We’re a Lean, Green Manufacturing Machine!

Several years ago I wrote about being Lean and Green. I asked the question – “Is it hard to be 'green' or is it really just more the discipline of looking at how to run your business in a more efficient way?” One that improves your bottom line as well as reduces your impact on the environment; not regulated by government, but regulated by common sense to use the least amount of resources (lower costs) to produce your product.

So with the 45^th Anniversary of Earth Day I felt it was timely to go back and think about this topic once again. Now let me just say I am not talking about “green” to the level like my state of California is mandating with AB32 or the Green Chemistry Initiatives.

Bishop-Wisecarver Green Infographic

I am talking about common sense, how do I run my company to the best of its ability and make my product for a profit and impact the environment as little as possible? I understand that there are some companies that won’t make changes unless mandated, but let me just live in a world, for a few minutes, where people are responsible for their actions and feel a responsibility to run their companies for the good of the bottom line, as well as the environment.

At Bishop-Wisecarver, we realize the best way to appreciate our planet is by doing something to help every day and we have implemented “lean manufacturing” practices throughout the company that reduce waste of all kinds.  Whether it’s time, material or talent, lean manufacturing aims to maximize efficiency in numerous ways such as smartly allocating resources, maximizing space, recycling old material and applying employees to job’s best suited to their skills.

This sounds admirable, but what does it mean in reality for our customers and planet?  For one customer, it meant better utilizing their current space and not having to purchase, or build, an additional site. Our engineers provided product solutions that saved them space and kept them fully productive in their current location.

For another customer, it meant implementing our DualVee® wheels and racked track into their machinery.  It saved at least 10 hours per week that had been spent shutting down production to wipe down rails and belts. And you know those employees who had to wipe down the rails are happy to be doing something else with their time! Bishop-Wisecarver also provided special parts machining for a customer so they didn’t have to purchase equipment or space to manufacture it themselves. It also allowed the customer to order only as needed, thus reducing extra inventory storage costs or concerns.

Lean manufacturing is a solid, cost effective business philosophy, but we want it to be more than that – we use it to innovate and design smarter solutions for our customers.  And, in doing so, we are helping conserve, and best utilize, our planet’s resources. We think that’s the best way to truly celebrate Earth Day – everyday. What do you think?

Teamwork Cooks Up Superior Satisfaction

I had the extreme pleasure of dining this past week at Per Se in New York City. Many thanks again to my most gracious hostess Shelly Sun of Bright Star Care LLC.

I was in NYC for my Women Presidents’ Organization Platinum meeting. I look forward to these meetings because I always come away with great ideas for growing my business. I’m a foodie and I love a great meal but dining at Per Se transcends eating to a whole different level and it truly is an experience that one will remember for a long time to come. While the food is phenomenal what makes the experience so exceptional is the service that is wrapped around the food. At a basic level serving food is a commodity. Creating a world class experience that makes customers rave about you sets you apart. From the moment I stepped into the room for our meal I was treated like the most important person in the room.

 

Teamwork in the kitchen of Per Se in New York

The level of communication between the staff was fabulous. I have several food allergies. Not a problem, and once communicated the rest of the night was flawless with everything being put before me, regardless of the server, being void of the allergy foods. Even with the passed hors d’oeuvres a special version was created for me, without asking, several times. Course after course was delivered with flawless timing. Though a long meal, the pace was consistent and well timed. It was like watching a well-run machine.


The French Laundry kitchen streaming video at Per Se.

After our meal we were treated to a tour of the kitchen and that is where you can see the real teamwork in action. It is an amazing system of communication and timing. There is also a transparency to the operations happening in the kitchen. The Per Se kitchen is linked by video to the French Laundry kitchen in Yountville, California.

Allowing both kitchens to view the level of performance occurring at each location. We also learned that everyone starts at the bottom and must work every position as they work their way up the ladder. This allows every employee to know the process of making superior food and delivering a world class experience from every position. Everyone can talk about the food being served in-depth.

This last point is interesting because in America we built a superior level of manufacturing excellence through the use of apprentice systems. Like Per Se, a well-planned educational process was offered to workers, deepening their skill-sets and making them that much better as they moved on to the next classification of their job. Economics, and to some degree technology, has eroded this system. I think we have done our employees and our economy a disservice. We are now feeling the effects with an increasing shortage of skilled labor for the manufacturing sector.

I thought about my own team at home. They are awesome. They build a superior, high quality product. Often with short lead times. Often to a customer's special request. They take great pride in what they create. We receive high marks on our net promoter score surveys.

I can only hope we are creating raving fans like the team at Per Se though it may be hard to be as excited about guide wheels, linear motion systems and complex assemblies! We can’t transport your taste buds through the sublime silky delight of a taste of foie gras but we can deliver phenomenal performance for our customers applications, often in the most critical and extreme environments imaginable.

Was Kermit Right?

Several weeks ago I attended the Annual Conference for the Women’s Presidents Organization in Vancouver, BC. One of our keynotes on the last day was Mae Jemison, and she pushed the group to think about our world environment and the impact our businesses are having on the world. She asked us if we were really being good stewards in how we run our businesses. My table had, at the gist, the following questions posed to us:

1) Run your company for maximum profits and ignore the environmental impacts, and

2) Sacrifice profits, make less money but operate in an environmentally respectful way.

I was seated at a table of all manufacturers and I am proud to say we all decided that there was actually a third option – respect the earth and still make maximum profits. Maybe since we are manufacturers we think in a more solution minded manner. But I do feel that one option does not need to be exclusive of the other.

So this question has been bouncing around in my brain ever since the conference. And I keep asking myself, is it really that hard for a business to be “green”? Flashbacks of my childhood came to mind and I remember Kermit the Frog from Sesame Street singing, “It Is Not Easy Being Green.”

Now let me just say I am not talking about “green” to the level like my state of California is trying to mandate in AB32 or the green chemistry initiative.

I am talking about common sense, how do I run my company to the best of its ability and make my product for a profit and impact the environment as little as possible. I understand that there are some companies that won’t make changes unless mandated, but let me just live in a world, for a few minutes, where people are responsible for their actions and feel a responsibility to run their companies for the good of the bottom line, as well as the environment.

Bishop-Wisecarver’s first step on this journey was to become a Bay Area Green Business.The process was not too difficult. We had to make a few changes and investments in our business and go through several audits but the changes we made where good financially, as well as environmentally. We use less water and electricity and thus save money on an ongoing basis. We also received rebates for several of the investments, and that made it even less painful.

We are very focused on LEAN/Continuous Improvement methodologies. To me, this is really the basis of a good “green” program. We now strive for more commonality of parts (fewer materials) and faster more efficient processes (less energy and processing materials). When we look at the improvement of our capital equipment, many solutions offer better efficiencies with less scrap, little to no coolants and a reduction of other chemicals. Designing closed loop systems that recycle fluids etc. also help to reduce our impact on the environment.

So, I wonder is Kermit really right? Is it hard to be “green” or is it really just more the discipline of looking at how to run your business in a more efficient way? One that improves your bottom line as well as reduces your impact on the environment; not regulated by government, but regulated by common sense to use the least amount of resources (lower costs) to produce your product? What do you think?

Your One Piece of Advice

I am currently in Vancouver BC for the annual Women President’s Organization conference.We ended a great day of programing last night with a dinner. At my table our hostess threw out a fabulous question – looking back on your time as President what is the one thing you wish you had done or learned sooner? Wow! Great question and it fueled a fabulous evening of discussions. What is great is that all the advice was relevant regardless of the business. From me being a manufacture of bearings and linear guide systems, to law, marketing, construction, consultation, healthcare and production companies, the advice all rang so true for all of us.

The following is a list of some of the top pieces of advice we discussed:

-          Trust your instincts

-          Make your career something you really love and inspires you

-          Don’t be afraid of lawyers

-          Be committed to your decisions

-          Ask for help – reach out to your network

-          There is real power, knowledge and support in peer review groups

-          The more you delegate, the more your business will grow

-          Learn and continue to work on how to be a great leader

-          Don’t be afraid to scale your business

-          Have a strategic legal plan for your company

This is the start of a great list. I would love to read what others advice would be. Please post your comments below for all to learn from.

What If?

I recently attended the Power Transmission Distributor Association (PTDA) Summit in Phoenix, Arizona (www.ptda.org). There I had the pleasure of hearing Mike Rayburn speak as a keynote speaker (www.mikerayburn.com).The title of Mikes’ address was “What If and Why Not?” Mike is an amazingly talented musician who uses music and comedy to get across some really big ideas. In this day and age we all want to be innovative. We all want to differentiate our products or services. We are all looking for value-add and a way to deepen our relationship with our customers. But we tend to get caught up on how to do it. Because usually truly achieving any of these goals requires a huge shift in thinking and/or behaviors. It means learning a new process or skill; defining a new technology or way of thinking. And that gets a bit scary and risky. But Mike pushes back and says why not just break it down into smaller parts and ask – What if or Why Not?

Mike stressed the importance of starting on the path to the goal. Don’t worry about having everything mapped out and solved. Interestingly enough that has been a theme I have heard recently from several people.  Mike says that often you just have to set your course and start moving and interestingly enough the solutions and resources will start coming to you. Deepak Chopra taught us the same thing in the “Soul of Leadership” class I took at Kellogg School of Management.  Deepak said we need to learn to trust the universe; that when you put big ideas out there, and you start to gain awareness, the universe will start to deliver the solution (http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/execed/Programs/SOUL.aspx). Just last month in my WPO Platinum meeting our facilitator Chris McGoff, Founder & CEO of The Clearing stressed the use of primes in creating strategic vision for our companies. One prime we learned was “Trust the Universe”. A concept that if we set our sights on what we have the know-how to achieve we tend to limit our vision and constrain our future. Visionary leaders make declarations about the future trusting that what is needed to fulfill the vision will emerge as they step out and take action (www.theclearing.com).

We are all looking at big changes within our industries and companies. The last year has created the need for new thinking. I think I am finally starting to realize that I don’t have to all the answers. I just have to be committed to the vision and taking the journey. So the next time I feel stumped by a problem I am going to pour myself a nice glass of Peju Estate Cabernet Franc Reserve and ask “What if and Why Not?” and trust in the journey that will follow.

MARSHALL GOLDSMITH and FRANCES HESSELBEIN - A Discussion on Leadership

Thriving in the New Economy - WOMEN PRESIDENTS' ORGANIZATION - Annual Conference

EVENT: KEYNOTE ADDRESS – MARSHALL GOLDSMITH, best-selling author and Executive Coach and FRANCES HESSELBEIN, President and CEO of the Leader to Leader Institute / formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, former CEO, the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. (1976-1990)
SPONSORED BY: Cisco

WOW! What an amazing opportunity to see these two together. They have such a real affection and respect for each other’s abilities. I came away with severl pearls of wisdom from such a seasoned and smart duo.

Some thoughts to ponder…

-          Live by example

-          Lead by example

-          Have personal humility and total respect for others – otherwise the rest does not matter

-          You must have trust

-          How our your treating the people around you?

-          Find solutions through respect

-          “Manage to the Mission” like our armed forces, you have to have a real passion for the mission. Clearly know the “why” and the “purpose”

-          Innovate or die – Innovation is the change that creates a new level of performance

-          We all have losses and sorrows – But we have to see these as opportunities to make a difference

-          Don’t waste energy you could be using to make a difference

-          Get your staff to your passion level

o   This should be your first mission

o   Talk about your passion/mission and live it

o   Respond with “That will further our mission” or “That is mission focused”

-          Remember – MISSION COMES FIRST!

NAVIGATING THE NEW WORLD OF SOCIAL MEDIA - MARKETING AND THE SOCIAL WEB

Thriving in the New Economy - WOMEN PRESIDENTS' ORGANIZATION - Annual Conference
SPEAKER: Jeanette Gibson, Director, Global Social Media, Cisco
SPONSOR: Wells Fargo
DESCRIPTION: Conducting communications in this new Web 2.0 world is a challenge for any company. How, when, why to use video, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and all other forms of social media tactics and strategies can be hard to navigate. Jeanette Gibson, Director of Global Social Media, Cisco will discuss the company’s strategy for Web 2.0 and share best practices on how Cisco transformed its product launch process using web 2.0 technologies and integrates social media into its communications and marketing campaigns.

I am totally sold on the value of social media for business, even in a B2B space like mine. I enjoyed learning more from a seasoned industry professional.

When considering social media remember:

-          Social media creates a 2 way street between you and your customers

-          Your customers are now defining your product in the market

o   When they are upset and post a negative comment

§  Say  “thank you” and “I’m Sorry” – most customers don’t take the time to post a negative comment, so treat it as the opportunity that it is to keep them

-          See it as a “social hub” – a place to aggregate – provide RSS feeds

-          What are your customers' passionate about?

o   That should drive your content

o   See sites like http://www.blendtec.com/willitblend/ this was driven by their customer response

-          You can use sites like Twitter to poll your customers during your meetings and presentations

o   Get real time feedback

o   Create a Twitter address for your event

-          Like it or not – every employee is now a media producer for you

-          Videos should be “snackable” – 90 seconds or less

o   Tie your videos into other technologies

o   People like to see behind the scene views

-          Use Twitter to conduct interviews

o   Answer with a video

-          Tweet Ups provide a way to create off-line events

o   Allows people to meet face to face

o   They get to meet you in person

o   Tools like Eventbrite are great for scheduling

 

It is an important tool in creating engagement with your customers:

-          Look what Starbucks in doing to create engagement with their customers

o   Allow their customers to  - share, vote, discuss, see new products, submit “My Starbuck Idea”

-          Dell has created the Idea Storm  - http://www.ideastorm.com/

-          Check out and learn from the top companies  - http://www.engagementdb.com/

 

Lessons Learned:

-          Remember you can put your meeting audio on iTunes

-          FTC guidelines around disclosure on your blogs  and postings

-          Public and private lines get blurred on social media

-          When filming videos remember your backgrounds and lighting

 

WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON'T GET YOU THERE

Thriving in the New Economy - WOMEN PRESIDENTS' ORGANIZATION - Annual Conference

SPEAKER: Marshall Goldsmith, Best-selling author and Executive Coach
SPONSOR: IBM
DESCRIPTION: Marshall Goldsmith is a world authority in helping successful leaders achieve positive, lasting change in behavior: for themselves, their people and their teams. In this fast-paced, interactive session, Dr. Goldsmith will describe classic challenges faced by successful leaders and how they can use ‘what to stop’ in personal development and coaching. Participants will practice feedforward – a positive, focused tool for development that has been successfully implemented by leaders around the world. He will then share a proven process for leadership development and coaching – along with published research involving over 86,000 respondents from eight major corporations. Finally, Marshall will have participants practice peer coaching and share exciting new research on how it can produce great results – at very low cost to the company. http://www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com/

I really enjoyed hear Dr. Goldsmith speak. He provided a lot of food for thought. Below are my notes from his session. It is hard to capture the try spirit of the session since much of it was interactive.
 -  #1 - You need to learn what to STOP doing!
 -  We all get stuck in our egos
 - Challenge is not theory but execution
 - Change happens when you follow up and really stick with it
 - The world becomes a better place when people "do"
 - Let others watch you develop
 - Peer coaching is a valuable tool
 - learn to be happy and reduce your feelings of guilt

Classic challenges when interacting with your staff
 - Try to win too much
 - Wanting too much value (no longer their idea) reduces their comfort of sharing with you
 - Passing judgment

As a leader - Remember
 - Your suggestions become orders
 - Before you speak - is the comment worth it? (even if you're are right?!)
 - Learn to say "Great idea!"
 - Take a deep breath and let it go
 - Help more, judge less, don't critique
 - Let go of the past
 - Learn
 - Help

Are You Stuck!?

Thriving in the New Economy - WOMEN PRESIDENTS' ORGANIZATION - Annual Conference

KEYNOTE ADDRESS – PROFESSOR REBECCA HENDERSON, Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management, Harvard Business School

SPONSORED BY: Foley & Lardner, LLP

Professor Henderson finds that most companies do not achieve their strategic plans because they just have too many of them. We tend to have a hard time saying no. What does your pipeline REALLY look like? Are you trying to do too many things at once? Goals that are beyond the resources of your company? Are you "being too busy"? Most companies run at ~300% overload

These are the dynamics of overload

-The dangers of firefighting

-Why we tend to stay stuck

-How to break the cycle -what can be done

What are the realities of overload?

-Most everyone knows that the bottom projects will never get done

So kill those projects

Stop burning up your people

Over commitment reduces productivity

When you are constantly moving from project to project there is no time to reflect

Attention to projects actually declines

Focus shifts to short term versus long term

-Why does overload persist?

Overload is not about the person failing, it is a structural dynamic

people get blamed instead of the systems

Imposes pressure

Switch into firefighter mode, providing insights, fixing things instead of developing strategy, setting priorities and systems, and killing the project

Want to get unstuck?

-Manage your capacity - look at your projects like your product production pipeline

Don't take a bottoms up estimate approach

Most often tasks established are unreliable

it NEVER goes as planned

Always easy to make space for 1 more

keep good records of actual times required to complete past projects

Compare past projects to the new one - understand how really feasible the new one is

-Learn to like killing projects

Have a clear strategy and live by it -even if it is a "good" project - say NO!

Run a funnel not a tunnel

Clearly articulate the priorities

Let staff know what can "fall of the table"

Learn to face worse before better

Accept short term pain for long term benefits

fix problems - don't punish

-Change your habits around dealing with problems

respond to them as opportunities

-Build trust within the organization

Think about your relationships - don't just CYA

Thriving in the New Economy - WOMEN PRESIDENTS' ORGANIZATION - Annual Conference

KEYNOTE ADDRESS - PROFESSOR NEELI BENDAPUDI, Ph. D., Professor of Marketing and Director, Initiative for Managing Services Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University

We had the pleasure of hearing Professor Bendapudi speak today at the opening session of this year’s annual conference. Here are some of the highlights from her speech.

Title of Speech – Customer Apostles
·         Do you REALLY know who your customer is?
·         Do you REALLY know what they want?
o   Try standing behind your customer and looking at the world from their viewpoint
o   Does every level of your company see their part of the process from your customer’s viewpoint?
·         How do you create WOMP? (Word of Mouth Potential)
o   Your employees are your living brand
o   Can every employee tell your company story?
-        Effective way to teach your culture
o   Do your employees know how to create a Gumby moment?
-        Being flexible to your customer needs
-        The ability to really listen and solve their problems
-        And do it with speed and accuracy
o   Your customer highest trust is in what other customers say about your product service over what you claim
·         Your employees are your living brand
o   Hire correctly
o   Do they show passion
·         Customer Apostle versus Terrorists
o   Do you know which buckets your customers are in?
o   Only 4% of customers ever complain
o   You should see a complaint as a gift
·         Make a LASTing impression when you receive a complaint
o   Listen
o   Apologize
o   Solve the problem to the best you can
o   Thank them