AME Consortia: Learn How Other Companies Tackle Challenges

Mark Steine, Neenah Enterprises Inc.

Benchmarking against other companies’ lean and continuous improvement performance is a key benefit of shared learning in organizations such as the AME consortia, said Mark Steine, corporate director of continuous improvement at Neenah Enterprises Inc. in Neenah, WI. Leadership can more effectively leverage internal performance metrics by implementing new lessons from fellow consortium members, he said. Steine is a member of the AME Northeast Wisconsin Region Gold Consortium. Neenah Enterprises supplies gray and ductile iron castings to construction and industrial markets. Its products include sewer covers, drain gates, curb boxes and heavy transportation parts.

“Benchmarking against other organizations is valuable,” he said. “You learn over time that not every company does everything great, but that your organization and others do some things well. Whether you are in the foundry industry, or packaging or another industry, you encounter many similar problems and issues. If we are looking for improvements in some of our production processes — even though some are unique to our industry — I can visit someone in a different industry and find ideas that we can translate to our industry to help introduce improvements in our facilities.”

During a recent consortium tour at a facility in Milwaukee (Douglas Dynamics), Steine and Neenah’s vice president of manufacturing saw “a very good implementation of training within industry (TWI) in a machine center,” Steine said. He noted that learning more about the related standardized work practices reinforced the need to continue introducing TWI concepts in Neenah plants. “Having our vice president of manufacturing see it and say, ‘I understand,’ means he is now on board to get it done,” he said. He gained additional TWI knowledge during a consortium seminar led by the Optima management firm.

“The concept of the consortium is the right way to go,” Steine said. “It allows people to see what others are doing, get out of their box and open their eyes. We can see what people are doing in another company and say, ‘That’s a slick way to do it. I think we can modify it and it can be beneficial to us.’ We need to continually find ways to improve our products and processes at lower cost to our customers. “

Looking forward to additional consortium plant tours and networking activities, Steine particularly targets effective problem-solving strategies. There will always be roadblocks and hurdles in continuous improvement — and solid ideas to learn and share.