BENCHMARKING YOUR MACHINING BUSINESS
Best Practices in Managing
the Human Element
By Derek korn
r
ick Paulson says one of the keys to
Micro-Matics' success is the quality of
its employees and the fact that many have
been with the company longer than 15 years.
Mr. Paulson is the general manager of the
Fridley, Minnesota shop that leverages
Swiss-type lathe technology to produce
complex parts in various materials for its
customers. He says the shop's management
approach uses a variety of tools to both retain
good employees and keep them engaged.
This is one reason why
Micro-Matics is the
Human Resources Honors
Program winner for 2013.
For instance, the shop
not only pays employees
fa i r l y, b u t a l s o s h a re s
revenue with them through a monthly bonus
plan. A meeting is held each month to discuss
the shop's productivity and profit in the previous month. Management shares job information, such as revenue and total cost of
sales (raw material, shop time, subcontracting work, etc.), to determine the net monthly
operating income. This open communication
enables all employees to see where the
company stands financially. Plus, they can
also see that their efforts to improve overall
shop productivity have a direct impact on
their income. In addition to the bonus plan,
the company offers health, dental and life
insurance to its employees and covers shortterm and long-term disability.
Beyond offering good pay and benefits,
Mr. Paulson says it's also important to provide
a healthy amount of training and mental
stimulation. Micro-Matics cross-trains its
employees to operate its various brands of
Swiss-types lathes and
other equipment. That way,
they're not pigeon-holed
into one duty or capability.
Of course, the shop benefits, too, in cultivating a
more versatile staff.
Micro-Matics also gives employees the
opportunity to build upon their skills. A good
example of this is a tricky medical component
one of its customers hoped the shop could
produce. After reviewing the design, the
shop's engineering team determined it wouldn't
be possible to effectively produce the part.
However, they received permission to keep
the part print and gave a handful of employees the time and resources to develop a viable
machining process. Because it wasn't an
actual job, there was no pressure to ultimately
succeed. Eventually, though, they figured out
how to make the part. The shop eventually
quoted the job and has produced several
batches for its customer since then. Successes like this boost employees' morale.
But even "unsuccessful" low-pressure projects enable the employees to learn something
new that could be applied to future jobs.
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