Beth Devine – Page 2

Lead Time, Cycle Time and Takt Time Are All Critical to Your Operations

August 19, 2022 Beth Devine

We’ve all heard the saying, “Mind the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.” Nobody questions the logic that spending fewer pennies will ultimately help you spend fewer dollars. The same logic can be applied in the successful operation of a manufacturing company.

In the fast-paced world of manufacturing, time always equals money. That’s why operations and production managers are keenly focused on reducing lead time, cycle time and takt time.

Most people understand that lead time is defined as the length of time between the customer placing an order for a part and when they receive it (think calendar days). They also know that cycle time differs from lead time because it only counts the time spent working directly on producing the part. Lunch breaks, staff meetings, etc. aren’t counted.

But takt time is a little more complicated to understand.

According to kanbanize.com, “Takt time is the rate at which you need to complete a product to meet customer demand. For example, if you receive a new product order every four hours, your team needs to finish a product in four hours or less to meet demand.”

In a machine shop, takt time is calculated by dividing the available work minutes by the number of parts ordered. For example, let’s say your shop is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Monday through Friday. That’s 45 total hours. But since your employees take an hour for lunch every day, this leaves 40 hours available to make parts. Multiply 40 hours by 60 and you’ll see that this equates to 2,400 available work minutes per week.

If your customers order a total of 400 parts per week, you’ll calculate your takt time by dividing 2,400 minutes by 400 (2,400/400 = 6). This means your shop must manufacture one part every six minutes to satisfy your customers’ weekly demand for parts.

If your shop can only make one part every eight minutes, you’ll only be able to produce 300 parts each week, leaving your customers 100 parts short. Somehow, you need to take two minutes off your takt time. This is where Lean Manufacturing tools can help.

Implementing a 5S system is one of the easiest tools to implement. According to the American Society for Quality (ASQ), “Lack of organization in the workplace wastes time and lowers productivity. By implementing a lean 5S system – sort, set in order, shine, standardize, sustain – organizations can create a clean, well ordered, and disciplined work environment.” Keeping materials and tools organized where they are easily seen and can be quickly accessed is just one way to reduce process time.

Another tool, Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is ideal for reducing process time. VSM can help identify bottlenecks and eliminate waste, whether it’s time or materials. VSM practitioners use a process flow chart to document every step of the production process in chronological order. Each step is then analyzed for efficiency, and process improvements are implemented.

There are many other Lean Manufacturing tools, and each are worth exploring if you want to reduce takt time. Even something as simple as reducing the number of steps a worker takes to move parts from one process to another can make a difference.

In other words, mind the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves.

Implementing Lean Manufacturing methods will help you to operate your business at maximum efficiency. This is just one of the strategies reviewed during a Needs Assessment from Web Savvy’s subsidiary, CTmrg. Together we can uncover your operational challenges and provide vetted resources to assist you in implementing change. Contact Us to learn more.

Consider Upskilling or Reskilling When Recruitment Isn’t Enough

August 10, 2022 Beth Devine

Connecticut manufacturers struggling to fill job vacancies have done everything they can to entice skilled workers to join their companies. They’ve increased wages, enhanced benefits, and adopted flexible work schedules, but they still can’t fill those empty roles.

As a result, there’s a stronger interest in training existing employees to perform different jobs. According to LinkedIn’s 2022 Workplace Learning Report, 72% of the Learning and Development (L&D) professionals who were surveyed reported upskilling/reskilling as their primary focus in 2022.

To be clear, upskilling isn’t the same as reskilling. Upskilling involves training an employee to perform a higher-skilled version of the job they’re already doing, usually within the department where they’re already working. Reskilling is training an employee to perform a completely different task than what they’re doing, perhaps within a different department. Some companies call this “cross training.”

Both approaches have multiple benefits. One U.S. manufacturing company owner, Frank Oetlinger, has cross trained most of his employees. Which task they perform and which department they’ll work in from week to week typically depends on where they’re most needed.

Ask anyone in either of his shops what they do, and most will reply “a little bit of everything.” Ask them what their job titles are, and some will have to stop and think about it because they really aren’t sure anymore. They just seamlessly float between job functions and across departments, doing whatever needs to be done at any given time.

When discussing why he cross trains his employees, Frank says, “It makes work more interesting for them, because their jobs aren’t boring. They get to learn new things and do different things.” This could be one reason why his employee retention is so high. Many of his employees have been with him for more than 20 years, and some as long as 35.

In addition to improving retention, reskilling improves employee engagement. Employees who have been trained in more than one area are more likely to feel respected and valued, and they’re more likely to invest themselves in the company.

Upskilling has all of the same advantages, but given how quickly technology is advancing it’s more important than ever to implement, particularly digital upskilling. In an article titled, “Preparing Everyone for a Digital World,” Global company PwC writes, “Already, there is a skills mismatch around the world and millions of jobs are going unfilled. It is not possible to recruit enough already-skilled people to do them.”

Upskilling helps alleviate the problem. It facilitates filling high-skill job vacancies from within the company, leaving the lower skilled, lower paying jobs (which are typically easier to fill) available for new hires.

When recruitment efforts alone aren’t filling your empty roles, it might be time to revisit what you’re doing to upskill and reskill your existing workforce. The Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group’s (CTmrg) vetted HR professionals can help develop the strategic plans you’ll need to successfully incorporate upskilling and reskilling initiatives into your recruitment efforts. Contact Us to learn more.

COVID’s Future Impact on Workplace Environmental Health and Safety (EHS)

June 22, 2022 Beth Devine

It’s no secret that business owners are still struggling with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Delivery disruptions, material shortages, and a scarcity of workers have been at the forefront of the news for well over a year. It’s only recently that the media has begun shining a light on the effects the pandemic has had on EHS leaders and the workforces they manage.

Prior to COVID, EHS departments were fairly limited to instilling a safe work environment, ensuring companywide EHS compliance, and addressing workplace illnesses and injuries.

But when the pandemic hit, EHS leaders had to broaden their roles. They scrambled to implement new safety protocols that included masks, social distancing, hand sanitizing stations, and other initiatives. They increased EHS communications, implemented travel restrictions and generated vaccination policies. Most EHS leaders did everything humanly possible to keep workers from becoming infected and spreading the virus, and the workforce took notice.

As a result, workers’ perceptions of EHS managers have changed. They no longer see them simply as EHS compliance enforcers. They now view them as benefactors of complete employee health and well-being, and this elevated status has created a new challenge for EHS leaders.

In its 2021 survey, EHSToday learned that an increasing number of employees are turning to their companies’ EHS departments for help with their mental health and well-being, which they hadn’t done prior to the pandemic. Rather than shirking the added responsibility, EHS managers are stepping up. According to the survey, 58% of EHS leaders said improving mental health and worker wellness will be a high priority for 2022 and 2023.

Business owners say they plan to place a higher priority on EHS budgets, too, and they expect to modify corporate structures to ensure EHS is more closely aligned with Human Resources. They anticipate that the two departments will share a new, holistic approach toward managing employees’ overall health and mental well-being.

According to the 2021 Business Group on Health / Fidelity Investments Employer-Sponsored Health and Well-being Survey, which interviewed leaders from 166 large global companies, employer programs designed to support employees’ mental health and emotional well-being will also increase significantly throughout 2022. Programs expected to grow the most since 2020 include sleep improvement programs (35% increase), digital cognitive behavioral therapy (37% increase) and happiness programs (33% increase).

According to the survey’s authors, “Mental health and emotional well-being is the leading way global employers are addressing employee well-being, more so than physical health, which is historically the most common type of program. This finding further accentuates the international trend of emotional health playing a critical role in an employee’s state of well-being.”

This could very well be the rainbow that follows the COVID storm, and it’s likely to remain with us well into the future. Not sure how to mange this new component of your business? Contact us to learn more.

Web Savvy Subsidiary Board Member Wins Design Award

June 16, 2022 Beth Devine

Design Your Monday, a Glastonbury, CT interior design studio, owned by Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group (CTmrg) Board Member Jennifer Gaggion, received the “Best Specialty Project” award from CREW CT, a leading organization for senior-level executive women in Connecticut commercial real estate. CTmrg is a subsidiary of Web Savvy Marketers.

The CREW CT’s Annual Blue-Ribbon Awards Showcase was held on May 18 to honor excellence for Connecticut’s 2021 real estate accomplishments. The Best Specialty Project award category is reserved for the best reuse of an existing building for a purpose other than that for which it was originally built or designed.

Design Your Monday collaborated with Capital Studio Architects and Aldrich Construction to convert an existing 100,000 square foot warehouse in East Hartford into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for HORST Engineering.

“This project was a blank slate that needed to come to life,” Gaggion said. “Our design process was highly strategic and focused on driving the client’s business results as well as attracting top tier employment candidates. Winning this award shows that people appreciate the dedication and passion that went into this project.”

Gaggion noted that the award “signifies the importance of surrounding yourself with esteemed colleagues in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries who work together to achieve the same goal, and the value engaging clients, like Horst Engineering, bring to the project.” She said she loves working with professionals in commercial real estate, and “especially with top-notch clients like HORST Engineering, who value what we bring to the project.” Gaggion believes design is a strategic initiative that, when leveraged, has the power to drive measurable results.

Your physical environment is one of the many facets of a company’s recruitment and retention plan. CTmrg specializes in helping organizations identify opportunities for growth, and works with them to attract and foster an engaged workforce. Design Your Monday is one of the many vetted resources CTmrg provides. Contact us today to learn how a CTmrg specialized Needs Assessment can help your organization grow and prosper.

Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group Supports UCONN Grant Process

June 9, 2022 Beth Devine

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The Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group (Ctmrg), a subsidiary of WebSavvy Marketers, worked with other manufacturing industry groups, including the Naval & Maritime Consortium and ManufactureCT, to help the University of Connecticut (UCONN) secure a $1.75M grant from the Department of Energy (DOE).

The grant will help fund the university’s DOE Industrial Assessment Center (IAC), which helps small to medium sized manufacturing companies reduce their energy costs and carbon emissions. The IAC will conduct complimentary energy efficiency assessments for 20 companies throughout Connecticut, Rhode Island, and/or New York each year for five years.

According to the Department of Energy, IAC assessments typically identify more than $130,000 in potential annual savings opportunities.

“The key to getting the grant was bringing everyone together to work on this common goal,” CTmrg’s founder, Beth Devine said. “As a result, we have a complete solution for manufacturers who want to improve their energy efficiency.” Devine serves on an advisory panel that assists UCONN’s IAC in implementing the energy assessment program.

At a press conference on the UCONN Storrs campus on May 20, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced that the Biden administration will dedicate $7M to free energy assessment programs at additional schools in California, Delaware, Georgia and Texas. Devine attended the press conference with U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney, Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes, Connecticut’s Chief Manufacturing Officer Paul Lavoie, Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merill, and UCONN President Radenka Maric.

The Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group (CTmrg) helps small and medium sized manufacturers find and take advantage of programs and resources. CTmrg partners with workforce boards and educational institutions, navigates state and federal programs, and vets the best resources available to provide Connecticut manufacturers with a single source of services and information to help them grow their businesses. Contact Us for more information.

Are You Hitting Your Target Audience?

May 19, 2022 Beth Devine

It’s that time of year again. Time to review your database. It’s common knowledge that segmenting your email marketing lists results in higher open and click rates. According to a 2017 MailChimp report, click rates are 101% higher for emails sent to a segmented list versus a non-segmented list. The report was based on data from 11,000 segmented campaigns sent to nearly 9 million recipients.

The data also showed that email unsubscribes were significantly lower for segmented lists, by more than 9%. People are quick to unsubscribe if they receive emails that are not relevant to them. Since they often find these emails annoying, this can lead to a negative impression about your company and its products.

For your sales and marketing team, an “unsubscribe” is the kiss of death. The only way to reach these customers once they’ve unsubscribed is by telephone (which nobody answers anymore), a face-to-face visit, or postal mail. Knowing this, it’s easy to see the value of using segmented lists.

Where It Begins

Segmentation of a list is best done from the beginning, however, that’s not always possible. If you already have a large list, we suggest transferring it into a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to start. CRM software platforms like Sharpspring* contain all of your customers’ demographics, contact information, touch points, and purchase histories. They can also display how customers and prospects engage with your website, emails and other online content. For example, if you send an email telling customers about a new product, you can see who opened it, how long they viewed it, which links they clicked on within the email, etc.

Typically, a database is segmented by industry. This should be the bare minimum when building a database. However, with data from your CRM/In-bound programs, you can now segment your email lists by product interest and level of interest, among other things. For example, let’s say John Smith and Mary Jones each opened your email. You can see that John only clicked on the link for product A, but he stayed on that page for 15 minutes, indicating a high level of interest. You can also see that Mary only clicked on the link for product B, but she stayed on the page for just a few seconds before closing the email.

Armed with this information, you can segment John and Mary into different lists based on their product interest and their perceived level of interest, with John seemingly much more interested than Mary. You can then send another email with more detail on product A to John, which he will find relevant. Sending that same email to Mary, however, might cause her to unsubscribe. It would be better to put Mary on a segmented list for people interested in product B.

In a Nutshell

Segmenting your email lists is important. It ensures you’ll get a relevant message to the right audience at the proper time. Take a look at your CRM database and segmentation strategy. Is all of the customer information up to date in your CRM? Are your email lists segmented so they reach the most appropriate audience? If not, Contact Us to learn how we can assist you. Remember the most attractive and interesting marketing message is useless unless it gets to the right person.

*If you’re interested in investigating a CRM solution, contact us at 860-432-9977 for information regarding the tools we’ve reviewed and the ones we’ve chosen to use ourselves.

Is Business Development Keeping You Up at Night?

May 4, 2022 Beth Devine

It’s not uncommon for business owners to lose sleep at night, especially those who run manufacturing companies. They’re juggling a hundred balls at once, and the omnipresent fear that they’ll inadvertently drop one can result in a lot of late-night anxiety.

Some business owners push business development to the back burner while they address everything else they’re managing, like supply chain backlogs, staffing shortages, equipment failures, etc. This is especially true for smaller manufacturers with limited resources, and it’s a problem they can’t afford to ignore.

A manufacturer in Trumbull, CT made this mistake early on in her business. To respect her privacy, we’ll call her “Kim.” Kim’s outgoing personality helped her build a successful business from the ground up, and with just a few steady clients she quickly had more work than she could handle. She ramped up production, which meant hiring new people.

While she struggled to meet demand, she turned her attention away from business development. However, when her biggest client suffered an unexpected financial setback and abruptly stopped placing orders, Kim’s business collapsed. Her remaining customers couldn’t sustain the company and she had no prospects in her pipeline. She had to drastically downsize her warehouse and lay off most of her employees. She eventually rehired them, but it took several years to fully rebuild the company. Today she has hundreds of customers because she routinely focuses on business development.

Like most manufacturers, Kim built her business on Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WoMM). This is one of her most powerful tools and she continues to use it to her advantage. According to the fact checking website Review 42, WoMM is the most trusted form of marketing, and it influences 99% of all B2B purchases. However, Kim also knows that WoMM is not the only tool she needs to incorporate into her business development plan.

What tools does your business development plan include? Are you working with your marketing team regularly to engage with your customers on social media? Are you keeping your business at the top of your customers’ minds with newsletters, blogs, and periodic emails?

If you don’t have a strong business development plan, it might be time for a Needs Assessment. The Connecticut Manufacturers Resource Group (CTmrg.com), a subdivision of Web Savvy Marketers, has a long history of conducting Needs Assessments and can ensure your business development plan includes all the marketing strategies necessary for growing your business.

Unclaimed Funding for Manufacturers

April 28, 2022 Beth Devine

The Federal Government and the State of Connecticut have numerous programs that provide a significant amount of funding for manufacturing companies. These monies typically come in the form of low interest loans, grants, vouchers, and fund-matching programs. But much of this money goes unclaimed every year.

So why aren’t manufacturers snapping it up?

The number one reason is many manufacturers don’t know about these programs. Sure, you might hear about training dollars from your local chamber or the MVP from CCAT or even NETAAC funding via an industry group, but after receiving multiple emails for a variety of programs, it can seem overwhelming. Finding them on your own isn’t easy either, especially if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. One could easily spend hours, or even days, looking for them online. And once you’ve found the programs, there’s time spent determining whether or not your company qualifies for that specific funding.

Then, when you’ve finally determined that you qualify, there are the applications to be completed. Finally, there are stipulations on what the money can be spent on, so even after your application is approved, you may not be able to use the money in the way you intended. (Example: you can’t use funding retroactively, and some funding is exclusively for equipment) The entire process can be daunting and exhausting.

Most business owners are hyper extended just trying to get their products out the door. The pandemic has added to their workload with new challenges, too, like supplier shortages and shipping delays. They don’t have the resources to complete this additional work.

So, what’s a manufacturer to do?

Simply put, get some help from someone who already knows about the available programs and can complete the applications and qualifying processes for you. Reviewing your funding options is just one aspect of the Needs Assessment. We will review what your needs are and match them with funding opportunities.

The Connecticut Manufacturer’s Resource Group (CTmrg.com), a subdivision of Web Savvy Marketers, has a long history of helping manufacturers obtain state and federal funding. We understand the nuances of each program and how to manage the application process. With our help, you can increase your chances of getting some of that unclaimed money. Contact us for more information.

Cyber Security is More Critical Than Ever – Make Sure You’re Prepared

April 23, 2022 Beth Devine

Padlock and keyhole in a printed circuit. Digital illustration.

If you watched “60 Minutes” on Easter Sunday, you know that the U.S. government has issued an urgent warning about a dangerous new malware that could cripple industrial systems worldwide. This warning follows a recent cyberattack by Russian hackers who attempted to knock out power to two million people in Ukraine.

The Biden administration is warning that the Kremlin is now preparing to launch a new generation of cyberattacks against the United States. American cyber defenders say they’re seeing Russian hackers scanning and probing some of our most critical infrastructure systems. They’re bracing themselves, especially at the department of homeland security, with an initiative called “Shields Up.”

Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly said, “We are seeing evolving intelligence about Russia planning for potential attacks, and we have to assume that there’s going to be a breech, there’s going to be an incident, there’s going to be an attack.” Easterly predicts our energy and finance sectors will be key targets.

When it comes to Vladmir Putin, Easterly said, “We are dealing with a very dangerous, very sophisticated, very well-resourced cyber actor, and that’s why we’ve been telling everybody very consistently, ‘Shields up!”

So, what does that mean? Easterly, a West Point graduate and decorated army officer, says it means we should, “assume there will be disruptive cyber activity and make sure you are prepared for it.” To help mitigate the threat, she’s calling on Americans to be hyper diligent with their cybersecurity.

Steps we can take include:

Updating software. This is important because software updates typically include enhanced security features.
Using multi-factor authentication (MFA) on computers, tablets, and phones as much as possible. It may be inconvenient to wait for a text message and enter a code before you can browse your favorite websites, but implementing MFA makes you 99% less likely to get hacked.
Not sharing information we find on the internet unless we are 100% certain it is true and it originated from a credible source in the United States. Spreading false information is one of Russia’s favorite tactics.

You can learn more by visiting CISA’s National Cyber Awareness webpage, which also offers the option to subscribe to security alerts and tips. To watch the 60 Minute segment, click here.

Web Savvy Marketers and its subsidiary, Connecticut Manufacturer’s Resource Group (CTmrg.com) are dedicated to helping manufacturers succeed in every capacity, so we’ll be sharing more about cybersecurity throughout the year. To subscribe to our news updates, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Workforce Challenges Aren’t Just an HR Issue Anymore.

April 20, 2022 Beth Devine

In this year’s first quarter Manufacturer’s Outlook Survey, the National Association for Manufacturers (NAM) reported that manufacturing companies are still struggling with workforce shortages.

“Companies cite difficulties in finding sufficient workers to meet their capacity needs, despite wage growth for production and nonsupervisory workers in manufacturing that has been at a 40-year high. At the same time, manufacturers have had around 800,000 job openings or more—a very elevated rate—for 10 straight months,” according to the report’s summary.

To entice candidates, 93% of the companies surveyed said they’ve increased wages and benefits. More than 66% have also incorporated flexible work schedules, yet they’re still unable to fill vacant roles.

If you’re having trouble finding qualified candidates it might seem logical to turn to your Human Resources department for help. However, workforce challenges aren’t just an HR issue. It’s beneficial to look around your company and consider the following:

Does your work environment represent the quality of your products and services? For example, when candidates come in for an interview do they see chaos and a stack of dirty dishes in the breakroom?
Have you considered how your marketing impacts your ability to recruit new employees? Does your company’s brand/image reflect a workplace that is friendly, diverse, and accepting?
Does your benefits package attract the right candidates? What worked 30 years ago doesn’t necessarily work today.
Are you optimizing strategic tax credit and deduction programs? Doing so can provide your company with more resources to invest in new employees.

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, Co nnecticut Manufacturers Resource Group (a subsidiary of Web Savvy Merketers) is here to help. We can help you resolve one issue, or several. If you’re not sure where you need help, we’ll conduct a Needs Assessment to provide the answers. Contact us to learn more.