Manufacturing leadership tip: Manage by walking around the metalworking shop

Walking around getting to know employees and what's happening on the shop floor is especially helpful for leaders of metal fabricating and forming companies. gorodenkoff/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Among your most useful tools to manage your plant floor is simply being there.

Management by walking around (MBWA) isn’t something new. As a matter of fact, it’s often called “old school.”

I don’t necessarily agree that it was practiced well, though. As I look further back in my career, the more I see managers and directors whose offices were fortresses against the possible interruption of line-level people. When information, production quality, and safety matter, management has to be in full view of all employees, and company priorities need to be reinforced. I started this piece with the goal of writing about maintaining and calibrating monitoring and test equipment. However, plenty of information about the standards and best practices for calibrating test equipment and monitoring devices can be found out there. When I asked myself where does such an effort to keep equipment in working order, the answer was management. If you value reliable information and reinforce the message, your employees will follow.

MBWA isn’t really about being friendly. It certainly helps if employees know that you care about their well-being. It also helps to meet the people responsible to support your goals. Walking around shouldn’t be a random, casual stroll, though. Walking around should be dedicated to getting the organization to where you want it to be and should be directed to all those activities that help plant floors to run smoothly.

Walking around shouldn’t be a random or casual event. Your presence should serve to communicate and reinforce your production priorities, build an open dialog between your line employees and their supervisors, and gauge employee engagement and morale. Walking around productively requires an explicitly defined plan of items for you to review and discussions you should have with employees and managers.

Here is some guidance for managers who currently or would like to start these walk-arounds in their own facilities:

People. Your tour offers a great opportunity to observe and interact with your plant employees. You should observe their level of interaction and engagement in their jobs. Do they look fearful of management? Do they speak knowledgeably about their work? Are they willing to discuss the production issues they face daily? Do they talk about their successes and accomplishments?

This is also an opportunity to connect with employees about family challenges. Employees’ challenges at home have the potential to interfere with productivity. Crying babies, crippling debt, birth, death, and a host of other issues occupy employee time and distract them from their work. Help doesn’t always mean yet another costly benefit. Financial training, communication lessons, and training in dealing with parenting and family issues can go a long way in showing your concern and maintaining productivity.

Safety. Are employees alert and engaged? Is safety equipment clearly marked and was training provided? Are all employees wearing proper protective gear and dressed appropriately for their jobs? Are floors clean of grease and oil? Are trip hazards clearly marked? Are eye and hearing protection readily available?

Equipment Condition. Your best defense against costly equipment failure is to plan maintenance activities and diligently monitor equipment. A manager should discuss maintenance and condition monitoring with operators and maintenance staff to ensure each knows what to do when a risky event is observed. During your tour, you should observe your equipment and draw attention to items you find unacceptable.

Cleanliness of the machines is your best start in observing equipment condition. Dust and dirt can cause dimpling when it is on die surfaces, clog filters, scratch metal surfaces if it lands in lubricants, and attract oils and grease to surfaces if left uncleaned. Leaking hoses, exposed wiring, and dirty monitoring devices also indicate that maintenance activities must be improved.

Likewise, floors and surfaces should be swept and clean from dirt and oils. Not only can dirt be a safety hazard, dirt and dust from grinding and deburring can lead to forming failure if the debris finds itself anywhere near blanks or dies.

Organization. Are tools clean and put away properly? Do employees clean up after themselves? Are best practices and good habits taught and reinforced?

The walk-around is a valuable tool for managing your plant floor. When you conduct a walkaround with specific goals in mind, you can help identify both strengths and weaknesses in your production operations. Another pair of eyes is always helpful in finding issues that those in daily contact might take for granted.

The results of your walk-around should be both constructive and instructive. This is your opportunity to reinforce your priorities for plant safety, employee relations, and best practices.

The walk-around is not the right place to punish employees who may not meet your standards. Employees should view the walk-around as a positive event to share with and learn from management.