I find it easier to not give the guys on the shop the options to improve our process because if they come up with an idea and you shoot it down you can demoralize them. I have seen this happen and the attitude goes south real fast.
Disclaimer - What's written below is not directed so much at you personally, but more to the tone & mindset that your comment describes - which is unfortunately pretty frequent.
Why would you automatically "shoot them down?" If someone is doing the job day in, day out, why would you not want to try and accommodate them, and try to see their good ideas through? Oh, because we're expert machinists, and we KNOW it won't work, right...? Truth be told, I think that machinists/programmers/engineers are some of the biggest assholes about this, especially when ideas come from "operators"...
I bet the first time someone suggested running a carbide endmill full-depth, 10% radial width of cut, 10,000 rpm & 300ipm in a block of steel, they were met with resistance...
What is the harm of letting someone try to work out their good ideas? In the case above, you toast a $70 endmill, and maybe burn up a $30 part. $100 is a very cheap education if it goes bad, and a very small investment in one's knowledge.
Why not encourage & cultivate their spirit of continuous improvement, and then allow them the freedom, but also the
_responsibility_ to prove out their good idea. If it works, everyone wins. If it fails, everyone learns, and you/they have still learned something through the failure...
If you are constantly shooting down someone's ideas without at least letting them give it a shot, then you are not worthy of their efforts to try and improve your business... When they inevitably move on after being continually demoralized, chances are it will be your loss, not theirs. If you are constantly having to educate people about why their suggestion is unsafe, or has been proven not to work, then it's time well spent on educating your people...
********** This is broaching on a subject that makes me SO ANGRY... **********
The people who think training & teaching is an inconvenience, and are unwilling to invest in their people because it "costs too much" money/time/lost-production, whatever...
I have a customer that ASKED US to come and perform a training session for their operators. Basic stuff, insert wear, basic tool care, etc... We happily agree, and buy all of their guys lunch too. Then, management gets pissed when we run 10 minutes over time.
(When they also failed to get everyone there on time, but that's beside the point...)
So, they pretend to see value in providing a training for their operators
(Make sure you sign the sign-in sheet!) on someone elses dime & time, but then bitch & moan when their guys get engaged in good conversation, ask good questions, and ultimately let the machines sit for an extra 10 minutes because they are paying attention to what the company asked for, and then required them to attend...
It's people & companies like this, who are in pole-position for the race to the bottom. Don't be one of those people. Give a shit about your employees. Listen to them, and to the best of your ability, act on their concerns. It will pay dividends later on far beyond what the balance sheet shows.
(But it will probably also help the balance sheet long term too...)
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On a side note,
I highly recommend the book
"American Icon - Alan Mullaly and the fight to save Ford Motor Company" for anyone interested in management. Not only is it packed full of lessons, but it is an incredible "story" too. Buy a print copy. Buy a digital copy. Buy an audio copy. It's a wonderful, wonderful story of what excellent leadership can accomplish...