How do You motivate your guys to make good parts?

First off, I am not a manager. We are mostly aircraft parts 7050 Al. Lately we have have some partial orders screwed up by careless mistakes like running with broken tools, cutting with the nub. We also blend our parts so yesterday an experienced guy blended some walls under size and six parts are on the scrap table. My first instinct in to say you got to pay more to get better guys, but is that the only answer? Some people want to be real machinist and not just button guys. To most here this is just a job. How do you motivate?

Work ethic and pride in your work are rare traits these days.

Do you have a policy manual for your employees? Do you have a quality manual with procedures for inspection? If so, were those policies followed?

Unfortunately, these days it seems you can't just say "go make this" and expect it to be done correctly. You have to describe how to set up the machine, how to fixture it, how to set tools, how to cut the part and then how / when / what to inspect and which gauges to use, what the readings should be and what to do if a reading is out of tolerance.

lowCountryCamo said:

My first instinct in to say you got to pay more to get better guys, but is that the only answer?

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Pay is important, but I've found it really is NOT the be all and end all to getting and keeping good employees..

There are all kinds of fun little tricks that you can play to manipulate/motivate your employees.. First thing you
HAVE to do is to treat them well.. You know how your dog wags her tail when you tell her "good girl", humans aren't all
that much different.. Treating people well doesn't cost a fricken penny..

An "atta boy", "good job", and a "thank you" can go a long way..

I've also found that getting people to take ownership of what they are doing goes a long way.. Joe Blow comes to you
and says "blah blah isn't working"... You know what needs to be done to fix the problem..

Here is where it is pure manipulation.. You DO NOT tell Joe Blow how to fix the problem and send him on his way..

You ASK Joe Blow how he thinks "WE" should fix the problem.. Joe Blow already has an idea in his head, he just needs approval..
If his idea is a total cluster fuck, you ask him questions that will move things around so that Joe Blow comes up with the correct
answer to fix the problem.. Joe Blow has now come up with the brilliant new idea (that you already knew) to fix the problem..

Joe Blow goes back to his machine or whatever proud that he came up with a solution that you approve of.. Throwing a "thats a great
idea" into the conversation doesn't hurt either.. Now Joe Blow has to make it work, because he wants it to work, because its HIS idea
and HE OWNS IT.. Never hurts to throw in "If there is a problem, come back and WE'll see what WE can come up with"..

All kinds of stupid little tricks, there are seminars you can attend and books and stuff.

Back to the money thing.. Operator $8 an hour.. They need to generate $60 an hour to pay for themselves.. I say hire them
at $16... They don't need to make $120 an hour now, they only need to add that extra $8 an hour to justify the higher pay..

And the sad thing, they probably won't get that extra 2 parts done an hour, but what they will do, is get you 2 less scrap parts
an hour, they'll notice that hole getting a little big, they'll catch that endmill that is getting dull and change it out before it
breaks... Saves a part and now you can have it resharpened for $20 instead of having to buy a new one for $50... They'll notice the
coolant is getting low and top it up while the machine is running instead of having to stop everything for 10 minutes when it starts
blowing air bubbles..

A lot of it is "tricks" and manipulation. Its like training a dog.. And I don't mean to De-Humanize employees, but you basically
need to manipulate them into being happy..

Happy employees are good employees and pay is only part of it.. Also on the pay thing, I've noticed that if you offer a decent wage, the
riff-raff tends to stay away, fear of responsibility or something, I don't know exactly..

Just my 2 cents.

^^^ Perfect answer. In 40 years as an employer I can tell you for sure that you cannot give an existing poor performer more money to make them better producers. I once had an employee say to me that giving him more money and responsibility would make him better. Yeah, right. I let him do a job on his own to see if he could do it before giving the raise. So he makes a mistake drilling a hole for a piece of hardware and makes the decision to drill the next 4 parts the same way so they all look alike. Now need to make 4 new parts instead of one. He was gone a week later.

lowCountryCamo said:

First off, I am not a manager. We are mostly aircraft parts 7050 Al. Lately we have have some partial orders screwed up by careless mistakes like running with broken tools, cutting with the nub. We also blend our parts so yesterday an experienced guy blended some walls under size and six parts are on the scrap table. My first instinct in to say you got to pay more to get better guys, but is that the only answer? Some people want to be real machinist and not just button guys. To most here this is just a job. How do you motivate?

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The skill enhancing qualities of free pizza should not be underestimated.

How do I motivate me!

how to motivate? a deserved firing always seems to tune things up.....but we have to try for something a bit deeper than that

The question you ask fuels an entire industry of authors speakers and academics.......if I were to rephrase the question it would be "explain how I can master group psychology to get the exact behaviour I want". No one has that answer.

In the modest amount of time and space for this post, I would it depends on the core aspects of culture combined with how you treat the individual employee. Money is part of it, but I would say indirectly - money gives you a better chance of getting the better quality person, who is smart, conscientious and cares about the job and company. That's the role of money - I don't an individual gets smarter or moves 10% faster forevermore because you pay them $4/h more. In 3 months it will be same old same old....use more money to find better people.

Things I do:

- fairly open communication - the guys know the strategy and what's expected of them, where we're trying to go with the business. The flip side of this those who in the way of strategy rather than supporting it have to go - its really tough to have a good motivated workforce if they are not rowing in the same direction.

- feedback loop -for example they record hours on a job and this is tallied and compared with estimates

- quickly get rid of the punks, hire men. Men care about their jobs, punks do not and bring the whole place down

- paying more for me is fine by me, I got rid of a punk once and put his manager on the brake press for a shift and twice as many parts came out of the shift

- an environment of respect - every team member is respected and listened to. I want them to all know they are all valued and important (which is the truth). This has to be top down - practice what you preach

- professional management practices. . ie you're written up, then sent home for a day, then three then fired etc, written employee manual, stated policies on discrimination, substance abuse and so forth. The idea is their job is bigger than anyone person, even me - they don't fear being fired because I'm a bad mood or that policy is set on how much they suck up to me. Good employees are ok living under the thumb of the job's requirements, but will sour living under thumb of a person.

- attaboys - we're all human. As Dale Carnegie said, be hearty with your approbation and lavish with your praise (yes I have that memorized lol)

- Keep the band together - I take on low margin jobs and build things on spec for inventory so I don't have to lay people off. The guys know this and I think appreciate it - I'm taking risk because I care about them and their jobs. Its good for me too as I think you get caring motivated employees with tenure and when the know the boss cares about them. Its also obviously good for the business as you can keep your best people

The mark of good management is getting increased performance from everyone on the team. imo, as student of human nature that isn't done through whipping but rather approaches like above....business schools call this study Organizational Behaviour. Personally I think the mind is so complex psychologists are mostly bumblers stumbling through their day - how the heck do you apply the craft to a group? As I say no one has mastered it imo, its not an exact thing....the above is just my practice so far - which of course itself is not static as we learn and get better at things

....and whatever you do, always remember what I believe as the basic statement of management - you get what you measure and reward.

At my last job, the guy that hired me was my immediate boss, we were the only two working there in that dept and almost everyday he would tell me thanks for the help as we were leaving and it wasn't a canned response, he really meant it. Even if we had a bad day, he would tell me he appreciated my help. He left for better things and I took over and I'll admit I was not the boss that he was. He is at another shop now and when he calls for help or needs something I will do it if at all possible. The first job he sent my way he admitted to me was not good and had small margins but they were stuck. If it had been anyone else I'd have told them No, but he asked and I did it because of the history he had being a nice decent guy to me when he could have easily been like most others and not cared as much.

Bob has it right, treat the person like you want to be treated and you will either get a person that will do more than asked, or a person that will take advantage of you and you won't feel any regret getting rid of them.

I think money is the best motivator. Perhaps set a scrap percentage value and when made or beat all the guys get a weekly (or monthly) bonus. They don't need to know the numbers, the rate, who's scrap got charged or the reason to go up or down. . After a time of getting the bonus they will become watchdogs for money costing problems. The boss would also get the bonus and also would not know the numbers. IMHO.

The factor could be a look-see at the scrap bin or actual figuring.

norb said:

The skill enhancing qualities of free pizza should not be underestimated.

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Aye.

Must be linked to performance goals. No, or limited, or even just fewer, scrapped parts, met, or beat, production numbers, etc.
Peer pressure turned into a bit of a motivating force.
Try to keep the goals realistic though.

Like a good dog, we all like a pat on the head and a kind word once in a while.

Cheers
Trev

1) at rating time let them know their raise was based on what they produced and scrap number of parts. basically "you got 2% raise which would have been 3% but you made some scrap parts"
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2) i as cnc operator use a excel work log or check list on desktop computer next to cnc. first thing i do is go through program and write in program hardcopy 3 ring binder book every tool used rpm, feed and convert to sfpm and ipt and i look up on the tool excel list if those feeds and speeds caused problems like sudden tool failure before. i add M1 to program at any spots where i want machine to stop and wait for me to come to cnc control. i add post it notes sticking out at M0, M1 and problem areas of program in program printout book. if working on another setup or tooling i can easily not hear or see a problem tool (feed and speed). program printout book should have operator notes too like reduced this feed to F10. employee initial, date and reason why. if i raise feed from F20. to F30. and get sudden tool failures and reduce back to F22. i record that data. initial and date
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3) excel work log starts with check work order part number and revision level, drawing revision level, program revision level make sure all rev levels match. make sure program beginning says correct part number, op number, rev level. first page of program hardcopy book has picture of part in fixture i should see when i open door before starting program. kind of embarrassing to run wrong program or part in wrong fixture. stranger mistakes have happened before. like program number somehow turned around 9600 became 6900
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4) next work log item confirms part in fixture or chuck correctly torqued and up against stops. have caught many problems that way. very annoying somebody does not finish tightening a part or check against stops. have seen people distracted, walk away to do something else and come back and forgot did not finish critical thing. thats why work log check list confirms it was done
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5) next on work log all M0 and M1. For example "measure bore -B- 6.0000 - 6.0004" aim for 6.0002 at test cut as final cut tends to cut .0001-.0002 more and measure for out of round hole want minimum hole size as matching part must go in hole. So work log has operator notes or warnings or recommendation based experience from previous runs. if i scrap a part i always add to work log how part was scrapped or out of tolerance and warnings on what to do to prevent scrap happening again
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6) 2nd last item on work log. check tapped holes for oversize holes, not fully cleaned finished surfaces, broken tooling. if you got a tooling problem you want to stop it at the first part not make 10 more bad parts. i cannot over emphasize how important this is
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7) last item on work log. record time machining took and any reason why if it took more than average time. i identify problems then think about changes to prevent problems or mistakes occurring again. also every work log item the employee initials and date. why for example?, i continue program run after Joe goes home i see work log item bottom tap holes -4- not checked off as done. i have to check or bottom tap those holes and initial and date that work log item. there is no assuming the other did it. not checked off then it is everybody's responsibility to do work log items
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as CNC operator my pay was
1st year $52,000
2nd year $57,000
3rd year $62,000
4th year $69,000 or will be at least that
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my scrap level is at record low levels and my total "average" time to machine parts factoring in scrap and rework is at record low machining times. for example average of 50 parts with about 20 hours rework factored in, added 40 minutes to each part. reducing feed and speeds adds 10 minutes BUT eliminates the need for the 40 minutes rework. at end of year the part average the time reduction of 30 minutes by reducing the cause of scrap was a hugh time and money saver.
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do some employees not want to use work log or look at operator notes in program hard copy book. sure some do not want too at first. but slowly most realize the hugh value and time savings and problem solving or preventing of problems and start to use it.
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i almost forgot we use microsoft powerpoint to take setup pictures and add a arrow and text box to do something or watch out for something. any scrap and rework cause if it was a setup problem we add more info to setup powerpoint file to prevent it happening again. part has one powerpoint setup file, might be 2 or 20 pages depending on part and number of ops. cnc operator edits powerpoint setup file as needed and or as he learns from experience. so some training or working with other employees on learning excel and powerpoint is often recommended. not every body knows how to use excel and powerpoint

^^^In regards to the poster above proves the point of Henry Ford, pay your employee the maximum you can per the given work output(no scrap).

Some people have great time management and can multitask without breaking a sweat and pump out good parts, the second they know you are withholding pay or paying a guy the same who can't drill a f-ing hole in the right spot..they will walk eventually.

The manipulation thing also can backfire, now the dumba$$ will think he is worth more money for HIS great ideas....

another thing. if i am told to learn and or run part on another machine. i overlap my work shift 1 hour for at least a month. experienced operator tries to train me or point out things warnings and or give advice. i create a one page checklist on what to do before i run a program on that particular machine based on past mistakes or forgotten important stuff.
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i cannot over emphasize if boss does not want to pay for employee overlap in shifts for training he will pay at end of year in scrap parts

I like bonuses /production /attendance /quality ect
And not like 25$
More like a days pay every 3 months at least

Not wanting to make bad parts was always the only motivation I needed.
For others maybe getting fired is more motivating.

If they got all the proper tools and the training, there ain't a heck of a lot more other than make good parts or GTFO.

SND said:

Not wanting to make bad parts was always the only motivation I needed.
For others maybe getting fired is more motivating.

If they got all the proper tools and the training, there ain't a heck of a lot more other than make good parts or GTFO.

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Yup, nothing better than the "fear factor" to improve production...

The first thought is naturally more money as it is the gut feel and the good Lord knows I saw this as the cure once.
That does not work and at most provides a 90 day feel goo shot in the arm.
It is always the first answer people will give you, probe and survey employees and you find it rates a bit fair down the ladder.
Do not miss this point. Employees will eat cardboard for dinner and give you their all if the rest of their job is rewarding and makes them feel good.
Then it gets complicated. Why are there bad parts? How can you fool proof the system? What let this slide through?
Even the guy who feels way underpaid never wants to make junk during his working day.

Start with the fact that your people did what they could in the time they had and with the tools they had to do it and the process you put on them.
Now, what went wrong? Of course it is not your fault...or maybe the buck stops where and it's on your desk?
Did the employees fail you or you failed them? I know the fast gut answer to this...kill them all. And I know the other, this makes no sense, my job to make sure they don't do this.

Buy yourself higher priced help or give raises for good and fire others for scrap. Let us know how that works out a few years out.
In my mid-late 20's as a manager I did that and I learned a hard lesson. It seemed to me at that time that the almighty dollar was the key to doing a good job. I was a fool.
You pay as much as you possibly can to hold onto people. The highest paid around your area are never the best at the job.

Why do these one in a hundred oops occur? How do you not spend more money but get it down to 1 in a million?
Just gathering the crew and yelling and screaming at them will not work.
Adding pay to good this quarter and shooting the bad in front of the crowd also will not give long term results.

The deal is you have signed on to be a leader. You are now king of your hill with subjects below. Very much not the same role as a ultra sharp machinist.
Now you have to work with people and they come in more varied flavors than material to be cut.
Welcome to the world of growing a shop and having employees, all is not as easy it would seem.
Bob

SND said:

Not wanting to make bad parts was always the only motivation I needed.
For others maybe getting fired is more motivating.

If they got all the proper tools and the training, there ain't a heck of a lot more other than make good parts or GTFO.

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Hard to find anyone at all these days that actually takes pride in their work.

Some people just don't give a shit. Everything to them is "Good enough", but in this trade there is not such thing as "Good enough". It's either good, or it's not good.

ManualEd said:

Hard to find anyone at all these days that actually takes pride in their work.
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I was 16 once.....
You teach this, you install this pride in your employees. They don't walk in the door with this, they are just looking for work to pay the bills.
Good gawd have we also lost the the ability to manage to the other countries?
Show of hands by bosses, how many here do what you can to push your employees to advance, get degrees, become AS, BS, MS or PHDs?
If they were your kids and family would you push them differently?
On the clock training to get a Six-sigma black belt or gold lean cert. for your floor guys? Why not?
Is this short term thinking like many on wall street or a good idea for growing a business or caring about your people long term as they leave you.
Bob

All the motivation in the world won't help if they don't know how. You can either hire the experienced and discover whether their experience consists of making good parts or bad, or you can hire basically smart and interested people and teach them from scratch. Both ways are a gamble but if you're in business you're already used to that.

I hate the management-book-of-the-month manipulative psychology. Just reward obvious accomplishment (such as making good parts in good time) and prune deadwood. And, benefits such as paid insurance, IRA match, vacation, etc. are not the "golden handcuffs" they are often said to be. The biggie is a feeling that "this is the best job I've ever had," and wages are undeniably the biggest part of that feeling. Oh, and give credit where credit is due. When I get an e-mail from a customer saying how awesome is the thing he just paid a lot of money for, it gets printed out and personally handed to everybody.