management
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How Can You Adapt to Change During a Weird Time Like This?
- October 14, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Management, Productivity
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I’ve been asked, during the pandemic-induced recession, how companies can and should adapt to change and keep up with everything that’s going on in the world. How can they pivot? How can they evolve? How can they morph into something that can take advantage of this “new normal.” Believe it or not, there is a
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Win Trust of Your Associates If You Want to Make Technology Changes
- October 7, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
I recently read a story on IndustryWeek.com that has elements that should be familiar to anyone in manufacturing management. Years ago in Detroit, the author, John Sobel, and his company installed a system that used AI and machine vision to examine the tailgates for any quality problems. To spot defects, the tailgates had to be
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3 Places to Cut Costs That Won’t Hurt Your Bottom Line
- September 30, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
Companies looking to save money and trim the fat without affecting salaries can cut costs in a few key areas that can help you reduce your overall costs without hurting your bottom line or the people who work for you. There are a few places where you can make cuts to your outside expenses without
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The Problems With Outsourcing Manufacturing
- August 26, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Manufacturing
I’ve never been a fan of outsourcing manufacturing, especially to overseas providers, for a couple of reasons. For one thing, you can very quickly lose control of the quality of your product. Your supplier can make several thousand units but slip on the specs even a little. Something’s a little off, or they used a
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How Do You Replenish a Decimated Workforce?
- July 22, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Management
With unemployment up and the economy facing some serious difficulties, many companies have furloughed or laid off their workforce, if only to protect their assets and hope for a recovery when they can bring those associates back. In the meantime, one of two things has happened: 1) the furloughed staff have been receiving unemployment for
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Employers May See Lawsuits Filed by Associates Who Become Sick
- June 17, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Business, Safety
We’re going to see a surprise growth industry as employers being calling their associates back to work: I think we’ll see more lawsuits filed by people who become sick. Given the litigious nature of our society, I have absolutely no doubt we’re going to see more plaintiff lawsuits and retaliatory lawsuits. Because of our tort
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How Did We Handle Racism at Robroy
- June 3, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
We never had to deal with too much racism during my time at Robroy, mostly because I made sure people knew that wasn’t allowed. One day, we had an incident where someone had scribbled someone’s name on a bathroom door, and calling them a racial slur. I certainly wasn’t going to stand for that or
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What Will the New Normal Look Like? Can We Return to What Was?
- May 27, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Management, Safety
People are talking about reopening the country and returning to work as if we can “return to normal.” Except we cannot return to what was. There’s a total shift in our country’s paradigm in working, playing, and socializing, especially because the coronavirus is still contagious and spreading. And unless and until there’s a miraculous discovery
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Your Return to Normalcy May Depend on How You Treated Your Associates
- May 20, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Leadership, Management
The last few months have been pretty rough, and many companies had to lay off associates or at least furlough them, just so they could collect unemployment for the 2+ months no one was working. But now that we’re reopening the country, the return to normalcy may be a little harder for some companies than
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Donna Waterstraat: The Increase of Women in Management Over the Years
- May 6, 2020
- Posted by: David Marshall
- Category: Management
When I started working at Robroy, I stepped into a culture that was rooted firmly in the 1950s: predominantly white, predominantly male. It was people like Donna Waterstraat who were instrumental in not only changing the culture, she helped improve our productivity, pushed for more women in management, and make the organization very profitable. Here’s