Out With the Old, In With the New

Is it just me thinking that this year has flown by faster than last year? With the final column of this year, let’s look at closing strong and looking forward into 2018. Traditionally, this is a time when the final campaigns are fulfilled, allowing us the time to clean out, take stock, and plan for the new year—an opportunity to take some things to the next level.

Taking Stock in 2017 for a Great 2018

A great place to start is removing what is not needed. So, what can we clean out? How about those great idea boxes that we thought we could use for ideas, but the campaign is long gone? How about those sample boxes in the sales department and conference room? In fact, there is a multitude of items that can be disposed of if you have an internal cleanout campaign. Let’s merge and make space for the new tooling of 2018; this is a better option than the cost of additional racking! When removing all these items and clearing the aisles and corners, remove at-risk safety .

While you are at it, take a look at cables in the customer service areas, behind desks and monitors, and in customer waiting areas, and take a peek into the IT department—which is not for the faint of heart. In the electronics and computer industry, they use a method termed cable management. It’s where loose cables are transformed into looms using a technique that allows you to quickly trace cables, but has them organized using strain loops and wrap methods that make them much more provisional-looking. This results in a safer area and one that is easier to clean and maintain. Another area to focus on is the reception area, and whether the cables face the visitors.

The Rise of the ‘Hi-Viz’ Vest

I have no doubt that the business I should have ventured into in the late ’70s is hi-viz (high visibility) materials. Today, the number of items in fluorescent colors and materials is staggering. Their wide use is escalating each decade. In Europe, it is common for vendors to visit packaging facilities with their own personal protective equipment (PPE), the hi-viz vest being one of them. This trend will continue, with many U.S. facilities adopting this garment as a norm, which leads me to ask two questions regarding the hi-viz vest.

1. Are we safer wearing hi-viz vests?
2. Why do I need to wear a hi-viz vest?

Well, we may think we are safer, and no doubt the eye reacts to large blocks of contrasting color. In low-light areas, it helps enormously. I certainly feel safer wearing a vest, but is it a false sense of security? This leads me to the second and more relevant question: Why do I need to wear a hi-viz vest? My current belief, based on 40 years in manufacturing facilities, is the need for the hi-viz vest is largely because, so often, people don’t work in factories; they work in warehouse conditions. They are large areas of work, for sure, but where is the clear demarcation for process, transport, and product?

Take a walk across the production floor. Is it clear where the work is done? Is it clear where people are to walk? Is it clear where the fork truck works? I don’t mean wide spaces set from custom and practice; I mean clear lines and signage. Can you see where the trucks leave the aisles and enter a process? What safety measures are in place where trucks and people come into close proximity? When a fork truck comes close to the people, what can be done to reduce the speed of the truck?

Great factories have clear standards where work and process are undertaken, transport of goods is clear, and the storage of WIP and other materials is clearly laid out.

Issuing a hi-viz jacket is quick and relatively low-cost, but it does not address techniques and methods to change warehousing into professional factories—factories in which you are proud to bring customers to visit. Great factories have clear standards where work and process are undertaken, transport of goods is clear, and the storage of WIP and other materials is clearly laid out. Let us work in factories, not warehouses.

Another Thought for Another Day

Another area for thought that can assist you with customer tours is to create what we have termed “customer landings.” These are areas set out in numerous locations within the facility (e.g., customer service, production, etc.). They can be established at the entrance or change of a production area, such as moving from printing to cutting, gluing to assembly, or analog to digital printing. These customer landings are usually an 8×4 board on which you communicate to the visitors what to look for. This is a point where you are differentiating yourself versus the competition, focusing on safety, process, and your amazing people. It’s a transition point where the salesperson leading the tour can hand off this part to the supervisor or production lead. These are wonderful opportunities to get your message across as to why you are No. 1 in this area of supply, by showing and explaining not that you can do the work, but how you do the work in a safe, effective method.

Les Pickering is co-founder of Quadrant 5 Consulting, based in San Francisco. He can be reached at 415-988-0000 or leslie.pickering@quadrant5c.com. Follow Les and Quadrant 5 on Twitter @Q5cLP.