There’s one thing I always find intriguing when I visit the different plants during our CKCA meetings and plant tours. It’s the way communications run from one end of the plant to the other.
Every organization whether large or small, needs to have a communication system in place that can handle, with clarity, all the little details that are needed by everyone that comes in contact with the order.
They need to make sure that what the customer orders at the beginning of the process is indeed what they get when the job is completed. Companies spend a lot of time and money developing systems to make sure that there are no errors in the transfer of information from one department to another. The development of technology has made a huge impact on reducing the number of errors made during the production stage.
Typically, the larger shops are all about automation and streamlining their production for a higher volume and a minimal amount of customization.
The smaller, more custom shops need to have more than just machine operators. Most employees have to have an understanding of the whole process so they can catch mistakes before they go any further down the line. A mistake that gets missed can be very costly.
However, I’ve found that most mistakes are not made in the shop during production. Yes there will always be a few guys that may drop a cabinet or scratch it while they are loading it on the truck, but that is not all that common. The most common place that errors are made is at the very front of the process during the sales and design stage.
I can’t tell you the number of times over the years I’ve been told by my customer that they thought that a certain upgrade was included in their kitchen even though we never talked about it during the sales process. And as well there are times when we did talk about certain details that they wanted, but then I would forget to write it down. The human element seems to be our biggest downfall.
That’s the main reason I like to see other shops.
Every organization has slightly different ways to deal with the human factor.
We all have our checks and balances in place, but at the end of the day no matter how good of a system we have, there will always be a few errors that get through. Of the many shop owners that I have talked to over the years this is usually the area that gives them the most trouble. I don’t have the perfect solution for the human factor, but I will say that we have progressively gotten better at the process over the years. Most of that improvement has come from observing what other shops have tried and done well with.
That’s just one of the many benefits of attending plant tours that are hosted by the CKCA. Most shop owners are very proud to show off their companies to their colleagues.
They will happily answer almost any question about the procedures in their shop or in the front office. There are very few secrets in this industry. The best way to ready yourself for plant tours in other shops is to first look at your own shop and be aware of all the parts of your business that cause you to lose sleep. Then watch, ask questions and learn when you’re touring other plants.
In September, you will have another chance to do just that.
We have three great plant tours lined up for our next regional meeting in Chatham, Ontario. We’ll be touring Windmill Cabinets, Mylen Custom Kitchens and Leeds Cabinets. We’ve even thrown in a round of golf, some great food courtesy of our suppliers and an extra tour at RM Classic Cars.
If you’re a current member of CKCA, I hope you will take the time to come out and learn a couple of new things on the tours. If you’ve never been to one of our events we do have special rates for first timers. All the details are on our website at www.ckca.ca.
I promise you won’t be disappointed.
