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Strengthening Leadership to Improve Profitability
With the help of: Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC)
About
With 15 employees, Omega Castings, Inc. specializes in alloy castings and stainless steel products. Omega Castings was founded in 1975 and operates out of Battle Creek, Michigan. Their product portfolio includes cast link belts, drive drums, idler rolls, support rolls, return rolls, pins and custom casting solutions. Omega Castings also offers design, engineering, laboratory and repair services.
The Challenge
When the founder’s son took over as president of Omega Castings, he found himself evaluating various aspects of the company. He knew the leadership team was internally promoted staff who had remained loyal to the company. However, many were not experienced leaders and had little training in effectively leading a team. In addition, turnover was high, and the onboarding process needed improvement to better train new hires.
After being awarded funding for training, I was unsure about how effective it would be. Since completing the courses, we have seen outstanding results and are thankful for The Center’s expertise. Even if funding isn’t awarded in the future, we will continue to utilize The Center for further training and process improvements.
MEP's Role
President Brett Cutshall wanted to take his leadership team through management training. He reached out to the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (The Center), part of the MEP National Network™, for assistance. The Center provided training courses Supervisor Skills 1.0 and Supervisor Skills 2.0 to Omega Castings’ four-person leadership team. In addition, all team members at Omega Castings took The Center’s Lean Principles and 5S/Visual Management courses.
After supervisor training, the leadership team felt a big shift. They understood how to efficiently lead people and properly train new hires. The leaders began asking their staff for solutions to problems and working through them together to make improvements. The team now felt they had a voice and could make suggestions to make processes more efficient.
As a result of The Center’s Lean Principles training course, Omega Castings is rearranging its facility to reduce wasted time and money. It is estimated that the reorganization of equipment will open nearly 20% of the plant floor. The company also holds “All Hands On Deck” meetings to regularly listen to staff and address any issues or concerns.