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Rockland Manufacturing Invests in Training to Prepare Workforce for Change in Production Flow
With the help of: Pennsylvania Manufacturing Extension Partnership
About
Rockland Manufacturing Co., located in Bedford, Pennsylvania, with approximately 250 employees, is a medium-sized manufacturer of bulldozer blades, loader buckets, beach cleaning equipment, and land clearing equipment. Rockland primarily serves the crushing, aggregate, and log loading markets.
The Challenge
Driven by a need to improve efficiency, Rockland planned to create a combined production method/department. Rockland had already conducted experiments to prove that the change to the production flow would be successful in improving efficiency, but management felt that specific training of key stakeholders was needed to help build unified momentum for implementation and asked IMC, part of the Pennsylvania MEP and the MEP National Network, to provide this training.
The Rockland management team, while in consultation with IMC Business Advisor, Tim Davis, expressed concern about meeting project goals and objectives since the front-line production workers and their direct supervisors were accustomed to years of the current state workflow processes. Many organizations entering significant operational change are very good at getting the proper capital requirements and soft costs calculated and controlled, the weakest link is often underestimating the human side of change.
We’re very pleased with the results of the training. It was a great way to break the ice regarding a systemic change in one of our oldest and most experience facilities. By training on change management, discussing the benefits of the change, and how to properly communicate the outcomes of the change, we experienced much less of the typical resistance to change that one usually experiences in any business environment. The project was done faster, with less effort, much less drama, and most importantly, we haven’t had any trouble with making the change stick over time. We’re now building more, more efficiently, together, than ever before.
MEP's Role
Impressed with the results, the Rockland management team reported that the training provided by the IMC was successful in helping their workforce understand the need for change in their production methodology. The interactive exercises conducted by IMC helped break down communication barriers and improved teamwork.