Learning from fellow AME consortium members about how they address quality, cost, delivery, safety and other issues provides a “huge” benefit for participating companies and associates at all levels, according to Dave Bird. He is the lean champion for two Messier-Bugatti, USA plants in Walton, KY. Associates at the facilities manufacture carbon aircraft braking material and aircraft wheel/brake assemblies for Airbus and Boeing for military and non-military applications. Bird is a member of the AME Northern Kentucky Consortium.
“We benefit from practitioner-to-practitioner connections,” Bird said. “Machinists, maintenance and quality people, as well as senior-level employees, learn from each other about best practices, as well as lean concepts.” Bird added that new hires and others gain a better understanding about problem-solving and other continuous improvement skills through training sessions that include students from other consortium members’ plants in addition to Messier-Bugatti participants.
Bird emphasized the value of active consortium involvement. “We go to other members’ plants to learn about Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), participate in kaizen (learning) events and benchmark best practices,” he said. “We are also a contributor to others in the group, by hosting events at our facilities and sharing out training sessions with others. You get out of the consortium what you put into it.” Bird cited TPM and 5S learnings, along with benchmarking findings, as key advantages provided through other consortium members.
Informal networking is another plus for senior executives in the consortium. “I can call on other managers to ask about their suggestions for resolving an issue, and they also call on me,” Bird said.
Areas Bird targets for additional consortium learnings include logistics strategies and administrative lean improvements. He noted that Fidelity Investments shared training sessions with Northern Kentucky Consortium members.
Editor’s note: To learn more about AME Consortia and how you can share, learn, coach and improve with fellow lean/continuous improvement practitioners in your area, visit ameconsortia.org.
Lea Tonkin is the former editor in chief of Target magazine and Target Online.
