Newspapers / Fotofax (Brevard, N.C.) / June 1, 1988, edition 1 / Page 2
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rOTOFAX BREVARD PLANT IMAGING SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT ll/VVOIMO 8A81Em DEbVtJmEMl SDHJ) REG U S PAT a TM Page 2 Vol. 21, No. 2 FOCUS: How Are We Doing? OUR quality |VJuryijiy ^ •‘iCTuiipiRP^^^ Chuck Smith The traditional way to respond to this question was to compare current performance to past performance and project the trend into the future. That, we now realize, is an incomplete and potentially very misleading way to answer the question. It is not appropriate in today’s highly competitive global market and, in hindsight, it wasn’t appropriate in the past either. A valid response to that question must compare our position with our most effective competitor. We can’t be satisfied with an incremental gain over last year’s performance unless we are clearly ahead of our most effective com petitor. Our challenge is not to do better than we did last year, it is to over take and surpass our most effective competitor. Our goal is leadership! That is a challenge which can’t be met with an incremental, business-as- usual, approach. We must identify and demolish all barriers in our path. Our safety performance in our 209 day injury-free streak was evidence that we can make the kind of breakthrough changes needed to achieve our goal of leadership in safety, quality, cost and customer service. Certainly our safety performance in the first half of this year was world class. We need to regain and sustain that performance and make similar breakthroughs in other aspects of our performance. Our belief is that the most effective work groups are self-managed, self- reliant teams. As many of you have pointed out, we have some processes, systems and structures which are barriers to team building and therefore need to be changed. An example is our communications process which needed to be changed World Class Facilities The term “World Class” is being used a lot these days to describe what we want to become — that is a plant which com petes favorably with the best in the world. In other words, being NUMBER ONE. There are many aspects of being world class for which each of us should be striving. These include World Class Technology (product and process): World Class Think ing (market oriented, customer focused, competitively driven, continuously improv ing and simplifying): World Class Processes and Systems (total quality, con tinuous flow manufacturing, just-in-time material requirements planning, and com puter integrated manufacturing): and World Class People (thinking, energy, behavior, safety, leadership, discipline, self management). World class facilities at Brevard will depend on many things, including how well it is perceived we are doing on the above items. Each of us must be the best in what we do, and we must do everything better than our competition. Planning is under way for Imaging Sys tems Department which we believe will result in major facilities which are flexible, reliable, and streamlined. The projects we are proposing for Brevard include a new slitter chopper in Finishing, a Line 3 Extruder and C&S upgrade, an Emulsion Glen Young, Plant Engineer, talks about future prospects for World Class Facilities at Brevard. Make Area, and a 3B Coater extension for single pass coating. These projects are not approved or authorized yet, and plans can easily or quickly change. We should be enabling ourselves in every way possible to be prepared for the key role in the Department’s facilities expansion. The way in which we operate and maintain our existing facilities and our demonstration that we can become a world class team will be very important in the decision making process. The responsibility to reach our Vision and become NUMBER ONE rests squarely on the shoulders of each of us. We can do it and will be WORLD CLASS when we do. to provide more timely business-related information. In September, we began a new network approach to plantwide communications involving weekly meet ings with work group communicators who communicate to their teams directly rather than through the line organization. A computer network will serve as a backup or alternate route for getting access to the same information. We believe this is an efficient and interactive communication process which more clearly focuses on our competitive challenges and increases our alignment in dealing with them. Our job selection system is an example of a system that is a barrier to team building. It encourages job turnover in ways that cause teams to lose experienced members to other areas where they may have no experience and require extensive training. We are beginning a study to determine how to change our job selection system so that it becomes an asset to team build ing rather than a liability. An example of structure change that is needed to increase team self- reliance is to remove organizational barriers and interfaces which add no value. A step in that direction is the current work to merge the maintenance and production functions into the same operating team. We need to identify and eliminate all barriers to effective team building and all activities that add cost without adding value. We need to do so promptly to meet our mission of being fully competitive. We must be intoler ant of anything less. Personal Safety Program for Women WHY IS THIS COURSE BEING OFFERED? The DuPont Corporation is concerned about the safety of its employees in all situa tions whether on the job or away from it. The aspect of safety dealt with in this battery of courses is real world situations such as rape, battering and sexual harassment. The DuPont Corporation has decided to meet and deal with the issues around personal protection in a straight forward, no nonsense manner. The workshops increase under standing and awareness of the topics thereby lessening the likelihood of employee involvement in specific situations. Also, information is provided on what to do if one is involved. The DuPont Corporation was the first to develop such training for their employees. This program has received very high acclaim in corporate America. Many companies have requested assistance from DuPont in setting up similar programs for their employees. WHAT DOES THE COURSE ENTAIL? The total package presently includes: • An eight-hour Rape Prevention Workshop for women. Over a hundred Brevard women have already attended. • A one-hour safety meeting for all personnel. To date this safety meeting has been attended by some but not all plant personnel. • A four to six-hour Manager’s Workshop to begin later this year. • A four-hour workshop on battering — “A Right to Dignity.” In the design stages are: • An Awareness Workshop for males. • Sexual Harassment — “A Right to Respect.” The first of these courses. The Rape Prevention class, is facilitated by Vickey Pittillo and Diane Webster, certified DuPont instructors. The Managers Workshop will be led by Darwin Jones working with either Vickey or Diane. Darwin is presently completing his certification. Diane, in an interview with Fotofax, spoke with us about the Rape Prevention Classes. “These classes are extremely difficult to facilitate,” she said, “especially if two of them continued on page 10
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