Quality management in the manufacturing industry should be high on your list of priorities. Carr Machine & Tool is going through the auditing process with ProShop ERP to prepare for the AS9100 certification they’d like to obtain. In this episode of MakingChips, the guys will talk with Paul Van Metre and Michael Collins about ProShop ERP, AS9100, and everything you need to know to prepare for getting your shop certified.
Paul is the president of ProShop USA, and founder of Adion Systems, which develops ProShop, a web-based and paperless ERP, MES, QMS system specifically designed for elite companies in the metalworking industry. They partner with shops that seek to be elite and deliver cutting edge quality.
Michael is an implementation specialist at ProShop USA, who trains clients on how to effectively use and implement ProShop in their shops. In addition, Michael provides QMS consulting in the areas of compliance, documentation, auditing and achieving management system certification such as AS 9100. Michael is also an ASQ certified quality auditor.
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ProShop describes itself as a Digital Manufacturing Ecosystem (DME) that combines quality management system (QMS), enterprise resource planning (ERP), Computerized Maintenance Management System, and manufacturing execution system (MES) all in one.
Not only is ProShop ERP an all-encompassing system you need for your manufacturing business, but they are also completely paperless. The system takes you into the 21st century and helps you manage everything in one system.
This episode IS a shameless plug for ProShop because we 100% believe everyone needs to integrate it into their business—and we aren’t afraid to say it.
AS9100 is the international Quality Management System standard for the Aviation, Space and Defense (AS&D) industry (Rev D (2016) is the most recent version). If you want to work with the AS&D you must get your shop certified.
So what does the AS9100 certification process look like? According to Michael, you simply start with a gap assessment. He’ll come in and ask questions, look at records and evaluate where your business is currently at as far as conforming to the AS9100 requirements.
The gap assessment will help you narrow down where you need to focus and implement changes to become compliant with your quality management. According to Michael: “The whole idea of quality is continuous improvement”.
It won’t be achieved in a day, but you can take ongoing steps. There is always something to be improved upon. Be sure to listen as Michael goes into detail.
All of the records that Michael needs to audit can be found within ProShop. There is no navigating through different programs or—heaven forbid—paper files. He can follow the audit trail from one thing to the next in one seamless platform.
ProShop cuts down the time it takes to do an audit to a third.
Jim points out that as a business owner, this is a weight off your shoulders. There are so many other areas where your time is better spent and if you’re decreasing the time spent on an audit bt 66% it decreases anxiety. It also allows you to get back to what you need to do much faster.
Doing things paperless will become the new standard. An auditor can’t tell you that you have to use binders. Even if they aren’t familiar with ProShop, you can walk them through where to find any and all of the info they need.
ProShop integrated quality management into their system to benefit you. Here are just a few of the functionalities and updates they make that raise the bar:
We rely on ProShop ERP to automate our systems and help us go above and beyond expectations with the quality we deliver.
Listen to the whole episode for valuable information on quality management, ProShop ERP, ASQ9100 certification and much more.
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Is it possible to recession-proof a business? With all the chatter in the economic world about the potential of a recession, how do you mitigate your losses? Are their things that you can do up-front that would help you survive a recession? Jim and Jason discuss the ‘dirty word’ in the industry and some steps you can consider implementing before—or when—a recession hits.
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Many young people in the industry who dove into the workforce after 2008 don’t understand what it means to be in a recession. They haven’t lived through one. Those who remember what it felt like hate to talk or think about it. Jim points out that despite the emotion surrounding the word, it needs to be brought back into the vocabulary. Just because you avoid something doesn’t mean it won’t still happen. Jason and Jim emphasize that if you are educated and prepared a recession won’t impact you as much as it could. So what do you do?
Jim notes that every recession he’s lived through “looks and feels a little bit different than the one before.'' The unfortunate reality is that we don’t know when a recession will come, how bad it will be, or how long it will last. When Jason’s Dad, Steve, led his business through a recession—he stopped taking a paycheck for a chunk of time.
If you’re a business owner, you will have to take some hits. It’s inevitable.
Jason’s dad knew he had to protect his business and employees, so he stopped paying himself to get them through the economic downturn. One way to mitigate the harshness of this reality in your own life is to build up a nest-egg. Create a savings account in case of a recession that can see you, your family, and your business through to the other side.
If cutting your pay isn’t enough to mitigate the financial losses, you have to address the elephant in the room: you might have to let someone go. It’s not easy to do, but sometimes it has to be done. It comes with the territory of being a business owner. It may come down to, “Who can we afford to lose?”.
Sometimes, there is a clear path. Steve Zenger had to ‘trim the fat’ in the last recession and fire a few people who were under-performing or unwilling to help them make it through the recession. If you’re not at the point where you need to make some layoffs, a tip to save some money is to reduce overtime. If you can’t afford to pay your team, you certainly can’t afford to pay time-and-a-half.
Jason currently pays rent on three different locations for his business. He questions if a recession hits, could he consolidate locations to reduce overhead? Another option the guys point out is relocating the business somewhere with lower rent.
During the last recession, Jason’s Dad took him out for lunch, and point-blank asked: “What are you going to do about this?”. Jason wasn’t going to sit back and cry. Instead, he developed a passion for sales. If business wasn’t finding him, he was going to do everything possible to bring it in.
A recession is difficult to talk about, but Jim and Jason agree it’s stuff you need to know. A business owner must do everything they can to prepare. To hear the rest of their suggestions regarding surviving a recession, listen to the whole episode of MakingChips!
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Today’s guest on the MakingChips podcast is passionate about job creation in the manufacturing industry. Today’s youth are being pushed towards college degree—while racking up debt—which has led to $1.6 trillion in student loan debt in the country. It is staggering. Unfortunately, many students spend the majority of their working life paying off that debt.
Jon Klinepeter left a career as a Pastor to start Forrest Bradshaw Industries and the Better Good Group. His goal is to offer underprivileged youth a shot in an industry that is screaming for more labor. To hear more about his heart and mission in manufacturing, listen to the whole episode of MakingChips now!
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Jon Klinepeter spent 22 years as a Pastor in Chicago (and Minneapolis, MN). He had a passion and love for the people he worked with. He was an advocate in his community. His faith has always been very important to him—but he didn’t love the church organizational structure. So he completed an MBA in Strategy and Innovation.
Then, he bought a 38-year-old CNC Machining company from a Polish Immigrant.
But why machining? Jon’s grandfather was his hero growing up, and had spent his life as a machinist. According to Jon, what drew him in was “The intellect being expressed through your hands rather than through an education system that rewards a certain type of thinking”. He wanted to build a business with that thought in mind.
Jon’s passion is job creation, and he knows the manufacturing industry is constantly growing. Not only is it growing, but being a CNC machinist is the highest paying career you can have without a college degree. Jon wanted to take that knowledge and start creating generational opportunities for underprivileged youth.
Nothing brings him greater joy than seeing the look of hope on someone’s face when they’ve been offered a job they never thought remotely possible. The purpose of Forrest Bradshaw is to inspire hope for a better future through living wage job opportunities in precision metal manufacturing.
With his purpose and vision for Forrest Bradshaw, he launched an initiative to create 100,000 jobs for at-risk youth across the country. He wanted to inspire hope for a better future through living wage job opportunities in precision metal manufacturing. He’s watched thousands of kids walking into job fairs scared and hopeless, but leaving full of hope.
What is being offered is more than just a job, but a future.
Many kids don’t have the right guidance or mentors available to them. Those of us fortunate enough to have parents that were available had a safety net. Parents are ongoing mentors throughout our lives—but many underprivileged youths don’t get that. Providing jobs gives them hope for the next generation.
With his core vision in mind, Jon knew he had to build a business with his values at the center of everything he did. The foundational value he chose to build Forrest Bradshaw on was integrity. At times, practicing integrity can seem counter-cultural. Jon reminisced about getting some machinery fixed:
The company giving him a quote for the job (that the insurance was going to cover) asked him what cut that he wanted from the quote.
With his team waiting to see what his response would be, he responded “Just whatever it costs, bill us for that”. Your integrity will cost you something. That would’ve been easy money in his pocket. Instead, he chose to honor his core values and lead with integrity.
To hear the rest of Jon’s mission, vision, core values, and advice for leaders in manufacturing, listen to the whole episode!
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Employee onboarding can be stressful and it’s hard to know what you should or shouldn’t be doing. What do you tell a new hire on day one? Do you start the process before their first day? When do you do performance reviews? The list of questions goes on! Today, Jim and Jason are going to walk you through the Carr Machine & Tool onboarding experience.
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The overarching number of people applying to machinist jobs are millennials. For those of us in a different generation, do we need to change the way we onboard? According to Jungohr, there are some tips to make the process more successful.
Many of these points apply to every generation, but it’s been found to be especially impactful to Millennials. Let us know what YOU think!
At Carr Machine & Tool, Jim has several ways to see if a potential hire is a fit for their culture. If he has a good feeling about a candidate, he will bring them into his weekly production meeting to see how they interact with the team.
He also enjoys walking a candidate through the shop to see how they interact and engage with people. This could be labeled as “pre-boarding”—he’s involving the potential hire in his company culture before officially hiring.
If they’re not interested in engaging and don’t make an effort, you can end the process before it’s even started. It may seem time-consuming on the front-end but can save a lot of pain and problems throughout the next 30, 60, or 90 days.
On a new hire’s first day, Jim lays out what the process looks like, and schedules a 30-day performance review. The first 30 days is a sort of trial period to see how they acclimate. There is no goal-setting or anything that would place pressure on the candidate. You want them to spend time shadowing (and there’s a lot of hand-holding) and learning new processes.
Jim makes sure to ask 6 different questions in the first performance review. He wants to let them know if they are on-par with expectations and see how they think they’re doing. Jim will even let them know if they are performing below expectations. The goal isn’t to be critical, but to let them know that you are going to take an active role in their success.
When should you do a compensation review? Listen to find out!
Within the first year an employee is hired, Jim does performance reviews at 30 days, 90 days, 6 months, and at the one-year mark. These reviews are based on goals they’ve set, improvements that were recommended, and so forth. If the employee has proven themselves exceptional, they reward the employee with a pay increase.
It allows the employee to learn new skills and be goal-driven.
The goal is to help your team members feel more connected and that they have a safe environment to grow in—you want to help them reach the next level of expertise. When you schedule reviews in a formulaic manner, it’s a structured way for both you and the employee to constantly move forward.
To hear some mistakes to avoid, be sure to listen to the rest of the episode!