Lean Manufacturing / Production

Made in America:  How much longer will we be able to proudly make that claim?

Where Have All Of The American Manufacturing Jobs Gone……..

Joe started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 am. While his coffee pot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG).

He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA).

After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA), he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today.

After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA), he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY) and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB.

At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day, Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL), poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE), turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can’t find a good paying job in….AMERICA.

Americans are strong supporters of the manufacturing, service, and industrial base that had created the strongest economy in the world.  Now, we are reminded daily of the threat posed by international competition in all areas of production.    

Now is the time to remind the community at-large of all the good companies that make their home in America, and how important they are to the manufacturing economy. It is a disturbing fact that the number of manufacturers in North America is rapidly dwindling.  Below are some general referenced facts from 1998-2008 (www.fedstats.gov): 

• unemployment has risen from 3.4% (98’) to 6.7% (Dec 08’);
• currently 10,369,230 people (and growing) are out of work;
• the work week has been reduced to 33.5 hrs (lowest ever) to cut cost;
• four million people are receiving unemployment benefits;
• people working part-time jobs has increased from 3.4 million to 8 million  in the last 12-months;
• the U.S. lost 1.9% of its payroll in 08’.

While America has lost approximately five million jobs since 1998, American companies have outsourced hundreds of thousands of jobs to other countries in order to lower costs. Millions more has been moved to low-cost contractors in the U.S. that provide services on the cheap by paying low wages, and providing few or no benefits to employees. But workers, families, and communities who've felt the effects of outsourcing deserve better.

We, as American manufacturers, need to wake up. This is not about "us" versus "them." Workers in every country deserve jobs with good pay and benefits and safe working conditions. But the current wage and benefit cutting, outsourcing, and off-shoring trends in the U.S. are hollowing out companies and our economy. These trends are producing greater income disparity, declining opportunity, and growing insecurity for U.S. workers and their families. The workers who lose their jobs to outsourcing and off-shoring aren't statistics. They're real people with families who worry about how they're going to take care of their kids, cover their bills, and save for retirement.

Hear what other outsourced workers have to say

"It's really hurting the American people . . . . They are strip-mining society."  
            - Mark Olesen, former software engineer, Austin, TX

"My value as a human being was taken away from me. What is going to happen to all these people who are losing their jobs?"            
            - Jeraldean Evans, outsourced programmer, Oakland, CA

So what is the solution?

There is (and will be for the foreseeable future) a wage differential between producing in the U.S. or overseas.  United States companies have to work smarter, since we already know that we cannot compete with the cost structure of the companies who have had to defect to Third World countries for their product.

How do we do this? We must transform our companies to the Lean way of doing business — eliminating all the waste and “fluff” that has crept into our systems over the years. Using the principles, practices, tools, and philosophies of Lean to begin the journey towards efficient production will allow American companies to genuinely compete with organizations who contract 2business overseas. We are rapidly losing the capability to manufacture here. So, while we certainly believe in cost savings and efficiencies, and even in global competition, we don’t want to LOSE FOREVER the wonderful, innovative, creative, and great resources that made this country great — manufacturing. 

“Becoming Lean” is the total surrender and commitment to a philosophy that, when undertaken, provides manifest benefits to your organization.  The use of the term “Lean,” in a manufacturing or other production environment, describes a foundation that incorporates a collection of tools and techniques into the everyday business practices that optimize time, human resources, assets, and productivity, while continuously improving the quality of products and services to our customers. 

So, what differentiates GDC Total Business Solutions from other consulting firms?  At GDC we go beyond theory; we work side-by-side with our clients to successfully implement sustainable improvements. 

What this means for our clients:

GDC will work with you under your current climate condition. Once we both get an understanding of what needs to be done, we will review or help you assemble a strategic plan.  Upon completion of the plan, we will show you how to put meaningful measurables in place that will help in aligning your goals at all levels of the organization. Further, we will put together an implementation and employee training plan for your organization.  At this point, we will train your management staff on their new responsibilities and measurables in a Lean environment.  We will also work with employees to educate them on their newly refined role in the Lean environment.  In a “traditionally” ran organization, an employee arrives at work and is given a set of instructions to follow. If the employee deviates from the process, he or she is criticized or disciplined. In a Lean environment, the expectations are very different. As an employee starts a new job, his or her first task to learn the specific task or activities associated with the position. After the employee masters the basic concepts, their new job or role is to improve the process through continuous improvement.    

Once the employees understand their new role, we will train the entire organization on problem solving. Employees will be trained on how to identify problems and assist supervisors or managers in the problem solving process. The entire organization will work towards the main goals of the organization. Those goals will be based on customer service, employee satisfaction, new business, current business growth, and quality management. What this translates to on the shop floor or in the office area objectives are reduced lead times by 4% per year using standardize work (see glossary) or each employees coming up with two kaizens per year that will improve quality or employee satisfaction as related to the job.  For you sales staff, it may translate to x number of perspective new client calls per week or x percent increase in face-time with current clients. From this point, we will show the executive team how all the measureables connect, how to direct the ship to get the results expected, or how to alter the course if the economy starts to change and the direction of the strategic plan needs to be modified.     

So as you can see, GDC uses Lean to identify ways to reduce cost without attacking wages or reducing jobs.  Instead, we focus on removing the non-value added activities (waste) within your processes.  We help you create savings that will lower cost while keeping up with inflationary wages.  GDC strives to offer its clients the “Total Business Solution,” that includes changing the core culture of an organization.  We look at all aspects of the business, making links between operational improvement and financial/cost reductions.

With GDC’s recommended implementation path, we guide, coach, and mentor our clients to implement the Lean tools and principles that drive long-term success. Through our systematic approach, we ensure the improvements are obtainable, and most importantly, SUSTAINABLE. 

Some of the proven Lean benefits include: 

• 75-90% reduction in cycle-time;
• 95-99%  customer satisfaction;
• 50% reduction in inventory;
• 50-90% improvement in quality;
• 50% reduction in new product introduction cycle-time;
• profit growth 3-4 times industry average.

Clearly, the time to act is now!

We believe that it is our obligation to ensure that our clients are educated in the Lean implementation guide to solving organizational problems.  We will work hard to provide you with the latest and most innovative tools and information. It is our belief that the knowledge we share can be key to keeping companies in America able to compete in the global market.   

Allow us to come in to give you a preliminary assessment.

 “You can’t afford to wait until it’s too late.”

The job you save or create might just be your own