4ME - Man, Machine, Material, Method, Environment

Man: [Man - career, training, performance evaluation, family, beliefs, characteristics, ]

Convey genuine interest in the career development of each individual from an owner to a
trainee. Spend time listening, understanding, and helping each employee succeed, knowing
that acceptance (not wage) is a primary motivator.
Rotate field service and assembly personnel. Move limited talent into very specific roles and
monitor efficiency closely. Use results to create standards for quality and productivity.
Establish scoring system for machining quality. Inspect everyone's work in a random pattern
and post scores. Establish training levels to "pay for skill / performance"
Schedule review within sub-teams - Create continual goal setting and creative work
distribution decided by their peers. Create healthy competition for bragging rights, not pay.
Winning team gets pizza or extra learning video break each week. Different team rep. each
week in short review, graded on that weeks presentation.
Create a rotating training schedule with Triangle Tech, PSU, the Business College, etcetera. Fill
in gaps and expand individual capacities.

Machine: [Machine-tools, electro-mechanical devices, computers, vehicles ]

Rebuild to enhance features, not just back to original standard - more productivity, new
feeders, electronics, additional fail-safes, sensors checked in both states every cycle,
accessories, quick-change tooling, canned controls option, parts accumulation/transfer to next
operation, pick&place options (simple and custom), hydraulic resistance (beef-up brackets to
address adding required stiffness), continuous improvements of existing press lines. Also,
promote continuous improvement of standard feature in newsletter.
Re-design products with noise reduction components, part out sensors, quiet orientation
feeders, quick-change tooling
Custom Products - Offer PSU students opportunities for research projects. Test various filling
methods and materials, then measure properties.

Material: [Material - components, software, ]

Offer more Adjustable Frequency Drives, new HMI retrofits, options with various features,
wear-surfaces using alternate materials and techniques for alignment and durability,
automated material handling devices both simple and complex, third party enhancements with
high performance rating from customers, accumulators and continuous flow to next operation
conveyance, operation/training manuals and reference literature online.

Method: [Method - practices, procedures, rules, discipline, LEAN processes ]

Gold Mine Theory - Build relationships with business partners/customers; striving for longterm mutual benefits. Know their business objectives and capital budget plans. Help them
make good choices, even at the risk of losing a short-term sale. Develop a five year rolling

forecast and marketing approach distinguishing new start-ups, rapid growth, steady state, and
neglected companies in recovery. Something big is always on the horizon.
So many technicians in the industry love adjustability and ease of access, but are concerned
with quality and speed. Fix this perception by setting challenges through customer feedback
and share with the world through Newsletter. We don't need to instantly solve every potential
for improvement, but rather create a steady movement in that direction (glacier).
Free purchasing assistance and cut sheets for customers' maintenance staffs. Offer small,
publicized mark-up (e.g. 25%) in cases where customer needs purchasing intervention. Every
chance we get, add to online recommended spare parts collection and cross ref. by press, by
feature category... protect to maintain security. All this will build trust and develop loyal
customers.
Open Mind Policy for review customer feedback - Reward, with recognition, our best customer
feedback (and how we plan to address it) in a monthly newsletter. Include some lively,
interesting reading like quick tips on personal finance, health and wellness, latest trends, etc.
Share (in general terms) team activities and successes (open communication with customer
and healthy pressure for employees to perform in front of the most important audience, their
final customers). Offer prizes for completing customer surveys. (Hold drawing for quarterly
special prize, online via website for convenience.)
Special Products and Services - Include technology articles in website (e.g. specific successes)
BOM - RAK inventory control. Modernize Purchasing, BOM across press lines, categorize and
share components and track usage. Incorporate Engineering and Business System. Share
indicators, like Sales dollars per employee, with each employee (strategically timed) to align
his/her mindset for upcoming business decisions (like layoffs during down trends). Bar code
inventory. Auto-release standard product assemblies with options. Make options/no options for
each feature interchangeable. Pre-drill mounting holes, using CNC machining whenever
possible. Use sub-assemblies for various groups of options.
Empower engineers to tackle roadblocks and incrementally & continuously improve products
and systems. Create pride, ownership, appreciation, and satisfaction in every product and
service they provide. Create a forum for interaction and design review among Engineering,
Customer Service, and Sales Managers beyond the current work in process issues. Continually
refine this focus to keep current with business climate and companywide strategic objectives.
Conduct a Lean Office Kaizen event with a volunteer from PSU academia and your industry.

Environment: [Environment - home, work area, politics, religion, earth, ]

Create a new, interesting, interactive, helpful website (problem solving, sharing improvement
ideas, helpful in customer service, used for tracking progress for training, scheduling, metrics,
etc.) [Enlist help of RAK or GoDuBois.com.] Update frequently, assure that outdated
documentation is caught and corrected (e.g. Back to top button on each page to help navigate.)
Offer TPM guidelines - Offer to participate in Kaizen Events. Defer methods training to PSU CE
for TPM, SMED, ISO, Lean Six Sigma, etc. (organize short courses). Host "User Group" events
(campfire-side style) to bring various small customers together to share ideas on problem setups, technical challenges, and share the power that your industry's/services/ corporations
take advantage of through "strength in numbers". (See remanufacturing for continuous
improvement).