SEABROOK PLASTICS, INC.: Enhancing the Skills of New Leaders
Working with The Center-West has been very beneficial. They bring ideas and are always willing to help with anything related to helping us grow and learn. As a management team, this class brought us closer together and gave us a better understanding of the individuals in our team.
-- Charlie Kendall, Purchasing/Shipping-Receiving/Scheduling
Located in Norton Shores, Mich., Seabrook Plastics, Inc. (www.seabrookplastics.com) is a cutting-edge custom injection molding company. Founded in 1994 by Serge Cousin, the facility houses 25 injection molding machines within a 45,000 square foot facility and employs 31.
Challenge
Following various management changes, Seabrook Plastics wanted to ensure that all significant leadership duties were being fulfilled. They were aware of areas of weakness within the organization and thought this would be an opportune time to tackle them.
Seabrook Plastics was already engaged with the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center – West (The Center-West) for a Skills Training project, so Cindy Kowalski, Quality Manager, and Craig Gray, Controller, reached out to The Center-West to explore leadership training opportunities.
Solution
Seabrook Plastics engaged in six sessions of leadership training coordinated through Muskegon Community College and The Center-West. Nine team members including shift supervisors, operations manager, quality manager, quality technicians and the controller participated, with Gray commenting, “As a long-time manager, I learned new ways of working with people and being more of a support person. I learned from the group what it meant to work as a team again.” Kowalski also commented on the training, stating, “I would highly recommend this class to anyone. Not only did I learn so much from this class, I learned a lot from my team.” Following this training, the team was able to identify weaknesses and learn how to empower their new leadership.
Results
- Cost Savings: $40,000
- New Investments: $20,000
- Retained Jobs: 9
- New Jobs: 1
- Culture Change: Engagement with the shop floor and management teams has increased communication, improving relationships within the organization.
- Obsolete inventory reduction generated $10,000