Thread: Moving into a foreman position

Mastercam has a free student that can do just about everything the full version can except post programs. Does Gibbs Cam offer something similar? I know mastercamX pretty well, but ive never used Gibbs cam. Im hopeing to get a head start on it before my first day.

Another thing to avoid is things that look good on paper that pander to management. Example the new foreman that immediately increases productivity by cutting cycle times 25%. Runs to management to get his attaboys! Even though the end result is lowered productivity because of downtime to retool and increased tooling expense.
When it has found out his great idea made things worse his reply is the guys running the machines are slow, lazy
and not as efficient retooling the machine as he is.

I would offer a couple additional thoughts from quite a few years in supervisory and management positions. Of course, always be fair and never show favoritism. Be yourself, i.e. don't try to be someone at work different from who you really are. If you treat your co-workers right, folk will overlook any individual quirks that you have and do right by you and the company. Not everyone may agree, but my universal experience has been that if someone is treated well by the company, works for and with people who demonstrate that they are valued as people and not simply as labor, they will want to work for a winning team and will show it in their attitude and performance. Always praise in public and correct in private. Screaming may get immediate results but inevitably results in loss of respect and decreased morale and performance.

Sounds like your job will involve production in addition to supervision so you will need to demonstrate competence in the basics in order to be an effective supervisor. I do not subscribe to the notion that you need to know as much or more than every employee, but you need to know enough to not be fooled.

Always be honest and candid. Your most effective tools as a supervisor is the trust and respect of others. Gain it by doing your share of the hard work and never shirking an unpleasant task. You don't always have to be around when the work is tough, buy your team must know that you do your share. Always communicate thoroughly, openly and candidly. Bad news does not get better if with-held. If you make a mistake, and you will, acknowledge it fully - own up to it individually and to the group as appropriate. If you create the right work and relational environment, it will be repaid many times over.

Be a problem solver. When one of your team has a problem - material, tooling, process, or whatever - it becomes yours. Look for problems that you can solve for your workers and anticipate where challenges will occur and get ahead of them. Don't worry about who gets the credit - if your co-workers are worth having and your management is switched on, they will know who is making a real difference and who is not.

Finally, from the fact that you are asking good questions, are interested in being prepared, and are being given supervisory responsibility at your age, I have little doubt that you will do well.

Jim

"Be a problem solver."

I always appreciated being asked by my supervisors for ideas to improve workflow or other areas. After all, the person doing the work is closest to the problems.

However, I think one supervisor nailed it when he told us "I'm happy to get and consider your suggestions, but it is my responsibility to make the final decision on what is done".

So be open to other people having answers, but don't let that get out of hand to where everyone thinks they get to make decisions that are not part of their job duties.

Try to keep in mind how you preferred to be treated before you were given supervisory responsibilities.

Oh, I learned that being in a position where your responsibilities are not matched by your authority is a bad place to be. Watch that your higher managers don't load you up with responsibilities but don't give you the tools/authority needed to fulfill those responsibilities.

cheers,
Michael