David Marshall
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Watch Out for Seasonal Silliness Around the Holiday
- November 4, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Manufacturing
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Down in Texas, just like everywhere else in the United States, there are quite a few holidays that bring the silliness out in people — reasons to drink, celebrate with friends, set off fireworks, and generally get a little rowdy and obnoxious. While Christmas may be called the “silly season,” every manager knows he or
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How Managers Can Keep Unions on Their Side
- September 25, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Management, Safety
When I was the president of Robroy, I worked very hard to keep the union on my side. In fact, having them on my side made managing the associates a whole lot easier. It also made them more likely to agree with my decisions when other managers might have faced a lot of pushback and
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Five BAD Leadership Habits to Stop Doing Immediately
- September 18, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
There are plenty of articles out there on what good leaders should do, but I don’t see as many articles on bad leadership. Because there are plenty of bad leaders who, at the very least, are ineffective and make no impact. But at worst, they drag their organization down into the toilet because they lack
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Building a Winning Team by Hiring for Skills, Not Education
- September 11, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Manufacturing
When you’re building a winning team, it’s important that you hire people for their knowledge and smarts, not their education and degrees. Too often, businesses require certain educational experiences that either don’t make any sense or mean you miss out on some prime candidates. If I had to choose between hiring a 22-year-old with a
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The Benefits of a Lean Manufacturing System
- September 4, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management, Manufacturing
Lean manufacturing is a buzzword that gets used a lot, but what does it really mean and why should you care? Lean manufacturing is about eliminating waste and removing superfluous processes. It means having the ideal number of associates, trimming the fat, and making sure that everyone can get the most amount of work done
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Advanced Strategies for Creating a Lean Manufacturing System
- July 24, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Digital Transformation, Innovation, Manufacturing
You’re no doubt already familiar with lean manufacturing, as it’s now one of the most common manufacturing philosophies today. And even if you haven’t, you’ve heard about its core principles: reducing waste, improving efficiency, and maximizing your value to the customers. But lean is more than just eliminating waste or Jack Sprat’s wife’s dietary restrictions.
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Creating a Sustainable Manufacturing Operation
- July 17, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Innovation, Manufacturing
Sustainable manufacturing is no longer a buzzword, it’s a business imperative. It’s about balancing environmental responsibility, economic viability, and social equity. It means fulfilling your fiduciary responsibilities to your associates and your customers. It means avoiding harming the environment and earning expensive and painful fines and penalties. And it means being good corporate and business
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Building a Winning Team: Continuous Improvement and Development
- July 7, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Innovation, Measurement, Productivity
Every manager dreams of building a winning team. Every boss dreams of having a winning department. Every sergeant dreams of commanding a winning squad. Members doing the high-quality work that needs to be done, fulfilling every function, completing every pass, every play, every task, every order, and functioning as a single unit with a single
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How to Develop Good Leadership Habits
- June 26, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Leadership
Good leaders are always open to new ideas about how to become better leaders. They don’t assume they know everything, especially as they ascend to higher and higher positions. They know their strengths and work to make them even stronger. They know their weaknesses and work to make them, well, stronger, too. You don’t have
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How Modern Leadership Creates a High-Performance Manufacturing Team
- June 19, 2024
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Manufacturing
Finding the ideal employees in any organization can be tough. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, the customers you serve, the work you do, or the jobs you’re hiring for. It’s tough finding quality employees. But too many employers try to find exactly the right employee who has all the right skills and can