you keep them? Many manufacturers are looking for creative solutions that give their company a competitive edge in recruiting and retaining employees.

A 75-person manufacturer in central Georgia combined flexibility, performance incentives and training to help retain employees.

According to the 2018 Mercer Talent Trends Study, 51% of manufacturing employees want more flexible work options, but only 9% of manufacturers in the study report offering flexibility. While many manufacturing jobs can’t be done from home, this company found a solution that provides its employees the flexibility they desire. The location runs four 10-hour shifts per week, allowing employees to pick up shifts on the fifth day each week for overtime if available or to make up for time taken off earlier in the week for personal activities—a win for employees and for the company.

The company credits their ability to retain employees not only to their flexibility, but to their transparent, competitive pay, and their investment in employees. They offer competitive pay with team-based performance incentives. Their pay structure is transparent and employees are told exactly how they can progress in the company. Sets of requirements are tracked and tied to salary as employee’s progress through steps in their pay levels. On top of base pay, all employees receive monthly bonuses, based on the facility’s previous month’s performance—an incentive offered for more than 30 years. The team-based incentive promotes teamwork and continuous improvement, and empowers team members to impact their environment and their income.

This company uses standard work instructions at every piece of equipment and within assembly so every person who is trained on a process gains knowledge from those who have done the job in the past. They encourage their employees to cross-train in numerous jobs in order to improve team flexibility and increase individual skills. The company uses visual tools and videos for safety training and assigns a trainer in each group. The company also offers 90% tuition reimbursement for continuing education and allows employees to choose undergraduate or graduate degrees, technical college degrees, or online training as options to progress. Additionally, the company plans staffing levels to support cross-training and encourages continuous improvement in safety and quality programs as well as process improvements.

They keep their employees happy, and their employees stay and grow within the company. The average tenure of employees at this location is over 15 years. This enables the company to primarily promote from within—over 90% of the current leadership team has been promoted from within. To accomplish this, the team scouts potential leadership talent within their employees and encourages team members to get their degrees so they are ready for management positions when they open.

Find a solution that works for you

While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to workforce challenges, there are many ways to proactively tackle the problem. Finding the right mix of strategies for your company and employees is key. Your efforts can result in lower turnover, higher employee morale, and a culture where employees are invested in the long-term success of your company.

This story was originally published in IndustryWeek – view it here.

By: Katie Takacs, Industry Services Marketing Manager, Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership

Wendy White Discusses the Importance of Effective Environmental Monitoring Programs to Combat Food Contamination

April 28, 2020 By

Wendy White, food safety expert and GaMEP project manager, discusses major pathogenic contamination issues that can surface when food manufacturing plants remain too complacent in their typical sanitation routines and neglect to seek out effective solutions that can identify the root cause of the problem. Best practices and strategies for contamination prevention that White mentions include:

Adhering to new guidance from the FDA. Manufacturers have been prompted to create an action plan when pathogen positives are found that encourages them to go above and beyond the old “reclean, retrain, and reswab” mantra that has been the staple of environmental monitoring programs (EMPs) for years.

Strategizing your Environmental Monitoring Program (EMP) for efficacy. EMP-based recalls, the high cost of testing, and the general litigious nature of our country frequently discourage companies from employing a truly robust EMP. However, this strategy of avoidance can ultimately prove to be disastrous if a company does not attempt to identify negative tendencies and tackle potential issues before they escalate into true problems.

Understanding the challenges to developing a robust EMP. Thorough sanitation is among the most important means of preventing contamination from environmental pathogens, but is often not robust enough to properly identify and solve all problems. Lack of management and expertise, inadequate training, and equipment design issues are just some of the common inhibitors to proper sanitation. Getting to the real root of the problem is the best way to truly prevent contamination from taking root inside your facility.

White expands on each of these points in her article, “Getting Sanitation out of the Reclean/Retest Rut” in Food Safety Magazine. The article provides valuable guidance and challenges food manufacturers to wake up and rethink their “out of sight, out of mind” approach that can sometimes lead to devastating results, such as pathogen positives, contamination events, recalls, and even outbreaks.

Read the entire Getting Sanitation out of the Reclean/Retest Rut article

Wendy White helps food companies achieve compliance with regulations and customer expectations. She holds leadership with the Georgia Association of Food Protection (GAFP) and the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP) and holds Quality Auditor Certification from the American Society of Quality.