Many people are familiar with the phrase, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.” The same is true with the makeup of your workplace. If all your employees have the same general experiences, your shop will keep running in about the same way. If you want to…
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One of the greatest resources of any job shop is its employees. You wouldn’t be able to finish any jobs without them. So, just like any resource, you want to manage it well. Making sure your employees know what to do is the easy part. Employee performance management is the hard part. You may have a gut…
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If your shop is having scheduling problems, it’s common to assume that they are because of the scheduling department. That may be true sometimes, but there are many other reasons your scheduling department may be having trouble. Those reasons might come from different departments in your shop. Below are the four most common sources of concern for your scheduling department from other areas. Purchasing Sometimes, scheduling problems can come from purchasing….
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The Human Resources department in a job shop can often be overlooked. However, with all of the changes that 2020 has brought, it’s become more important than ever to handle employee changes smoothly and understand what employees are thinking about their jobs. If you want to keep your employees, get great new employees, and improve…
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In the US, most high school students are told they need to go to college to get a good career, but that isn’t always true. Trade school is an excellent way for students to begin a great career in manufacturing. A manufacturing career can take a person up the corporate ladder, let them grow their…
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Safety is crucial in a machine shop. No one wants any injuries in the shop. Injured workers can also cost the shop money and time. Injured workers will have medical costs and admin costs for the shop to process the necessary paperwork. If an employee needs to take time off because of an injury, then…
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When your shop is trying to hire qualified candidates that are also good employees, apprenticeships can be invaluable. In a recent survey done by Thomas, they found that shops with apprenticeship programs were less impacted by the lack of skilled labor. In addition, in companies they surveyed, more than half of their apprenticeship programs were…
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When your job shop is looking for potential employees, it can be hard to know what to tell people about your shop. Do you focus on the industries you work in? How many new machines you have? The answer, as it turns out, is at a more basic level than that. Industry Week did a…
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No one wants a crisis to happen. However, preparing for a crisis instead of ignoring the possibility can save your shop money. Preparing plans for various crises takes time, but it’s worth it in the time and money those plans will save you when a crisis happens. As 2020 has shown us, huge problems can…
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This has been a tough year for everyone, and that provides more opportunities for difficulties to crop up at work. Some people are having new or stronger mental health issues, while others are just doing their best to make it through a pandemic. Whatever the reason, there are more circumstances that could mean you need…
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Every shop wants to keep its top employees for as long as possible. However, since these employees are so good at what they do, they’re the ones who will have the easiest time getting a job somewhere else. With this in mind, it’s helpful to make sure your shop checks in with your employees periodically….
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5S is a method for organizing workspaces and entire shops to be more efficient, effective, and safe. 5S started in Japan as part of the Toyota Production System, and it’s one tool used in lean manufacturing. However, you don’t need to implement lean manufacturing or know anything about the Toyota Production System to use 5S…
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We’re going to continue to see the impact from COVID-19 for a long time. Your shop has probably already had to make changes, and you may have to make more. As long as you’re making changes in your shop, it may be time to think through some improvements you’ve been considering. These improvements can be…
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Manufacturers are familiar with OSHA guidelines. OSHA exists to keep shops and employees safe. Now that there’s a new problem, OSHA and the CDC have come out with guidelines for employers to follow. Not all of these guidelines apply to manufacturers and it can be hard to sift through all of the information to find…
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Whether your shop needs to hire more employees, or it’s reopening, you’ll want to prepare for some changes. The best way to make sure your employees succeed in their job is if they know what they need to do. You’ll need to teach new employees what your shop expects and returning employees might need a…
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Depending on your location, it may be time to reopen your business. Reopening your shop probably feels like things are going back to normal. While some things will be familiar, other things in your shop will have to change. There are several principles that shop owners can apply. By keeping these things in mind, you…
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Many people end up managing a machine shop because they started it. When they started, their shop was small. However, as their shop grew, they hired more people until they were doing more managing than they were working the machines. For others, they came into a management position more directly. No matter how you got…
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Keeping employees around and working at the top of their game has always been important, but as more employees retire, it becomes more important to keep the younger ones around. Motivated employees stay longer with a company and work harder. So, the question becomes how to motivate your employees. There’s more than one answer to…
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Being a great boss is difficult anywhere, but working in a job shop has its own set of challenges. However, the more effort you put in, the more payoff you’ll see. Having a great boss makes it more likely that an employee will be engaged. According to a Gallup study, businesses that have the most…
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It’s hard to find employees for manufacturing jobs today. Hiring qualified employees is even more difficult. However, there are a few things your shop can do to make it easier. The following checklist lays out what you can do to give your shop the best chance of getting qualified manufacturing employees. Check Your Job Posting…
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It’s likely that you chose to work in manufacturing and run a shop because you want to. However, while you enjoy some parts of your job, there are other parts that you probably don’t enjoy. There’s a lot that goes into owning a shop and not all of it is fun. Thankfully, there are a…
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While hiring new employees is a big challenge facing manufacturing today, one thing that makes it worse is when current employees leave. According to a cost of turnover report done by Tooling U-SME, “voluntary turnover costs organizations hundreds of thousands and up to millions of dollars.” Obviously, this is an expensive problem that needs to…
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Wouldn’t it be great if you could spend less time on paperwork? You’ve got enough on your plate without having to create every report or email every customer. You can’t delegate this to someone on the shop floor, and your office staff is already busy. What you need is a middle manager, or software, that…
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We all know it’s coming. The skills gap is an unfortunate side effect of the “silver tsunami.” More baby boomers are retiring from manufacturing than new hires are coming in to replace them, and those new hires don’t have the same skills and years of knowledge the baby boomers do. One of the biggest problems…
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As more baby boomers begin retiring, the percentage of millennials working in manufacturing is only going to increase. With unemployment so low, the job market is becoming more competitive, so it’s up to manufacturers to make their shop as appealing as possible, and it will be most helpful to appeal to millennials. While not every…
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