Working On The ”What” Instead Of The “How”
Here at ETM we spend a lot of time working on the “How”; how to improve customer service, how to improve lead times, how to lower costs, but Tom and Soma reminded me to focus on the “What” as well. Tom and Soma are both supply chain experts who work with a lot of companies here in New England. “What have you done for me lately?” is the question their clients ask suppliers most often. In many cases, they don’t really care about how the suppliers pull it off. Tom in particular has me shifting our approach.
Sometimes Being a Good Supplier Means Saying “No”
This past week I had to say “no” to two customers and it always feels uncomfortable even though I know it is the right thing to do. After all, ETM has made a reputation with our best customers for saying “yes” when others say “no.” Saying “no” is not something we are used to and we certainly don’t take it lightly. So why, this week, have I said “no” twice?
Unsung Heroes
We have a manager here, Steve, who doesn’t really manage anyone and doesn’t really manage any projects, but he is one of the most valuable people we have. I used to think of Steve as a “filler” because he has a knack for spotting the holes in our processes or systems and helping “fill” them. More recently, I have been thinking of him as a “leveler” and, like floor leveler, we can “pour” him into any situation and he’ll even things out. For a high mix, low volume business like ours, a steady flow makes all the difference.
Lucky by Design
I recently got to reading a holiday present from a past advisor, Beth Goldstein. Beth and I first met when she taught a Business Accelerator class hosted by the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership. It was an eight week intensive program with homework included that provided me the push to accelerate our growth at ETM. Beth really helped me start to craft a unique message which eventually evolved into the web-site you see today. Her latest book, “Lucky By Design”, caught me by surprise.
How My Customers Are Teaching Me To Be A Better Manager
Lately I have been thinking about how much skill it takes to maintain an employee’s spirit while at the same time ask him or her to improve. We face this challenge every day as managers, but we also face this every day from our customers. Our customers are challenged with telling us how great a job we’ve done, now can we do it again only faster, cheaper, better. How can we accomplish this without leaving the other person feeling defeated?
If We Have 0 Defect Goals, Why Don’t We Have $0 Logistics Goals?
In the past few weeks I have been shocked by some of the logistics expenses I have heard. Thomas approached us the other week with a project imported to Canada from China; the transportation cost from Canada to the US alone was 18% of the product cost. Just this week we met with a customer and the shipping charges to a remote location in the western US was almost 50% of the product cost. We, too, have seen the impact when we price compare our landed cost vs. importing from China. In one case, our import costs were 20% of the product cost and that alone killed the project. In the 1980’s there was huge push by American companies towards 0 defects through ambitious six sigma programs. Why don’t we challenge logistics costs in the same manner?
What I Learned From Our Fall Intern
This year, for the first time in ETM’s history, we hired college interns this past semester and they are now headed home for the holidays. I thought it would be a great learning experience for one of them to help manage a $500K building renovation. After working together daily for the past three months, I find myself missing Ryan and reflecting on the lessons I learned from him. Here are the lessons he reminded me of:
Goodbye Norm! Thanks for the Life Lesson.
Last week, Thanksgiving week, we said goodbye to one of our favorite suppliers. Norm was a formerVietnam paratrooper known for his humor and business savvy. He supplied us daily, delivering on-time over 98%. In fact we set our break times promptly at 9:15 so we could help unload his truck. His quality was so good that we actually increased our orders over the years. Even his costs, while they did increase, stayed steady with the market and our demand. So why did we help put him out of business?
What’s Missing At This Year’s Industry Show and How It Effects You
This week Mike and I attended the annual fabrication show and what struck me most was that there were two things missing. Almost all the equipment manufacturers were talking about high volume manufacturing – none were talking about short run, high mix environments – just the kind of production our customers are asking for. The other thing that was missing was any differentiation conversation on the part of the equipment salespeople. I left the show thinking that the industry’s leading equipment manufacturers are missing the boat.
What do we do about rising CEO standards?
Strategic Sourcing can be a dangerous place to work in. Last week, Phil, a good strategic sourcing director, was released from his company. In the 14 months he had worked there, he had established bi-coastal suppliers for low and high volume, lowered costs, reduced inventories and filled out a top tier supply chain organization. However, in these uncertain economic times, CEO standards are rising – putting us all at risk.