Are you a worthy Metalcaster of the year?Last month I wrote about the need for metalcasters to find their Casting of the Year candidates. Interestingly, this column received more comments from our readership read·er·ship n. 1. The readers of a publication considered as a group. 2. Chiefly British The office of a reader at a university. than I ever expected. Some of our readers believe I was way off base, others supported my opinion. This month, I would like you to ask yourself if your casting facility is worthy of being called "Metalcaster of the Year." For those of you who thought I was off base last month, this question is sure to make you see red. But before you stop reading, take a look at the following. A few month's back I had the opportunity to visit Dotson Iron Castings, Mankato, Minn., when the plant and its employees were receiving the 2006 American Foundry Society Plant Engineering and the 2006 MODERN CASTING Foundry of the Year awards. Dotson was receiving these awards for its ability to continuously integrate advanced technology into its job shop environment. Usually, these awards are presented in a conference room with top management present and the exchange of a few kind words. It is dignified dig·ni·fied adj. Having or expressing dignity. dig  ni·fied ly adv. , but without a lot of
hoopla hoop·la n. Informal 1. a. Boisterous, jovial commotion or excitement. b. Extravagant publicity: The new sedan was introduced to the public with much hoopla. 2. . This year, the presentation was different. First, Dotson shut down its production and brought all of its employees to a central point in the plant. This was followed by speeches by the plant manager and a representative of the award nominating committee A nominating committee is a group formed usually from inside the membership of an organization for the purpose of nominating candidates for office within the organization. It works similarly to an electoral college, the main difference being that the available candidates, either . Last, the awards were presented, and photos were taken. All in all, it was about a 30-minute presentation. To Dotson's management, this 30 minutes was critical because the employees who made the award possible by learning about the new technology, optimizing it for their operation and integrating it into their manufacturing cycle were the ones that needed to hear the praise. As an outsider Outsider often refers to one identified as on the periphery of social norms, one living or working apart from mainstream society, or one observing a group from the outside, as used in:
n. Linguistics The concept that a signifier denotes. [Translation of French signifié, past participle of signifier, to signify.] Noun 1. industry recognition (and in some ways validation See validate. validation - The stage in the software life-cycle at the end of the development process where software is evaluated to ensure that it complies with the requirements. ) for the forward-thinking approach Dotson has taken with its iron job shop operation. Some would argue that this type of recognition isn't important, as our customers give us validation every time they entrust us with a casting order. While I agree with this philosophy as well, I also believe that public recognition is a great morale booster Noun 1. morale booster - anything that serves to increase morale; "the sight of flowers every morning was my morale builder" morale building boost, encouragement - the act of giving hope or support to someone . And, in Dotson's case, the drive to innovate in·no·vate v. in·no·vat·ed, in·no·vat·ing, in·no·vates v.tr. To begin or introduce (something new) for or as if for the first time. v.intr. To begin or introduce something new. and please its customers is the same as its drive to receive public recognition for this innovation. Now, I am not asking everyone to send in an application for Metalcaster of the Year. Instead, I am asking your facility to aspire to aspire to verb aim for, desire, pursue, hope for, long for, crave, seek out, wish for, dream about, yearn for, hunger for, hanker after, be eager for, set your heart on, set your sights on, be ambitious for being named Metalcaster of the Year. What is the difference? The difference is in how you run your operation on a daily basis. Do you seek to innovate your processes to set yourself apart from the competition? Do you continuously re-engineer your operations to improve production flow and your bottom line? Are you searching for the latest and greatest technology or services to enhance your processes? My belief is that if your operation is aspiring as·pire intr.v. as·pired, as·pir·ing, as·pires 1. To have a great ambition or ultimate goal; desire strongly: aspired to stardom. 2. to be Metalcaster of the Year, you also are doing everything necessary to be a leading-edge manufacturing firm. Regardless of whether you are a short run, low-automation job shop or a high-production, high-automation automotive supplier, if you are world class, the necessary steps to technology, process and/or customer-service innovation for your operation are being taken. As I suggested in June's editorial, take some time now to walk your casting facility's floor and determine whether your facility aspires to be a Metalcaster of the Year. Our industry's future rests on our ability to meet our customer's ever-increasing demand to be better and faster. Only through continuous innovation and improvement will this be possible. Alfred T. Spada, Editor-in-chief If you have any comments about this editorial or any other item that appears in MODERN CASTING, email me at aspada@afsinc.org. |
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