New Services For "A World of Impact"
There is literally no industry immune to embedded and often hidden reasons for chronically low performance. There is no good reason to allow Industry Leaders to pull their hair out, scratching their heads and scrambling to hire more employees to try and make-up the difference.
I can check and make sure that there are no critically overlooked reasons for low production lurking below the surface.
So...I'm here to help:
Trouble-shooting to get to these core issues and offering practical tips with strategies that work, based on proven principles...is the payoff for anyone who calls.
Serving A Broad Spectrum of Manufacturing Industries
RICKEY BATES
239 Judith Lane/ 1515 Lafayette
(618) 610-7590
rmbates714@yahoo.com
www.highmarksmanufacturing.com
Dear Plant and Hiring Managers,
I am a Quality Consultant For Hire on Assignment and possibly for a more permanent Leadership Position as a Key Manager who can make dramatic strides in helping improve plant-wide performance.
I am a skilled Corporate Trainer and Department Manager.
I have trained and evaluated thousands of hourly staff members to points of immediate improvement, ensuring that they know the skills required to work with every team of employees.
I can supervise or train your employees on any equipment or process, and develop skills of your workers.
I bring years of management experience from multiple industries which can be immediately put “On-Task,” in a familiar role and capacity.
Thank you for considering my experience and ability to work alongside each team leader and helping everyone exceed any given objective.
Pepsi Challenge with a bonus: I will prove my worth to your company by improving your rate and/or quality of production with one 5 minute phone call from an executive plant manager or above.
There is no obligation and no retainer fee for consulting services on this one-time offer per plant. (A friendly wager of green fees might be considered.)
I seek a bold and aggressive company who will pay me well for what I can do for their manufacturing plant(s) and company’s bottom-line, virtually or on-site.
Thank you, and have a productive day!!
Rickey Bates
618-610-7590
Congratulations! You now have an advocate to help you achieve every given goal and objective your company has planned.
Today more than ever, it helps to be tuned-in and linked-into people and resources you can count on and turn-to for help in a moment’s notice.
Today’s exciting informational age has ever-changing innovative improvements and optional applications for the workplace. These have potential to make dramatic improvements.
Introducing any change can be tricky, and you will appreciate those experienced in smoothing-out wrinkles offering to do your bidding for you, for the good of the company as well as for your own piece-of-mind.
You Now Have Exclusive Access to your own advocate, dedicated to helping you by targeting areas you want to see improved.
When you have dealt with the same problem more than once...and it still keeps coming back, it is time to bring in a closer to finish the repair to put it behind you...for good. Sometimes a quick call, or text is all it takes, to spark even one of your own thoughts which may be a possibility for your next best move. High Marks Manufacturing Consulting can help find and implement your solution.
Few types of managers are better at consulting than a trainer with a passion to help teach people how to master their jobs.
I rate my self pretty well in most any areas. If you rate yourself and your staff as high as Advisors, Coaches and Mentors, then you may only be interested in addicting another person like them who can contribute to your company growth and expansion.
General Advice
Some advice is general and based on logical observations which are often under used or overlooked through the course of a busy day.
- Critical moves made daily as a result of prompt decisions will get you on-track to meet your potential.
- Dispense all resources to each element making up the ‘Big Picture’ to achieve each goal on every job. Is Coordinating Details or Steps an issue, or is tracking costs and efficiency impossible at times? I have experience at leading teams to a better resolution on-site and can respond to a request to evaluate your situation within 24 to 48 hours with a tentative plan.
- My process includes, harnessing latent potential by tapping into full resource utilization potential discoveries. How? It may be emails, a quick call to cover the specifics, or a conference call or zoom meeting with key players.
- Building and leading a powerful interactive staff is a continuous process. Leading by example is the best way to champion sustainably of tested processes and programs on a continuous basis. When this notes and observed as daily priority, it becomes engrained in the minds of all who follow. Those that do not follow, stand out for hindering any effort to that end.
- I have worked with all types of leaders and subordinates to steer the ship into calmer waters, even during full schedules with tight deadlines and demanding clients. When the staff is over-worked, I step in to do what they may not have time to do.
Leadership
Congratulations if, as a senior plant manager, you a respected mentor and comfortable authorizing moves to spark and inspire cultural change. If you are not there yet, but are always looking for continuous improvement, then you are well on your way.
I have spent years building better teams of leaders. There is always a better way. Your key role and oversight of the entire company is critical to change.
- Proving and testing logical plans purged with the aid of rising stars within the company who care to share their insight, is the manner well served in making amazing strides towards achieving your most ambitious goals and objectives.
- Proven principles made-up of every moral and ethical fiber, are the tried and true, most critical with which all change must be made. These will most certainly be one of the foundational reasons for the corresponding success.
- Each well-laid plan put-into place, which may have started with a host of ideas shared and contributed by many, lends credibility every next-best project or program. Ensuring long-standing success with each effort, helps designate each next logical step and shift to trickle down to that next priority which must addressed and solved. This energizes cultural change, raising the bar and automatically establishes the need for tracking those notable and marked improvements. It is a natural progression, that just cannot be ignored without appearing incompetent…without such words ever having to be spoken.
If you would like more examples, feel free to call and ask me about the miracles I have seen leading teams to success on jobs for:
- LANYAP-Nous Discover variable printed statement booklets engineered through each multiple versions of booklets, shipments, and equipment modifications.
- GPO Mailings.
- 100,000 plus parts reorganization, controls for inventory usage, review and returns of highly specialized fabrication and retooling supplies and fittings in the hydraulic fluid power industry.
- The City of Philadelphia Jobs.
- Harlequin
- RCA
What Kind of Problems Have I Solved Before, and were the challenges significant and most importantly, did my solutions really work? Here are a few examples of critical jobs in trouble, I was asked to turn around.
- PCH: Heads were about to roll over mistakes laid at the feet of at least 6 departments in 2 locations, including analysts, plant manager as well as the corporate office. I was asked to help to see what was possible. Twelve sequential lists should have been merged and sorted to twenty versions 4 tiers each for a total of one single list of 12 million names and addresses. I picked a team, including supervisors, group-leaders and over 65 employees spread across 3 shifts to run 12 machines simultaneously at the same rate according to an already established standard for the original high rate of productivity as if it was going to be ran as a single list which could have ran smoothly according to the original plan. We saved a lot of skin in the game, had a big top-off and wrap party, catered by those we amazed by not only saving the job, making the deadline, with a 100% audit accuracy with the help of great conscientious workers that I was proud to lead.
- Any issue requiring job instructions, changes, or modifications, I produced and delivered, and training was provided when and where needed across a 5-department plant. Like on a blind 6 way match job, during a maxed-out plant where we required temporary workers to be 100% accurate in the use of methods, skills and techniques, shortly after a 1 hour orientation and teamed-up with machine operators, who had little patience for anyone causing mistakes or slowing down production on jobs, they were responsible for, and which could negatively impact their pay-check by missing out on if they failed to hit and surpass their achievable rate production output.
- I was asked if I thought it was possible enlist, train and work with the Canadian Plant to teach them American Mailings, since our plant was maxed out, and the client had a deadline to meet which required ½ the plant employees in Toronto to work on, at the same rate of production for almost 3 weeks. I said yes, chose a few trainers and we left, and it was a tremendous success wrapping ahead of scheduled including shipping arrangements and complete on-time delivery to the states. It went off without a hitch. The initial thoughts tracked like teaching a new language in a foreign country. When we got there, presented the task, broke it down, and collaborated with the people, it just fell in place with a very amazing crew. This was a highlight I am especially thankful to have been entrusted with, and one I will never forget.
- When it comes to daily quality and efficiency, you will be happy to know I am versatile and multi-faceted in leadership styles adaptable to most any work environment or department.
- I am known for supporting and acknowledging great performance and do not suffer a lack of effort or initiative when it comes to teammates who depend on and require 100% cooperation, great communication and hand-offs and collaborations imperative to any given job, step or task.
- I enjoy a good days-work and plan schedules, train and develop employees and run jobs with trouble-shooting skills I freely pass-along to aid every employee to help them do their jobs with every resource they need.
I help Plant Managers and teach everyone else how to do the same.
My extension to a plant manager, gives them the comfort of knowing they can call on me with any concern on any job, at any time. Tipping them off to what I see, helps keep them informed, and I do it with data and proof of what is happening now, what trends we may have to better prepare for or adapt to, and for increasing capacity to allow for growth and expansion with a highly capable and skilled plant of employees. This is the kind of plant manager I seek in any industry, who could use my help. Keeping them in the loop with no-surprises is my aim.
You may never have professed it to yourself or aloud, but I am going to tell you with 100% certainty, that you have a great power to improve the entire culture of the plant with small incremental steps. In that spirit, my goal is to give you options to help you improve plant quality and efficiency today and tomorrow.
- I am a skilled evaluator of manpower and equipment performance and capabilities, or breakdown and detail objectives and benchmarks for the stage of any job.
- I am a great listener to people with substance on serious issues and uncover root causes with a detailed view to transparency and full accountability of all parties fairly.
- I am a Train-The-Trainer Advocate who knows the potential in what has already been mastered and encourage any challenge to improve upon what was previously thought already perfect.
- I instruct what people can and should look for, listen for and to be cautious about. I constantly raise the bar by teaching all I know and due to my zest to learn more each day from anyone who cares to share a tip, trick, or technique to make things better.
If you have a question or a simple consult, I can do that too. Occasionally with a good company with a high-quality product or service in need of help, I’m happy to do this at a flat rate to be determined together.
Solving problems quickly does not work to advantage of most consultants. If I can put a workable program or solution with a few tweaks your staff can maintain and run-with, we can assign that value and it will free me up for the next client.
Any company can get a canned program or software to help control the data and processes, but when people are involved with any stage, you will want them to be fully trained and capable to manage it on their own with the leadership of your in-house staff. Sometimes it is something you read, a tip from a friend or a dawning thought which helps lead you to greater clarity and insight to solve problems. And sometimes, you may appreciate fresh eyes from someone familiar with your unique problem, who has managed it successfully many times before.
- Inspire your team and leadership) to expand their ‘Know-How’ and habits in quality and efficiency, everywhere All the Time.
- I am an attentive study on any equipment I am going to train others on. I have proven capable to a high-level of effectiveness is my mission, which simply gives me earn the credibility necessary to help teach others also. It is how I have always operated, and many times, the magic happens because it’s so frequently just that simple.
- If you have or want to have 100% tracking ability and use those numbers to objectively and subjectively track and support development and cooperation with training, employee evaluations, standards, and reviews, it may be one of the smartest decisions you will ever make, and I can help you with that too. (If you would like to see a plants total production over a year, and performances of any employee on every job to each and every type of process and equipment with each individually assigned standard, and need help putting that into place, I can help.
Parting Tips and Friendly Reminder for the Day:
Who is your leader who looks for every opportunity for continuous improvement, and never overlooks an opportunity to improve?
- Today when you walk the floor, spot your next leader who may not realize what you see in them, and thank and encourage them. Make their day, and they will make yours a little nicer thereafter.
- Set your leaders ‘on-task' to spread employee engagement by promoting attentive initiatives throughout the plant. If you have two or more stellar leaders, you may already have the leadership needed to improve on any project or challenge with clear standards and guidelines to keep things smoothly sailing right-along.
- Go right out one more time before the day is over, after that chronic pattern which has been gnawing at you for so long and well-before money is “left on the table” at the end of the shift (which is twice as hard to recover tomorrow). Nail it at the core, in a great and creative way that clears the air, before it turns into a habit, which will not by the way... fall out of bed when your staff wakes up tomorrow. Stop it, by solving it and making sure your concern addressed, then smile, and thank your employees.
- Then, pat yourself on the back. You just might find that you have put a little spring in your step and the step of others who will also take note of what you did, when they thought nobody else was watching.
I help collaborate with Department Managers and Supervisors regarding daily quality and efficiency issues and concerns and am happy to lead teams to immediate and long-term improvements.
- Positions/Industry Experience:
Quality Control Consultant, Corporate Trainer, Process Engineer, Post Processing Manager, Production Trainer, ISO Consultant, -Policy and Procedural Manual Writer, Copywriter, Inventory and Document Control Specialist, Troubleshooter of Equipment and Process Improvements, Project Management and Team Building.
Print/Mail/Plastics/Fluid Power/Construction/Tool & Dye - Retain On-going, On-Call Availability 24/7 Client Consult On-Demand: Trouble-Shoot and Assessment of Best Options suited to your needs.
- This service is available by special arrangements designed to your needs and assignment of sufficient resources supporting full “in-the-loop” data tracking and feedback reporting to identified standards of established performance capability...for accurate assessment purposes only.
- Free Quote to establish needs, frequency, and custom design features to build the support package to best serve you, any-time, anywhere, come-what-may "ON-SITE" or "Remote." You will have the comfort and extra peace of mind, to extend help to your personal staff, whenever you need it.
- Initial Reports within 24 hours, followed by Clarification and/or Confirmed Change Order Reports, which are collaborative dependent. Text in an emergency before you lose thousands of dollars on any single days’ worth of production, due to any process, equipment, or manpower related issue.
- If your company needs help with a new project or client roll-out, and you are striving for continuous improvement to earn and win-to-keep your deserved current or emerging market share, contact me.
- I offer on-site and remote support for any plant location. Simply call, text, or email me your interest, and we can work through the perfect plan, arrangement, and details to begin right away.
I am here to help when you are ready. I am a closer when it comes to rooting out the source for any chronic problem. If you can name it and have 5 minutes you would like to invest in fixing it, you have my number.
If you do just one of the suggestions above today because you have read this, then I have already made you money. Call when you are ready to discuss any issue or challenge.
Thank you and have yourself one fine and productive day.
Rickey Bates
(Text or Call for assistance with New Projects, Equipment, Processes or Campaign Rollout challenge.)
618-610-7590
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Mission Statement
High Marks Manufacturing began helping companies by offering insights from experience which can help companies improve their quality and efficiency that directly effect their bottom-line profits. Some advice is general and based on logical observations which are frequently underused or overlooked through the course of a busy day. Many principle-based and proven practices carry priceless and thought-provoking ideas and strategies, tips, tricks and techniques which speak to key and universal challenges they seek to meet every day. All leaders take these seriously today in order to remain at the top of their game tomorrow. Critical moves made daily as a result of timely decisions at the hands of, and from the minds of powerful executives, who use every resource to assure their company’s greatest hopes and every chance at growth and success of their company. This offering is extended in that spirit, to all worthy company leaders who often ponder, devise and constantly seek that next-best and clear path to travel. Every very next and smartest call made, every essence and spark of an idea conceived, can lead to and make possible, what may have only previously been pondered or dreamed could be achieved. Leadership Keys Dispensing all resources to each element making up the ‘Big Picture’ to achieve each each goal on every job can be daunting if not simplified. I am gifting a few tips and morsels of encouragement can inspire greater works of any CEO or President of a company, a Plant Manager or Supervisor-if it doesn’t stop there. This latent potential herein, need only be unleashed by dispensing it without malice to the intent; that intent being that it must be done with discretion and consideration of all parties, to the proper degree and measure earned and deserved. Accurate advice that is tested and proven are actionable, once the plan is tested by users. Proper plans developed to clear standards, by their very nature, need to be transparent, easy to follow and unquestionably seen and known to be of the highest ethical and moral standard as well. There is no room for doubts or speculations which diminish the perception and question the very motives of the plan, are the greatest tragedy laid at the feet of every poor execution of even the best plans. The highest ideals being central in thought, word and deed, are the best foundation for ideas which transitions into a logical order of each step of execution. In short, the boss is the key to how well everything gets done, and it can be the greatest position and privilege in the world. If you’re in the ‘Driver’s Seat,’ if you’re the first type of ‘Mentor-Worthy Boss,’ or even not quite there where you want to be yet, and always looking for continuous improvement, then I must say, you are a ‘Hero’ or one ‘in-the-making’ well on your way. Gifted leadership roles to offspring in ‘the family business,’ or those handed down from previously sharing the load, can be the most abused people behind their backs, and at times are reduced to lip service only in their presence. The easiest way to the top, may come to a well-liked and notably strong leader who has worked well throughout each post or helped many teams of employees, who never forget. When power transfers to another, the history of their new leader closely follows, Their past is a snap-shot and sample of what most people will never expect to change, with any role, especially a higher role of authority. A great act is hard to follow. Though doing better on a bigger scale or in other ways, is always possible, but there is a lot of history that needs to be removed by each next great move which must replace each sore and still vivid memory of the acts of the unfortunate past. Deliberate planning must address improvements for each group and department. When proven principles are made of every moral and ethical fiber, then parsing-it-out to ‘pay-it-forward’ for the positive affect it will yield, always returns in abundance. One idea and cleared path at a time, builds more of the same, and lends credibility for the next, giving good reason for every step to energize cultural change for a marked change. You may never have professed it to yourself or aloud, but I am going to tell you with 100% certainty, that you have a great power to improve the entire culture of the plant with small incremental steps. In that spirit, my goal is to give you options to help you improve plant quality and efficiency today and tomorrow. When it comes to delivering on promises and commitments to clients, it is hard to imagine how often companies let opportunities slip right by them in the midst of a busy day, which only makes things worse. Sometimes it is something you read, a tip from a friend or a dawning thought which helps lead you to greater clarity and insight to solve problems. And sometimes, you may appreciate fresh eyes from someone familiar with your unique problem, who has managed it successfully many times before. You may appreciate the savvy skills I acquired thanks to exceptional trainers and people I have worked with over the years. Here are a few friendly reminders and thoughts you may find helpful today. Sometimes we all forget to check things. Just because every day our world is getting crazier, it sure helps to be pleasantly surprised, especially on the job, when you least expect it. You deserve the best team and leadership, and so to each of them. Inspiring them and to expand their ‘Know-How’ and habits in quality and efficiency, everywhere All the Time. When you have 100% tracking ability and actually use it, and those numbers, goals and results are common knowledge, it sure gets easier to spot any trend to the contrary. If you find better influencers who target and achieve goals and bottom-line profits, on-board them fast and pay them well. They will have to determine whether or not they will be training their way out of a position, or if they will just do enough teaching to barely get-by. You will have to make that call by what you see, as to whether that is good enough for you and the company. Today when you walk the floor, spot your next leader who may not realize what you see in them, and sincerely thank and encourage them. Make their day, and they will make yours a little nicer thereafter. Before the day is done, and well-before money is left on the table at the end of the shift (which is twice as hard to recover tomorrow) go right out one more time after that chronic pattern which has been gnawing at you for so long. Nail it at the core, in a great and creative way that clears the air, before it turns into a habit, which will not by the way... fall out of bed when your staff wakes up tomorrow. Stop it, by solving it and make sure your concern is heeded, smile and thank your employees. Then, pat yourself on the back. You just might find that you have put a little spring in your step and the step of others who will also take note of what you did, when they thought nobody else was watching. Who is your leader who looks for every opportunity for continuous improvement, and never overlooks an opportunity to improve? If you have one person who does this, that is great. If you have two or more stellar leaders, you may already have the leadership needed to improve on any project or challenge. Set them ‘on-task' to spread employee engagement by promoting attentive initiatives throughout the plant, with clear standards and guidelines to keep things smoothly sailing right-along. I am here to help when you are ready. I am a closer when it comes to rooting out the source for any chronic problem. If you can name it and have 5 minutes you would like to invest in fixing it, you have my number. If you do just one of the suggestions above today because you have read this, then I have already made you money. Call when you are ready to discuss any issue or challenge. Thank you and have yourself one fine and productive day. Rickey Bates (Text or Call for assistance with New Projects, Equipment, Processes or Campaign Rollout challenge.) 618-610-7590 -30- ---------------------------------------- WOULD YOU LIKE HELP IMPROVING PRODUCTION AND BOTTOM-LINE PROFITS? Congratulations! You've just opened up insight which can help your company grow to exciting heights while expanding the skills and performance of your leadership who strive to energize an agile and skilled workforce. "You're About To Have Exclusive Access to your own advocate, dedicated to helping you by targeting area you want to see improvement." When you've dealt with the same problem more than once...and it still keeps coming back, it's time to bring in a closer to finish the repair, to put it behind you...for good. Sometimes a quick call, or text is all it takes, to spark even one of your own thoughts which may be an option for your next best move. Not every company has money laying around to attract and keep a full-time trainer who's developed hundreds of powerful teams who's trained thousands of jobs on hundreds of machines, to do hundreds of procedures that they've had to learn them selves. But you may not need them full time anyway. "The Best Trainers, Always Teach Everything They Know." This is not always a given, with a company's full time staff. Nobody wants to feel like that they're risking being expendable or even dispensable, let alone, all used up. It's common. Along with the comfort and peace of mind, comes Proven Systems of Developing Strategy from the moment the broad strokes, elements or factors are being reviewed, whether machine, a process or a skill or difficulty posing a challenge to a people. Launching Your Own Strategies, With Just 1 Simple Call or Text to get that help at Anytime, well that may just be priceless at times, and a welcome surprise as well, let alone, a big relief!" Not Every Plant has that one person, solely dedicated to being the "Go-To Person," and one to call for anything at any time, if they still have other things they have to do. Now you have one who's done it without fail for over 20 years. Retaining this resource and ability is now more palatable for companies who cannot wait for things to be changed, restructured or leaving problems go unaddressed for days or weeks of work over multiple machines or operations...until it isn't as busy. Like an old Swiss Watch; No matter the age of your company, the timing has never been so critically important than now, that your company continuously works to wisely update and streamline each operation, job and process. This is impossible to achieve without having the buy-in from each and every Agil-Empowered-Employee in each perfect position. The overseers are your staff, who do what no single person could ever manage. The ability to watch everything "At-Once, is what makes Miracles In Manufacturing Possible. Engaging and calling out all eyes and resources to check and maintain the precision with which each operates...from now on, is how you will survive and thrive. NOW YOU HAVE A MEANS TO WHAT COULD BE YOUR GREATEST ALLIANCE, AT ANY PLANT IN THE COUNTRY...OR THE WORLD: ATTENTION: PLANT MANAGERS, Presidents and CEO's of Manufacturing Industry: Would you like the help of another experienced Critical Thinker, who can come-up with even more ideas which can be quickly developed and implemented in the the most practical, principled and perfected manner and then put into practice? Do you want access to a Manufacturing Muse or Guru striving for Continuous Quality and Efficiency Improvements? Great-Done!! You are not alone. You now have your ticket to gain your confidential and aligned advocate. I help and advise all Plant and Department Managers, who have any issues or concerns, by alleviating any chronic problems. Positions/Industry Experience: Quality Control Consultant, Corporate Trainer, Process Engineer, Post Processing Manager, ProductionTrainer, ISO Consultant, Policy and Procedural Manual Writer, Copywriter, Inventory and Document Control Specialist, Troubleshooter of Equipment and Process Improvements, Project Management and Team Building. Print/Mail/Plastics/Fluid Power/Construction/Tool & Dye Retain On-going, On-Call Availability 24/7 Client Consult On-Demand: Trouble-Shoot and Assessment of Best Options suited to your needs. This service is available by special arrangements designed to your needs and assignment of sufficient resources supporting full “in-the-loop” data tracking and feedback reporting to identified standards of established performance capability...for accurate assessment purposes only. Free Quote to establish needs, frequency and custom design features to build the support package to best serve you, any-time, anywhere, come-what-may "ON-SITE" or "Remote." You will have the comfort and extra peace of mind, to extend help to your personal staff, whenever you need it. Initial Reports within 24 hours, followed by Clarification and/or Confirmed Change Order Reports, which are collaborative-dependent. Text in an emergency before thousands of dollars are lost on any single days worth of production, due to any process, equipment or manpower related issue. If your company needs help with a new project or client roll-out, and you are striving for continuous improvement to earn and win-to-keep your deserved current or emerging market share, contact me. I offer on-site and remote support for any plant location. Simply call, text or email me your interest, and we can work through the perfect plan, arrangement and details to get started right away. |
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Occasional or random quality checks don't work by-chance if they are inconsistent and merely incidental encounters and adjustments, Like a bandaid which never sticks, they simply instill a false sense of blind hope, tantamount to crossing your fingers.
The Good News for those who realize early when it's time to gears or reset elements of the operation suspect of chronic failures, whether bent, warped or plain broke, that it's high time to change, and get the help you need to build a stronger company.
Now you have your personal means to have, "On-Demand Consulting" with either snap-shots, a video clip to be reviewed and assessed, an active ZOOM consultation for custom applications of "Train the Trainer Development."
This is may be your wisest decision and most cost effective investment in the future of your company. In fact; compounding benefits in dollars generated and saved, may be impossible to track over the life of your company, but your growth will reflect every dollar generated and saved.
Arrange for your support mechanism and grow your success today. You don't need to hire your own full time Corporate Trainer, when you have one "On-Call."
Care to read a few quick stories which typify the level of quality and performance results, which can be put to "GOOD USE" for you and your company...with a simple phone call or text, ANY TIME?
I've copied a sample that will go on to my next page for a quality consultant trainer to Presidents, CEO's and Plant Managers who will want to have the chance to become familiar with the kind of results I can help them achieve.
Please forward this and if they so choose, they'll at least know that they have someone waiting in the wings to help with any problem they need help with, on a contract-consultant basis, or as a direct hire to work from within.
Thanks You.
CEO, President and Plant Managers of Industry: This is a copy of a recent letter to one company who has a high employee and supervisory turn-over rate, and currently experiencing low levels of quality and efficiency for their clients...who are having trouble in figuring out, exactly why.
If H.R.Managers are tipped off and frequently search for the leaders who can have a positive impact on the numbers and corresponding dollars that you see every day, and understand those you are trying to build and claim, then they too will fight harder for you to find that person who proves they can get you what you want.
FYI: With Full Knowledge of the Fact that “Only a hand-full of Presidents & CEO’s in mid to large manufacturing industries will ever acknowledge and admit along with their staff, that they need help in achieving the heights of hundreds of thousands of dollars, leaving them “On-The-Table.”
If you “Know You Have, This Kind of Potential,” yet to be realized, then...I look forward to your call.
(Excerpts born from a copy of a letter sent to one large St. Louis employer who understands, just how impossible some jobs can "Seem-to-be.")
Forwarded to handpicked others, who'd appreciate them as well, and posted here as examples for Marketing Services Industry Leaders who understand, relate to and appreciate them, since they too have been faced with similarly unimaginable obstacles from time to time.
Some content may spark a thought to revisit time-tested management principles with benefits which will help them somewhere down the line, or spark another great idea of their own. For this purpose, I've copied a few of those leaders in who need my help in areas only they know.
I have trained literally over 10,000 employees to run printing and mailing equipment and jobs for R.L.Polk Publishing and NorthBridge Marketing, Corporate Communications Center, EcoCenters/TMSI Total Marketing Solutions.
At Polk, I designed countless Quick Reference Sheet Matrix Job Aids for Screened and Approved for accurate, applicability and use by the USPS. This plant ranged from 200 to as many 500 persons, running 2 to 3 shifts, of both Union and Non-Union employees. Our production volume and rate of output required an On-Site Post-Office to weight and check in and directly ship mail to Bulk Mail Centers around the country.
In addition to training plant employees my daily responsibilities included, but were not limited to monitoring the performance of Client Jobs, Machine Production Efficiency, Trouble-Shooting and Fine-Tuning Equipment, Scheduling and Assigning Staff, Conducting Employee Reviews and Evaluations as well as Supervisory Training.
I developed and maintained training manuals, procedural quick reference guides and tools, daily updates to plant policies and change-order procedures, including an industry glossary of terms filled with tips, tricks and techniques to adapt and adjust to keep machines running consistently.
With years of experience spoiling client contact with optimal service levels of success, tours, orientations, mid-level and through the insights gained providing advanced training of tips, tricks and tactics to make production sing right along, through to supervisory quality check secrets to aid supervisors in getting their jobs done easier by building their own devoted teams that can be trusted...I've enjoyed having a hand in helping them all.
I was the guy called when there was any problem on any job, no matter if it was a client's job, a process, a personnel problem or a training issue or an adjustment or the slightest modification in procedures.
I loved this company and job, and evaluated most all of the employees I've trained once, if not twice. I even wrote all of the evaluation criteria and tracked the performance of every employee on each job, sort, version, panel and tier, tracked and compared their performance efficiency numbers to each of their individual standards since they've been employed, and worked closely with Industrial Engineering Department and Corporate Office to refine reporting.
I've also trained over 50 Supervisors or Admin, as a Corporate Trainer, and facilitated their Employee, Performance, Development and Review Job Standards, (Each Responsibility was weighted, data collection sources and means were identified, peer reviewers were designated, and data tracking systems were put into place.)
I became a skilled trouble-shooter due to the nature of the responsibilities of my job which were ever expanding and changing with each daily challenge, new client or job, or issue in the scheduled work which needed to be tended to in prompt, efficient and complete manner.
I've written thousands of procedures for most every Automobile Manufacturers Mail Campaigns, and made sure that they ran smoothly, by getting the production counts every two hours on each machine, which was an invaluable asset in monitoring and adapting, to be in the right place at the right time, helping the people or processes before signs of trouble took root and spoiled a productive potential.
I had anywhere from 6 to 16 trainers I assigned to do targeted training and oversee role machines on dedicated jobs of each day, and they were absolutely amazing in leading other teams.
My new hires in a group was wound down to less than an hour before being assigned to hand-picked employees to table-work and load machines, and as many as 1/2 of a group of 25-20 new hires were running a machine and sorting mail by the 3rd hour under the care and guidance of a trusted employee or group leader.
The productivity of some of those Phillipsburg, Pitney bowes, Stackers, Master-Mailers or Plastic Machines was phenomenal by any of today's standards with the same capacity. From Selective, Variable-Print, Triple to Six-Way Match, it didn't matter, we tackled them all.
Once we were forced to field modify 12 National Saturation Full Lists, for Car Rt, 5-Digit, Basic into ONE MAILING sequence, which started with a call saying, Rick we have a problem, we cannot reprint these lists without compromising the deadline, can you make it work. (I won't bore you with the details, but it was a hoot and miracle accomplishment that started with a normal kick-off team meeting of hand-picked leaders who were shown the challenge, we worked through the kinks, and yet, it's hard to believe, all 12 teams, simultaneously ran on the same sequence, sort, panel and tier, which went down the line, correct bags and order as it was being filled as it passed by each of those 12 machines.) Our USPS station, was floored with how accurate the counts were, and how smoothly it went, and we made the deadline. This was our 20,000,000 Publishers Clearing House Run.
If you have a plant manager who'd be interested in hiring me, or just have him or her "Sharp-Shoot-Me," for pop quiz "Pepsi-Challenge" on any given problem, I welcome that at any time, on any process. You can even run this question and scenario by them:
Great Training, isn’t supervisors standing over their employees; it’s quite the opposite for a well trained and supported staff of coworkers.
Impossible Heights of Wide-Spread Quality and Efficiency of teams is always possible, blowing standards away, without a supervisor riding “rough-shod” over a single person. Consider this job, where each operator did this on their own.
We’ve studied, refined and mastered “Methods and Procedures” right along-side each employee, on every job for each client:
“Like This Job for RCA.”
This job required 30 Phillipsburg stackers, to be a self-load, with 6 inserts, and they had to continuously sort to keep up with the machines, while loading, and this was over a 3 shift operation. They had to quickly fan and work each stack of the 6 stacks of different size, weight, thickness and texture, they way each hopper wanted each to be worked to best run.
As the letters were filled, they had to fan-out the letters to see each address and flip through them to find each and every break point to bundle with rubber-bands, by hand, and put the correct sticker on the face of each bundle, put it in the right back, place a the correct back tag in the right bag, or even write their own back tag, as they looked up the correct location in a hand-book, and yes, all while the machine is “Still Running”. I’ve never witnesses such control of groups of employees to master so-many on-going demands and tasks. If you watched them, you’d have seen that they even made it look easy, without breaking a sweat.
There's not a supervisor in the world who can watch 30 of these machines and employees, answer all the call lights for a mechanic, stock or supervisor, hang the close line samples with the correct versions, panel and tier of sort, do the start-up samples on each machine and version, get it approved, take hourly samples on each machine, do enough quality checks to make sure the right codes are on each component, and do change-overs, and then do the time-cards for each employee, including entering and adding up the counts on every machines versions in the right place at the end of the night, collect and count all spoilage, and calculate the down-time, and get a total averages ranging from 3000 to 3500 per hour, with any team on earth, unless they are well trained, and greatly appreciated and supported every step of the way, throughout their employment.
I recall the wage some of these souls were making, and the varied backgrounds which were mostly unskilled and unschooled beyond high school. But who in their right minds, would force more work on themselves, at that pace loading 6 inserts at that speed to have to sort, unless they were very good and comfortable at what they did. One last note for anyone who remembers that Stacker Machine...If you got behind, the exit stacking hopper jammed and went out-of-time, and if you could manage to get it cleared and put back in-time...you needed to make sure that hopper never got too heavy again...or just like that, you'd be right back "In the Soup."
These are the praises I sing to those who've I had the pleasure of working with.
Yes, it's all landfill now, but it was just a good days work done by people who just loved being that good at their jobs. These are the folks at our outings, soft-ball games, and the people who got the incentives through programs we ran which worked. Our supervisors were masters of management, and if I wasn't working closely with one to aid them in getting great performances, I routinely covered for anyone in any department when they were out for the day or on vacation, and had a good staff to delegate to, who always came through too.
Seemingly Impossible? Asked and Answered, and Delivered
We had a client Suarez with too much work for our Berea Plant, so I was asked if I thought I could train our sister plant in Toronto how to do American Mailings. I picked a few key people and headed off to shut down the plant while we trained them, and showed them the logic and ease of the system, and worked through the steps until they all got up to speed in marked time, to beat a crushing deadline imposed by the SEC. We calculated that we'd a team of 40 people in their plant running 2 shifts for 3 weeks who could produce achieving 70% of our U.S. plant's mail producing production capacity coupled with ours, to meet to be delivered back in the states, in order to meet our critical deadline.
We were overwhelmed at the team-work, cooperation and initiatives, let alone celebrated our "Wrap-Top-Off of Party," two weeks from the date we arrived in Toronto, If you know the difference between U.S. and American Mailers, you can appreciate the dramatic success, especially since you can probably imagine the rather fridge reception we first got, when walked in, turned off all-their machines, and gathered everybody around, to explain what we had in store for them.
The initial "What?" looks of confusion, coupled with their non-too-pleasant demeanor, was hair-raising, and we already knew we wouldn't be received with an walk XOXO's reception and that it wouldn't go-over well, since it was going to "Rock Their World," just as much as the ground that seemed to shake beneath us, when we imparted the "Good News" we were toting and handing out.
Our greatest assets were our people and how we regarded each other's job. Our greatest unsung hero's rose to occasions to surmount challenges never to-be-known, and many times it may have due to a simple post-it-note of the thanks they found on their machine, from a tipped off plant manager or supervisor, acknowledging how great-a-job they were doing. Our plant manager loved getting a daily "head's-up," on where to stop and take a peak at who, which jobs, and which issues needed a "One-Minute-Management-Like," smile, or handshake or whatever was most appropriate and timely.
My point is simply this, name your challenge. If you or anyone on your staff is now, or soon will be, facing a challenge or struggling with a chronic problem, I'll make myself available for a consult, if you cannot manage to find a place for me right now.
In our plant, we rarely had 40% of our plant scheduled in the same department, the same job, same machine, with same supervisor 2 or 3 days in a row. This demanded teaching every trick we knew on trouble-shooting, knowing the paper, the techniques for working magic so difficult stock could run, including, fanning, air, butterflying, let alone the countless adjustments that needed to be made by only those proven to a level of proficiency in determining the best options for each one's use to achieve the optimal performance from each and every hopper, machine and situation.
Considering most supervisor didn't even have a chance to know all the names of the people they were supervising on any given day, much less their skill level on each type of equipment. They did not know their current production efficiency compared to standard, which mad it imperative that we “Taught and Trained Everyone the Same Things,” and most importantly, that we “Taught Them Everything We Knew,” about how to deal with “Every Possible and Foreseeable Situation” that they would ever encounter.”
The “Very-Real and Many Hidden Benefits,” which are “Intertwined” and co-dependent upon each other, all have a universal impact on processes before, during and after each of the collective others. They and the dollars impacted are literally incalculable.
Contact me when you’ve decided you’d like to enhance and improve your plant’s rate of success.
Rickey Bates
618-610-7590
(Part 1 of over 40 such examples. Samples of Impossible-looking jobs, which truly were realized, and more-over, most which simply blew all expectations away!! To continue with with full access to more stories with your own links to amazing performance, call or text 618-610-7590)
HIGH MARKS MANUFACTURING MANAGEMENT
QUALITY ACRONYMS AND BUZZ WORDS CHANGE AND FADE WITH TIME;
BUT WHEN "CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT" STOPS,
SO TOO WILL THAT COMPANY FAIL, FADE AND SOON AFTER...CEASE TO EXIST.
BUT WHEN "CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT" STOPS,
SO TOO WILL THAT COMPANY FAIL, FADE AND SOON AFTER...CEASE TO EXIST.
Inspiring and Engaging Collaborative Successful Teams Can meet your desirable and sustainable change improvements possible.
Your company deserves and needs a continuous improvement advocate, who is skilled and masterful with the art of engaging teams through proven practices in tangible ways, both directly and indirectly that helps inspire and lead them to success.
Suggestion box; The place where good idea go to die and be buried. Great ideas need a life, and they need the brains, toughness, focus and stayed minds on the goal, they need the arms to grab it, as well as the legs to run with it.
If you're anything like most companies, you too may have logged previous attempts and failures to support great ideas which should have worked to improve something or maybe many things within the company. When they fall short, it's logged as a failure, recalled with every new mention of any new idea...to dampen the enthusiasm which may be justified, but you'll run smack-dab into those who well know and may say, "Oh no, here we go with more work on another lame effort to change things that don't have a chance."
Don't feel bad...and whatever you do, don't give up, and don't let anyone shoot it down, and there are simple tips and guidelines to help you make sure to keep the naysayers at bay...and even win them over, if not lead your greatest efforts for forward progress. When you log your very next win, changes are made and it's seen and felt by everyone, your next idea and step to success is not far behind.
Ask a seasoned manager or senior employee if they want to be your new continuous improvement manager. If your company has fallen into a hum-drum, average is perfectly acceptable way of life at work, its likely that you’ll get no takers. You wouldn't ask them to if they wanted to stick a fork in their eye would you? This too can change, and changing the way they think is key...and it truly is one of the best places to start to make a difference.
- Dig up those old coffers or coffins of ideas. We can help you dust them off, bring the good ones back to life and check the options and plan a better strategy on any idea with a worthy mission with promise to change the entire culture of a company, or issue, department or operation at a time.
- Knowing what has been thought of before, and maybe never tried, or if they were never really rolled-out right to give them a fair shot and chance to work, doesn't mean they were bad, they just weren't unfurled like a flag has to be, to be truly be seen.
- The work starts with the right plan to work that idea, bend it and shape it to do the work it's supposed to do, in achieving your aim and high mark of your intent. You and your staff must get behind the work willingly, and be equally determined with a persistence which will bring it to pass, with a an effort that will make you and everyone else proud.
- IF you're the one dealing with the problem, you've probably thought long and hard enough about the problem to have a direction, which may only need to be tweaked to get started, to check it, adapt it and maybe adjust; well we can help you find those quick and easy solutions right away too.
- You may need an outsider for the objectivity benefits that work like Superman or a Superwoman, to get past the obstacles and paradigms appearing too tough to abolish. Paradigms shift, and they can be removed.
You may need a champion to single-handedly taking on small army amongst a traditional and familiar culture that may be hard to budge, let alone move over a mountain of terrain. We've got this too.
Assigning a current manager by adding to their responsibilities to fix the problem doesn't work without the support needed to be successful. Think about it …after he or she has been a part of it, and even contributed to or helped shape its current state, it's a thin hope to expect anything different, if an accurate assessment and proper plan is not put in place.
• Adding to the duties,of a current employee probably won’t work unless he/she is Super-Human. Dividing up the role of Continuous Improvement Manager among several employees, assigning multiple roles and capacities, prioritizing and managing additional responsibilities is likely to go nowhere fast or effectively.
• Send your situation for review to a Remote Advocate Support Professional and get an email response with tips or suggestions that address your situation, pose suggestions and an actionable plan to move forward.
• This advocate will work independently and decisively while building strong teams who seek and find continuous improvement opportunities.
• Solving quality or efficiency problems objectively, subjectively completely and effectively may not be possible remotely, however an experienced expert with an extra set of ears, who has seen photos, videos and read or heard a good description of the problem may be able to help stop the bleeding.
• The expert hearing your description of a challenge may be able to give you an idea proved to work in a similar situation.
•He may be able to suggest a new tack, a way to check something else or maybe a simpler way of something you tried which came close to a fix, can be tweaked a little to work temporarily until the permanent repair or corrective change is made.
• The possibilities are endless for the good of your company, which could begin with one simple phone or email.