David Marshall
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Why is Automation So Important?
- January 16, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Manufacturing
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As artificial intelligence and machine learning grows by leaps and bounds, and the field of robotics is light years ahead of where it was just ten years ago, industrial automation is becoming a regular part of the manufacturing process, as more companies are embracing a machine-based future. The biggest reason for this sea change is
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What Do You Need on Your Measurement Dashboard?
- January 9, 2019
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Manufacturing, Measurement
I’ve long been a proponent of measuring a company’s efficiency by measuring each employee’s productivity, output, and even their costs. Whether it’s an associate on the floor, an associate in the Accounts Receivable office, or even the President and COO of the entire company, you have to know how well the company is performing in
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What are Some Common Safety Issues in Manufacturing?
- December 26, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Manufacturing, Safety
For the most part, safety is usually a function of paying attention to your surroundings and avoiding situations that can cause you a problem, like failing to wear your personal protective equipment, or running across a hydraulic-powered conveyor line. These safety violations fall more on the “benign” end of the spectrum, where people didn’t mean
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An Unusual Approach to Manufacturing Safety
- December 19, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Manufacturing, Safety
In a typical manufacturing operation, safety policies are always the responsibility for management to create and for the associates to follow. But I thought that was always backwards: management didn’t have to worry about safety, since they weren’t actually operating the machinery, and the associates knew better about what would actually work and what was
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Bob Blair: Understanding the Difference Between Leadership & Management
- December 12, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
I recently had a chance to ask some of my old friends and reps to contribute a guest article to my blog. “What do you want us to write about?” they asked. “How about something you’ve learned in our years working together?” I said. This one was written by Bob Blair, an industrial engineer I
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Kris Kumnock: Win Hearts With Iconic Events
- December 12, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership
I recently had a chance to ask some of my old friends and reps to contribute a guest article to my blog. “What do you want us to write about?” they asked. “How about something you’ve learned in our years working together?” I said. I’ve been in the “iconic event” business for several years, helping
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Managers, not HR, Should Spend Time Doing Talent Recruiting
- November 28, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
When it comes to finding new talent, the onus shouldn’t be on Human Resources to do all the work. HR can find potential talent by ticking off all the boxes, but it’s ultimately the manager who should be responsible for testing the individual skill sets and determining whether they would be a cultural and talent
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Innovation: Make Something When You Don’t Have the Equipment
- November 21, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Innovation, Manufacturing
Sometimes I think we’re spoiled in this country (and I include myself in that sweeping generalization). For many companies, the solution to a problem is to throw money at it. Years ago, we had a plant that was faced with frequent absenteeism and drug test failures, a plant that created a lot of excess pollution
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How We Helped the Oil & Gas Industry Save Millions
- November 14, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Innovation, Productivity
When it comes to innovation, some companies look for problems to fix and then fix them. That doesn’t mean they create the problems. Rather, they look for a problem or a pain point that people might have and then figure out a way to solve it. Then they market that solution and hope the people
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The Time There Was Nearly a Knife Fight on My Factory Floor
- November 7, 2018
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management, Safety
You run into all kinds of problems when you’re managing a factory and running a business. I’ve had to fire people for sleeping on the job. I locked my own son out of a meeting for being late. And I once had to talk a naked guy down out of the rafters. So it shouldn’t