Winning in Workforce Development

How many times have we heard shop owners complain about training their workers only to see them leave to work for other shops or even start their own businesses? If you're like me, the answer is "plenty".  But what if we didn't train our machinists? For my money, Milt Thomas, president of Wire Cut Company in Buena Park, CA has the right answer:

       "We have a choice: train them and maybe they’ll leave, or not train them and maybe they’ll stay”.

Well put.

In Los Angeles, we seem to have the “Right Stuff” when it comes to workforce development.  Our NTMA Chapter (actually, it was the Southern California Tool & Die Association back then) established a training center here in 1968 to train skilled machinists.  Shop owners with exceptional vision worked together and created what has become one of the premiere machinist training facilities anywhere in the country.

Since 1987, the NTMA has awarded the William E. Hardman Award for Excellence in Training.  It’s awarded on an almost-annual basis to companies, organizations or individuals who have consistently demonstrated strong support and active participation in structured training for the precision custom manufacturing industry.  (I’m proud to say that of the 23 awardees over the years, I personally have known 13 of them.)

The Los Angeles Chapter is home to the most winners of this award, narrowly edging out the St. Louis Chapter and several others.  The past winners from Los Angeles were:

1993     Leo Holder             Brown-Covey, Inc.

2001     Dan Watts              Woodruff Corporation

2010     Michael Kerwin     LA/NTMA Training Centers of Southern California   

Add Milt Thomas to the list!  At the annual NTMA conference last month in Kona, HI, the Los Angeles Chapter was thrilled to see Milt win this prestigious award.  If ever there was a person with a laser-like focus on training while running a small contract manufacturing company, it would be Milt.

Milt has been serving as an advisor to the LA/NTMA Training Centers since 1983, while chairing the Southern California Tool &Die, Mold, Machinist & Metal Working Trades Apprenticeship Committee for most of that time.  And he has provided his vision and leadership on the chapter’s Board of Directors since 1993, serving as president in 2002.

He led the LA/NTMA Team that hosted the 2002 National Apprenticeship Competition and he continues to oversee the Apprenticeship Program through the NTMA Training Centers.

Finally, Milt was elected and served as a Training Center Trustee from 2007 through 2012. Pretty awesome résumé, if you ask me.

So here's one who really gets the concept of taking personal responsibility for training the next generation of machinists.  Thanks, Milt, from your friends here in Southern California and from a grateful industry. 

                                                                                                         

Congratulations, Milt, for all you have done – and I’m quite sure will continue to do – to assure that our industry is well-prepared with skilled workers for generations.

Until next month…

John

The Reluctant “Politician”

Back in 1994 when I was serving as the president of the LA Chapter of NTMA, I met a fairly new member during a chapter meeting/tour of the C-17 facility in Long Beach.  It was pretty clear from the outset that he was a person that I wanted to get to know better.  He was pretty excited that he was sitting at my table.  After all, I was this guy who was pretty heavy into leadership in the NTMA.  Probably even more excited, I saw immediately that I had met someone who represented the prototypical NTMA member by size, demographic, etc. who could engage at a high level.

Over time, we got to know each other very well.  We even created our own strategic alliance of sorts, adding value to both of our companies.  To this day, we have (almost) monthly meetings in which Bob Mosey of Moseys’ Production Machinists in Anaheim, CA and I share our company issues of the day and help each other through them.

In the mid-90s, I asked him if he’d be willing to serve on the NTMA chapter board.  He said he’d have to think about it as he had no “political ambitions”.  Well, he was nominated and he did graciously accept.

Some years later, I asked him if he’d be willing to serve the chapter board on its Executive Team and go through the chairs.  Well, he said he’d have to think about it as he had no “political ambitions”.  Of course, he was nominated and he did accept.  He served the LA Chapter as president in 2004.

In 2007, while serving as chairman of the LA/NTMA Training Centers Trust, I asked him if he would be willing to serve a 3-year term as a trustee on the 3-person Trust – as worthy an endeavor as there may be in our industry, especially in Los Angeles.  You probably can figure out by now what he said.  Today he’s serving out the second of two 3-year terms and the Training Centers are successful in every category.

Now, I had no part in asking him if he would be willing to serve the Association at the national level by serving on its Executive Team with the goal of eventually becoming its chairman.  But I can imagine quite well what his response was to the Nominating Team.  The rest, as they say, is history.

At the 2013 NTMA Annual Conference, this year in Hawaii from March 5-8, Bob will be installed as the Chairman of the Board of the National Tooling & Machining Association.  There are few higher honors in our industry and none higher in our Association of over 1,300 members.  At TCI, we’re very proud of Bob’s service to the industry in so many ways.

And if he attempts to blame me for all his problems, well, I’m OK with that.

Congratulations, Bob, and safe travels on behalf of TCI and the NTMA!

Until next month...

John

What a Surprise! California Supremes Break Toward Business

As my son, Ben, remarked, “For a second, I thought I was reading The Onion”.

Last week, the California Supreme Court issued a decision on a case that had been pending before it since 2008. Referred to as the “Brinker Case”, the decision addresses employer and non-exempt employee rights and responsibilities regarding meal and rest period wage-hour policies.

Under the current California Labor Code, employers are required to provide employees two rest breaks and a meal break on a very strict time schedule. No issue with that here. It’s the right thing to do. The “however”, here, is that an employer can be found in violation of the Code by missing on the timing of breaks and meals by a single minute. Penalties are potentially huge.

For years, labor groups have insisted that employers are obligated to “police” their employees to ensure that no work is actually being done on break and lunch periods. A violation of the rule generally requires the employer to pay an additional hour of compensation for any part of a compromised meal period.

The larger win, I think is for the employee, not the employer, and that’s equally fine by me. I can’t count the times when an employee has asked to work through a half-hour lunch break in order to leave early for an appointment in the afternoon. We’d be happy to accommodate the requests but for the rule. It would be a violation of California’s Labor Code to permit it. Now that the California Supremes have decided on the Brinker case, we can be more flexible. Of course, the lunch period still exists (as it, of course, should), but exceptions can be made in order to help employees with meeting other obligations outside of work.

Too many times I’m asked if I know what would help businesses grow in this economy. One of my most frequent answers is for the regulators to get out of the way. Score one for employees and employers!

Until next month...

-John Belzer

P.S.

Just thought I’d include a list of 2012 upcoming events. It’s going to be a busy year for us on the road in 2012. Although the traditional trade show climate has changed over the past few years, we still believe in presenting eyeball-to-eyeball given the right opportunities. Here’s how it stacks up for the year (so far):

Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) 2012
April 30-May 3
Houston, TX
Booth # 11819
The OTC is the world’s foremost event for the development of offshore resources focusing on drilling, exploration, production and environmental production.

Mfg4 2012
May 8-10
Hartford, CT
Booth # 1310
Mfg4 (Manufacturing for the Future) is designed by SME to take place biennially alternating with Eastec, normally held annually in Springfield, MA. This show will be its first.

Amerimold 2012
June 13-14
Novi, MI
Booth # 322
Amerimold is an event for tool and mold making, molds and additive manufacturing. It is being held in conjunction with the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) Purchasing Fair.

IMTS 2012
September 10-15
Chicago, IL
Booth # W-1267
IMTS is simply the largest, must-attend event in the industry, held every other year in Chicago. We have exhibited at IMTS since the 60s.

We hope that you’ll be attending one or more of the shows and take the opportunity to stop by to say hi. It’s always good to see old friends and make new ones as we take our message on the road.

The Workers’ Comp Classification Scam

Over the past few months, it’s been very busy (too busy, it sometimes seems, to have written a monthly blog). But I’m back at it, and intend to stay on track here at the keyboard. And to begin 2012, I need to let off a little steam and present an issue that is more than a cautionary tale.

I don’t know how workers’ compensation laws work where you live, but here in California it seems that the more I learn, the less I want to know. We’ve all heard about the anti-business nature of our legislature in Sacramento. It’s legendary and I’ve written about it in the past.

This next slight comes in the form of regulations set forth that govern the workers’ compensation classifications of employees. As is likely a nationwide standard, the rate we all pay for workers’ compensation insurance is based on payroll, head count and job classification. At the beginning of the “insurance year” we estimate head count and payroll and clearly identify which people are performing which job functions. After the close of the “insurance year”, the carrier performs an audit to attest that we’ve estimated correctly and honestly to understand whether we’ve paid an appropriate premium given our risk. So far, so good?

Now, it turns out that we have several job classifications, as most shops do: “clerical office employees, salespersons, machine shops and stores-wholesale”. You would think that, with all of the opportunities for injury on a manufacturing floor that the “machine shops” classification would be the highest rate per $100 in payroll. You would be wrong. It’s the “stores-wholesale” classification (in our case, picking, packing and shipping) that is the most expensive.

But that’s not the worst part, or even the point of this piece. It’s just the set-up (so to speak). For the first time in history, the carrier’s auditor asked some our clerical and sales-classed individuals whether they spent any time on the shop floor; and if yes, why and where. The answers were consistent with good business practice. First, they were honest. Second, they explained that in the normal course of business, it’s important to understand the basics, if not the complexities of how parts are made.

According to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) it turns out that an office worker or salesperson can’t spend more than ZERO minutes per day on the floor without being re-classed into the most expensive rate in the business on the theory that the risk for injury during those few minutes justifies the higher premium.

This means that a sales manager can’t walk through a facility to check on inventory or a customer’s job without being reclassified. How does that make good business sense? Seriously.

Oh. And the rate per $100 of payroll is almost 15 times higher than the rate for the position in which the person is legitimately classed.

It’s no wonder that California has developed a reputation for being business-unfriendly. And it’s just another cause-and-effect of a clueless legislature in Sacto and a perennially broken and mis-managed California workers’ compensation insurance system.

And how does small business answer that question during the next audit cycle? And what will you do when that auditor comes to visit?

When I began my monthly comments in this space, I assured you that it wouldn’t be your garden-variety blog, at least most of the time. I hope you agree that I’ve kept my promise.

Until next month…

Today’s Modern Machine Shop – Increase Throughput, Minimize Waste, and Reduce Cost

On Thursday November 3rd at 2:00PM Eastern I’ll be hosting a webinar with Modern Machine Shop Online talking about ways to increase throughput, minimizing waste and reduce costs. Mark Albert, Editor-in-Chief of Modern Machine Shop Magazine, will be the moderator.

By now, we’ve all attended a webinar or two. This is my first time presenting one and I’m looking forward to the event.

Here’s the situation: As the manufacturing sector continues to improve, there are more opportunities for those shops that successfully weathered the last recession. In addition, I believe that more work will be “re-shored” due to better quality, faster lead times and increasing upward pressure on Asian costs. Add the critical shortage of skilled workers to the mix and you end up with the issue of figuring out you’re going to satisfy your customers’ demands while holding (or even better, increasing) your margins.

Given the challenges, we’ll talk about how to increase and accelerate work through your shop, reduce costs related to procuring raw materials and machining, and grow your business without unnecessary pressure.

The Webinar promises to present useful information and strategies that will help your business and I hope that you can join us on such short notice. Click here to register.

Until Thursday…

John

Clarification
TCI Precision Metals services our customers from our single, 105,000 sq. ft. facility in Gardena, California, just 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It has come to our attention on many occasions that there are companies claiming to be us and actually accepting orders from our customers. If you are not working with TCI in Gardena, California, you’re not working with TCI Precision Metals. If this is the case, please contact me and I will rectify the situation immediately.

Continuous Improvement Helps Us Evolve

TCI Achieves ISO 9001:2008 and AS9100C Certification

Having been certified to earlier versions of ISO and AS quality management systems for many years, in August we were granted certification to the latest revision of the ISO and AS quality management systems standards, namely ISO 9001:2008 and AS9100C.

For those of you who have been through the latest revision process and for those who are currently working their way to (re)certification, you know how difficult and time consuming it can be. But it’s not about the paperwork. In fact, our system is, for all practical purposes, digital.

Thanks largely to the next generation, (that would be Ben), our system is relatively easy to navigate with a great deal of linkage between and among sections. I can say with some confidence that our third party auditor from QMI found his task easier and quicker at TCI than in other organizations that he has audited. And it’s all up on our company intranet available to all users.

As everyone knows, the purpose of becoming certified and maintaining an ISO and AS quality management system registration isn’t about marketing. It’s about becoming a better organization. The latest revision is also helping us to be a more process-driven company and is reinforcing the need to be on a path of continuous improvement.

In the end, the real measure of our Quality is the degree to which our customers express satisfaction with our products and services through long-term business relationships. That was the case before and is even truer now.

Until next month…

John

"TCI Goes BIG"

While my monthly topics usually are intended to cover broader issues than those under our own roof, this month I can’t resist shameless self-promotion. Over the past several years, the Engineered Products side of our business has evolved with our customers’ requirements and needs. While evolving has always been the norm here, the early 2000s brought a seismic (after all, this IS California) shift toward larger work.

At the risk of suggesting that our latest addition completes our large part machining cell, our new Hyundai-Kia Horizontal Boring Mill would seem to fit the bill. It complements 3 very large gantry-type vertical machining centers and 3 somewhat smaller horizontal machining centers in that cell.


The new boring mill has travels of 118” in X, 79” in Y, 63” in Z and 28” in W. With a full 4thaxis table that is 79” x 71” and a 22,000# load capacity, it is an addition that will help us provide our customers with larger capacities, faster lead times and throughput along with better quality and accuracy.

We just finished installing it last month and it is currently being booked for large oil & gas components and food packaging equipment.

As my friend Mike Mittler, President of Mittler Brothers Machine & Tool, and Past-Chairman of the NTMA would say, “Sell early and often”. Mike, I hope you’re reading!

I hope that this month’s message finds you well and finding a way to endure this crazy summer heat.

-John Belzer