Management

  • How Managers Can Keep Unions on Their Side

    • September 25, 2024
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Management, Safety
    No Comments
    Photo of union workers on strike. A relationship between management and the union doesn't have to be adversarial.

    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

    read more

  • Five BAD Leadership Habits to Stop Doing Immediately

    • September 18, 2024
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Leadership, Management
    No Comments
    Shouting at your staff because you think you know everything is a sign of bad leadership.

    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

    read more

  • The Benefits of a Lean Manufacturing System

    • September 4, 2024
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Leadership, Management, Manufacturing
    No Comments
    Stacks of steel pipes that represent a lean manufacturing system.

    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

    read more

  • Your Company’s Management Style is Driving Off Employees

    • June 12, 2024
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Leadership, Management
    No Comments
    Winston Churchill is one of my heroes and I look to him as a leader I admire.

    Manufacturing does not have the reputation of being progressive or forward-thinking when it comes to management style, allowing their employees to grow and develop, or considering their employees’ mental health and feelings. Maybe you think it’s soft and you think, “We never had any of that nonsense when I was young! We just sucked it

    read more

  • No More Company Cars

    • June 5, 2024
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Management
    No Comments
    I upset a few people when I put an end to company cars. But they cheered right up when I gave them a car allowance instead that allowed them to get paid to drive their own car.

    I’ll admit, I hate the idea of company cars. They’re a royal pain in the ass and they cause a lot of problems and strife within a company. One thing I did whenever I started in any new leadership role at a company was to eliminate the company cars completely. After all, we were in

    read more

  • Onboarding People Should Be About Finding Information

    • May 22, 2024
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Management, Productivity, Safety
    No Comments
    Safety training should be an ongoing effort, not just part of the initial onboarding

    When you’re inducting new people into your organization, it’s not uncommon to present them with a lot of information, reading of the manuals, showing them how to operate the company software, and to actually perform their job. In fact, the first few days of most onboarding processes are all about the rules, policies, and procedures

    read more

  • Empower Your People to Become Leaders When They’re Not

    • May 15, 2024
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Management
    No Comments
    Empower your people to act as leaders even when they're not. Let them make their own decisions and come up with their own ideas.

    I think I’m going to upset a lot of people with this one, so let’s see what happens. One way to empower your people to become leaders when they’re not managers is to eliminate the concept of DEI. Before I get a lot of hate mail, hear me out on this. I don’t mean that

    read more

  • How to Stay Competitive in a Global Market

    • April 24, 2024
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Innovation, Management
    No Comments
    Staying competitive in a global market means finding what your customers want and your competitors don't make.

    We are truly in a global market these days, and the cost of production in the United States makes cheaper overseas production much more attractive to a lot of buyers. Despite the push to “Buy American” and other campaigns, overseas manufacturers are slashing costs and paying their workers a less-than-optimal wage. That makes it a

    read more

  • The 5 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Every Manufacturer Should Measure

    • April 17, 2024
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Management, Manufacturing, Productivity
    No Comments
    If you're not measuring your KPIs, how will you ever know if you're succeeding or falling behind? Do you even know what your KPIs are?

    Every manufacturer keeps track of their output and how many units they’re making and selling each month. (At least I hope they are! I’ve seen some operations where that’s a valid question.) But not every manufacturer measures the same KPIs, but they’re absolutely critical to keep track of on a monthly, weekly, or even daily

    read more

  • New Tech Doesn’t Always Solve Old Problems.

    • April 10, 2024
    • Posted by: David Marshall
    • Category: Business, Management
    No Comments
    Before you invest in inventory management software, you should have a reliable inventory management system in place.

    Last week, I talked about how I made sure our organization had the right discipline when it came to adopting an inventory management system. My concern was that if we didn’t have the right processes in place and the discipline to stick with them, then a new piece of technology wasn’t going to solve the

    read more