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Shop Strategies 46 MoldMaking Technology August 2015 at a stamping plant, that process is now standard operating procedure no matter who works at the new water station. The resulting time savings spill over into the other duties performed at this post (cleaning and plugging the lines, tem- perature checking and so forth). Other examples of expanding departmentalization, both already implemented and still in development, include stations dedicated solely to cutting ejec- tor pins, assembling manifolds, deburring and consolidating once-scattered part inspections to the immediate aftermath of machining. Each is a case study in attention to detail, with all needed tools within reach and organized with shadow boards and other visual aids. Information at the Ready One significant upcoming change in these new specialty areas is the addition of monitors displaying job schedules and other station-specific information. These large flat-screens are also planned for the broader shop, although they'll be limited to displaying performance measures, delivery dates, details about the company picnic and other such information. That's because employees in other areas already have access to all the job-specific intelligence they need. Bringing that same sort of intelligence to the specialty areas is another example of apply- ing principles already at work in metal-cutting departments. There, virtually every machine operator uses a workstation PC to access schedules, job-specific instructions, revisions, CAD models of individual components (through Siemens' NX Viewer software), and even real-time spindle utilization reports (through Lemoine's Pulse system). Fingertip access to such information helps clarify priorities and avoid confusion. "People know what they need to do when they arrive in the morning," Luther says. Perhaps more important is the fact that this isn't just one-way communi- cation. Those closest to the work are often best positioned to know how to improve it, and management seeks their input (more on that later). That input often makes its way to weekly meet- ings of top leadership and supervisors from each department. These meetings are held solely to ensure key decision- makers share ideas, stay informed about all parts of the operation and, perhaps most importantly, discuss ways to improve. There's no place for job-specif- ic strategizing here, and the discussion isn't limited to the most pressing or significant issues. Every change detailed in this article (and countless others over the years) was discussed in one of these meetings at some point, Luther says. Some back-and-forth with the floor is formally built into A1's operating procedures. For example, whenever a machine is down for longer than 10 minutes, the operator enters a reason into the workstation computer. This practice is a great help to supervisors, who are always seeking operational CEO Geoff Luther (seated at the head of the table) and the rest of A1's leadership meet weekly for the sole purpose of discussing and prioritizing improvement ideas.