Simplifying Administration
at Daniel Woodhead
de Mexico
Robert W. Hall
ntering the Daniel Woodhead plant in Juarez,
Mexico, one is immediately struck by seeing the
offices at the front of the building nearly empty.
Most support activity is not in offices but out on the
shop floor.
Plant Superintendent Esco Martinez explained how
they did that, beginning in 1993. First the shop floor was
organized into five cells for each of five families of electrical connectors and lighting products. Later the administration for each cell moved into five cubicles next to the
cells, reorganizing so that the staff serves the adjacent
cell. Cubicles are no more than ten feet from where production is taking place. One cubicle is for manufacturing document control and calibration. The largest cell
has 60 workers on each shift.
Woodhead is a manufacturer of a broad line of
electrical quick-disconnect connectors and portable
lighting products. Any product can be supplied in almost
any configuration a customer wants. About 65 percent of
production is standard configurations sent to the finished
goods warehouse across the Rio Grande in El Paso, TX;
35 percent are orders shipped direct to customers. Some
orders are unique to the customer.
In all, 1000-3000 possible product configurations
can be made in each cell. Each cell consists of multiple
U-shaped production lines. Each line has the same
equipment, tooling, and capacity - flexibility that
eliminates the need for line schedules. All lines run in
batch mode because the variety and batch demands of
customer orders prevent running mixed model. However
batch sizes are occasionally only one piece. The 95,000
E
28
Target Volume 16, Number 2
square foot plant has about 450 employees working two
shifts, and no union.
Turnover: The Bane ofa Maquilladora Plant
Along the border, maquilladora plants have a
chronic problem with employee turnover. Mexicans
come north to the plants, earn enough pesos to achieve
a personal objective, return home or go on to the United
States. The Woodhead plant's turnover of seven to 12
percent per month is about a third the rate of most
maquilladora plants. Absenteeism of three percent is
also below average; workers get bonus pay for on-time
attendance.
Most workers who remain more than six months
stay much longer, so Woodhead has a mix of experienced workers and new hires. Some new hires who
intend to be temporary, leave, try another company,
then return - for less pay at first - because they like
the atmosphere of Woodhead's personnel policies and
cell administration. Because of the turnover, training is
a major ongoing responsibility within each cell at
Woodhead; no worker is considered adequately skilled to
handle the variety of orders unless she is certified on at
least three jobs in the cell. Because of the turnover, ten
to 25 percent of the workers in each cell are unqualified
at this level at all times.
Work planning must cope with the mix of skilled
workers and new hires. As long as hiring, training, and
planning were handled by the "front office," Woodhead
de Mexico had both a large staff and a confused shop
floor. Like most maquilladora plants, Woodhead de
Mexico only makes product. Site administration does not
deal with product design or with routine customer service, although the cell staff does contact customers
directly if they have a question about a custom order.
Cell Administration
Each cell cubicle has a unit manager called a cell
leader, a planner, a manufacturing engineer, transaction
clerk, and a training coordinator - five people. In addition, each cell has one or more inspectors. Because of the
new hires, all production must be sample inspected with
feedback given to the workers. Each cell is responsible for
its own raw material stock, which is checked into a separate cage for each cell. Most material is shipped from El
Paso, assembled, and sent back across the border. As
orders are run, material is pulled from the cage, and
Kanban squares limit the amount of stock that can be
brought to the floor at once. The cages are small so that
the amount of raw stock is limited to ten days. Finished
goods are shipped when completed.
All records are filed in or around each cubicle. All
five cells were ISO 9002 certified on the first examination.
Documentation was quickly produced and quickly related
to activity taking place nearby. Subsequent ISO audits
have found only one minor finding since May 1995.
Both the planning and the execution of work are
kept simple so that each cell can make use of new hires.
Visibility systems are employed; layouts are well marked,
and workstations are laden with color-coded charts and
instructions. In each cell, the manufacturing engineer
and training coordinator are responsible for work
instructions for both repeating and unique orders. Sometimes they are aided by the advice of experienced workers.
The cell administrators work as a team with the
workers in the cells. As a group they are responsible for
expenses, h}ring (and firing if necessary), training,
scheduling, layout, work instructions, operator certification on the tasks at each station, and pay rates.
Training and Improvement
New hires receive a half-day orientation by the
training coordinator of their cell before going to the floor.
Some have experience; some do not. Job training is caseby-case. Some tasks are easily learned on the job; several
training rooms are used to give workers short courses on
various topics or procedures as needed. As tasks and
responsibilities are acquired, the training coordinator
observes the workers perform on the floor and certifies
their capability via testing. Each set of skills mastered
raises the worker's pay.
The first objective of training new hires is to get
each one certified on at least three operations as quickly
as possible. Cross training on three stations greatly
improves a cell's productivity and its flexibility setting up
production of custom orders. The percentage of operators
certified to this minimum level is one of the critical performance measurements for each cell.
Reliance on pictures and drawings eases the burden
of training and explaining. In each cell, the manufacturing engineer creates work instructions based on the
drawing of the product. Minimal use is made of lists or
specifications "written in engineer," and the original
engineering drawing is considered the authoritative
source for everything that is done.
In addition, workers are trained in PDCA and other
problem-solving methods. Continuous improvement
teams meet for an hour once a week on paid time.
Participation is voluntary, but all workers are urged to
participate. Besides the value of the improvement projects, workers who participate learn a great deal more
about their work.
Continuous improvement groups are asked to
address themes considered important to Woodhead. The
coordination of continuous improvement projects and
themes is illustrated in Figure 1 in Spanish. Esco
Celda 5 FYOO Improvement Teams
David
Guerrero
Luis
Herlindo
Russell
Young
Figure 1.
29
SecondQuarter 2000
Woodhead de Mexico Organizational Chart
1
General Manager
I
I Plant Manager
I
Plant Services
•
Cell 1Leader
"Mini-Change
Portables"
l
1
Plant Superintendent
•
Cell 2Leader
"Receptacles
and MPIS"
l
1
Controller
•
Cell 3Leader
"Wiring Devices
Molded Products"
l
•
Cel14
Leader
"Grips"
1
Maintenance· 1
•
Cel15 Leader
"Micro/NanoChange Portables"
1Igu,,2.
Martinez, the superintendent, regards the promotion of
improvement to be his major leadership responsibility.
Pay for Skill Plan
All workers are paid a base rate plus bonuses for
certified skills and for performance. Besides bonuses for
attendance, they receive bonuses for their cell achieving
its goals.
Cell administrators receive monthly bonuses
depending on cell performance. The primary performance criteria are:
• Production productivity and quantity goals
• Defect reduction goals
• Percentage of certified operators
• Budget goals
• Current improvement goals.
The plant support staff, including Superintendent
Martinez, receives a bonus calculated annually, but paid in
equal installments monthly. The bonus calculation is a
weighted average of all the cells' performance to their goals.
The Plant Support Staff
The support staff is all in one of the four "boxes" on
the second level from the bottom of Figure 2. The general
manager is in El Paso and oversees operations on the other
side of the Rio Grande. In Juarez the plant manager and
his staff constitute a lean team supporting production.
Only about 20 people have "front office" jobs;
these include plant security and building maintenance
on two shifts. Looking around, one can find desks for
only two accountants, two clerks, receptionist, plant services administrator, Senor Martinez, and the plant manager. The accountants do the payroll, invoicing and
posting, plus the customs processing needed for material
crossing the border. When not tending to phones or visitors, the receptionist also processes invoices and assists
with purchasing activities.
. Space by the entrance includes two offices for visitors. Three meeting rooms are very well equipped and
outfitted. Functional departments such as materials,
quality control, personnel, and engineering no longer
exist. The conversion to cell administration was intended
to convey that the purpose of administration is to support
production and to promote improvement in speed, quality, and response. The empty echoes in the office area convey that impression very well.
Robert W. Hall is editor-in-chief of Target and a founding member ofthe Association for Manufacturing Excellence.
© 2000 AME® For information on reprints, contact:
Association for Manufacturing Excellence
380 West Palatine Road
Wheeling, IL 60090-5863
847/520-3282
www.ame.org
~