MEANS INDUSTRIES: Prioritizing Employee Development Leads to Big Results
Making employee development a priority within our company ensures our team stays well-informed on industry trends and best practices. The Center has a wide variety of manufacturing-related educational courses for us to choose from. We consider The Center to be our premier educational partner.
-- Jill Young, Human Resources Manager
Since 1922, where it began as a metal stamping plant, Means Industries (www.meansindustries.com) has partnered with OEM engineers to produce pioneering automotive solutions. Today, Means remains committed to producing forward-thinking innovation and delivering robust engineering and manufacturing solutions to clients. Known for customer service, rigorous design and quality products, Means has five locations throughout Michigan and international facilities in Canada, China, Japan and Germany. Means employs 275 at their Macomb Township, Mich., facility.
Challenge
Means is committed to consistently investing in training for new and existing employees, recognizing the value provided to individuals and the positive impact on business results. As part of onboarding, in addition to ongoing employee development, Means prioritizes training initiatives to ensure all workers have the skills needed to contribute to Means’ culture of continuous improvement.
Solution
To support these training efforts, Means has maintained a partnership with the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (The Center) for years. In addition to continually providing fundamental training to new employees, covering topics such as GD&T, core tools, quality management, lean and leadership development, The Center most recently delivered a variety of on-site, personalized consulting and training for Means workers, including:
• 5S Visual Management – Means had been utilizing the Lean method of 5S Visual Management for five years. Means management met with The Center to discuss their current 5S system and identify enhancements before training all employees on the new and improved system. Following training, Means employees now encourage and maintain an uncluttered, well-organized and standardized workplace.
• Internal Auditor – Means’ Quality Manager completed The Center’s internal auditor training for both IATF 16949:2016 and ISO 14001 to conduct audits at their Sterling Heights facility and increase his skills with environmental auditing. This helped their team understand audit components and learn how to conduct appropriate compliance audits. This certification has proven to be essential for the team.
• Layered Process Audit – Means’ new Plant Manager did not have previous experience with conducting Layered Process Audits (LPAs) and needed to learn how to do them properly. During LPA training, The Center identified an opportunity to potentially save thousands in scrap costs by monitoring and finding the root cause. Following training, Means’ employees better understand and meet customer requirements by maintaining and improving quality, process parameters and performance.
Results
- New Sales: $150,000
- Retained Sales: $200,000
- Cost Savings: $250,000
- Jobs Created: 5
- Planned Investment: $200,000