ZF Steering Cites Key Benefits Through AME Consortium

Mike Hirsch by the heijunka board

As one of the four founding member companies in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati Chapter, AME Consortium for Business Excellence, ZF Steering Systems LLC in Florence, KY, counts many shared learning experiences that have netted useful ideas for its continuous improvement (CI) journey. Mike Hirsch, vice president, passenger car steering systems, noted that increasing membership in the group and creation of a spinoff consortium serving the northern Cincinnati area multiply these opportunities.

“From our perspective, we benefit the most through the consortium in the benchmarking plant tours,” Hirsch said. “We go to plant walks at new member companies or in other plants where the host showcases their CI progress.” These improvement examples and shared “lessons learned” spark visitors’ ideas for adapting and implementing innovative changes. “Automotive and food companies, for example, can compare systems such as visual management, communications and changeovers,” said Hirsch. “You see, you learn and you share over the years.”

For lean coordinators, such benchmarking tours “have been a big plus,” according to Tim Ehlman, CI manager at ZF Steering. “You’re sharing with other people, and everybody in the consortium is very open,” he said. Ehlman cited useful tips from fellow consortium members about presenting CI information and generating employee buy-in for change. Sitting down with employees from a member company and learning about their suggestion system also yielded good ideas that could be adapted at ZF Steering. “You’re not giving away trade secrets,” Ehlman said of the non-competitor membership. “You’re willing to work with each other, to find better ways to share information.”

Opportunities Expanding for Information Sharing

Informal information sharing through plant tours, training sessions and other consortium activities offer significant value for members. Through the efforts of the Optima consortium management firm and participating companies, consortium members will gain even greater opportunities for trading notes with other companies pursuing lean and CI improvements. Plans are moving forward to expand access to online data about consortium activities nationwide, according to Hirsch. “We’ll be expanding from a 17-member consortium to sharing more broadly,” he said. An initial pilot for this project has been completed; the plan is roll it out to all AME consortia during the next several months.

More Opportunities to Share: People Side of Change, TPM

“Everything around people and human resources — training, employee selection, suggestion programs, methods supporting employee engagement and involvement — is another big opportunity for consortium members,” said Ehlman. Participants share information about finding and developing needed talent. And if a member company experiences layoffs, its affected employees may find new jobs through the group’s connections.

The consortium is also starting to work on developing programs about TPM and predictive maintenance. That’s a critical focus, since uptime is so important on equipment. Consortium facilitator Sam Matsumoto is setting up a team to evaluate what various companies need, and then the team will lay out a program that will work for everybody.

Hirsch added that one of the member firms has an effective green belt/black belt/six sigma program, and it has helped other companies make use of its program materials.

What’s Next

The Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati consortium aims to continue attracting member companies, eventually building a tier system for participation. “We can see the different levels of CI maturity,” Hirsch said. “Some companies are well on their way in the lean journey, and some are at earlier stage. Our objective is to recruit and develop programs for the various groups.” Hirsch has served as the consortium chairman for the past two years.

A steering committee sets the agenda for the year, based on member feedback. In addition to local tours and other programs, members give positive feedback to presentations by speakers such as former Toyota executive Mike Hoseus and reshoring expert Harry Moser.

The group also fosters networking sessions among CI coordinators. On the horizon: special interest sub-groups focusing on HR and hiring practices, health and safety, maintenance and executive leadership.

You are invited to participate in informative, engaging consortium special activities during the AME Toronto 2013 Conference. On Tuesday, Oct. 22, consortium global companies will share best practices during 12 special sessions held during networking periods. All conference attendees are welcome to hear the storytelling presentations by practitioners throughout the day. Each presentation will be scored by a panel of lean experts; the three top-rated teams will present again during Lean Consortia Night. Well-known lean practitioners and consortium member companies will provide timely counsel and “lessons learned” during the evening session. Use these experiences and consortium connections as building blocks for discussion with your teams.