As many of you have discovered, the Continuous Improvement SIG in Guelph has quickly become an additional value added opportunity for regional manufacturers.  Since the launch of the CI SIG in late 2008, it has become common place for 20-25 manufacturing representatives to participate in monthly discussions on Continuous Improvement/Lean focused SIGs. 

This event at AO Smith was no different as 25 manufacturing peers and community partners converged at this historically significant facility. You can read more about how GSW got it start in 1847 here.

Continuous Improvement SIG

The morning started with an overview of the Lean journey that started about 6 years ago by Rob Henderson (Production Manager) and Dean Varley (Director, Operations).  The focus of this event was for Rob and Dean to share the inventory management strategies and implementation of Kanban markets.  Dean shared that they had reached a high of $22 million in inventory that was being held in any available creice they could find including 100 on-site trailers.  They knew they needed to make some changes when they were exploring renting additional warehouse space.  Their goal for the end of 2010 is to reach $10 million in inventory and are very close to reaching that goal.  Dean and Rob were very clear about how they have been able to achieve the success that they have...through employee engagement...TEAMWORK!  AO Smith Fergus has a very rich culture of engagement and express this through their regular language that there are no employees, workers or staff...every person is a part of the team and all share the same goals - to continuously improve.

As they embarked on their journey of inventory reduction the team needed to engage in regular CI activities in order to facilitate inventory reduction.  They do this by their regular "white board" talks to discuss production levels, downtime, inventory and problems identified by team members.  These are 15 minute discussions that involve a mix of folks throughout the operation.   They moved their regular production meetings from their training room to the production floor, where the action is taking place and discussions will always involve safety and quality!

Some goals that AO Smith has identified for 2010 and beyond are:

• improve morale through communication and follow through of team concerns
• increase training opportunities
• supervision/leadership development (they noted this as important to improve morale)
• increased consistency of leadership
• lead hand role & responsibility definition

As per usual with the CI SIG, we took a tour of the huge facility on Hill Street in Fergus and participants were asked to make note of follow up questions about inventory reduction and opportunities for improvement in all aspects of the process.  Once we re-convene for roundtable discussion there is always a lot of great discussion about the hows and whys with most participants adding their thoughts on what they have implemented in their own facility.  The roundtable discussion offers an excellent opportunity to benchmark your own activities with what your peers are succeeding at.

Human Resources SIG

This event was our annual Employment Law Update with Steve Goodwin from Hicks Morley law firm. 

Some of the key facts that came out of this discussion were that all government agencies are working together so what is happening is that if a company has had a couple of Human Rights complaints/claims (note: claims not charges) than this may spur a Ministry of Labour Employment Standards audit.   Remember as an employer you can be subject to WSIB Workwell audits; WSIB compliance audits, ESA audits (payroll records/compliance) and Pay Equity audits.  This adds up to a lot of legislation that you need to be familiar with.

Two topics that were highly discussed were the new AODA-Employment Accessibility Standards and Bill 168 Violence in the Workplace Legislation.  AODA Legislation is being phased in throughout various sectors on companies will have to have a level of compliance by 2025.  It is important to note that those that have a customer service aspect to their business will need to be compliant by January 1, 2012.  Many of the points in AODA are mirrored by Human Rights but this legislation adds an extra amount of due diligence such as communication, training, recruitment criteria, and employee retention.  More information on the AODA Standard can be accessed here.

Bill 168 which goes into effect on June 15, 2010 can be problematic for many organizations to be ready for as there is still some ambiguity on enforcement.  Nonetheless, there are minimum criteria that needs to be met, such as: policies and procedures written and then communicated and trained to all staff.  Add to that the development of a Harrassment policy and procedure and it can seem like a daunting task for many companies. 

Here's the good news!  A number of EMC Members have shared their WPV and Harrassment policies and procedures in the Member Needs Help area of the EMC website.  A great place to benchmark or "steal with pride" from fellow members.  More information on Workplace Violence Legislation is available here.

Lastly we discussed the new directive on Background Check policies which gives some limitations to employers when seeking a criminal background check.  Some of the finer points from this directive revolve around the 120-day time frame for verified checks, discrimination of employees and future employees based on "record of offences".  More indepth information is available here.

Thanks again to Rob, Dean, Tracy and Nodine for all their efforts in making a great morning for the Guelph Area Consortium!

If you aren't regularly attending SIGs in Guelph then you are getting left behind as your peers in manufacturing are brainstorming and coming up with unique opportunities. 

If you want more information about the monthly SIGs, please contact Tim Smith tsmith@emccanada.org.