Attendees at the November 27th networking meeting in Walkerton were treated to a full schedule of content that gave them lots of food for thought and fodder for growing their companies.
Attendees at the November 27th networking meeting in Walkerton were treated to a full schedule of content that gave them lots of food for thought and fodder for growing their companies.
After co-manager, Blair Tullis, gave a short synopsis on what had been accomplished recently by the BWA, he took some time to describe how the Alliance has reached a transition stage, where the start-up mode gives way to a more program and project oriented approach to running the cluster. To that end, the BWA has hired a new manager, Mike Baker, to take the Alliance to the next level.
Mike gave a power point presentation on his plans for the first 90 days of his employment, stressing his plans to get out and meet each member on their home turf, in order to learn more about what the needs of each member company are and how the BWA can work to fill those needs.
Sepp Gmeiner then gave reports on the progress of our web configurator project, which should have a design draft in place in the first week of December. He also talked about the IT Baseline project which will help every member to create a current and future value stream map on their company, as well as give the BWA a sense of where all of the member companies are in software implementation and usage. This information will allow the BWA to formulate programs to help bring each member along in their technological competence.
Sepp next gave a report on his November trip to Dubai, representing the BWA in the Canada pavilion at the Big 5 Show. Paid for with the help of grants from FP Innovations, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce Export Access Program and contributions from three BWA members who were featured on the booth, the trip netted about 50 business leads and some really good information on how to build that market as a viable one for the products of BWA member companies.
The Southwestern Ontario Development Fund, run by the Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, was introduced by Paul Plant from that ministry. The program is meant to create jobs and increase productivity within the region, with funds available to help companies grow and prosper, maintaining jobs and creating new employment. Interested members should go to: http://www.ontariocanada.com/ontcan/1medt/en/swodf_en.jsp
Following Paul Plant, we had presentations from two of the leading abrasives suppliers to the industry in Canada. Simon Patry of Abrisifs JJS (SIA Canada) gave the assembled crowd a great primer on sanding media, with helpful guides to how to choose the right abrasive for the application. He was followed by Stefan Di Santis of Performance Abrasives (Ekamant) who spoke about troubleshooting wide belt sanding issues. Links to both presentations will be inserted at the bottom of this story.
The highlight of the day was an interactive discussion on Lean, moderated by Sepp Gmeiner, who brought every manufacturer in the room into the conversation. Each had a chance to talk about their experiences – good and bad – with implementing lean thinking into their operations. Some had done very little and others were quite far along in the process of continuously improving their operations. It really showed the value of the BWA to the individual companies, allowing them to share their war stories, picking up tips from others and, most importantly, learning that they are not alone in going through the process. As usual, the formal part of the program opened up into small group conversations that are so valuable in the sharing of information and experiences.
The crowd was made up of an equal mix of manufacturers and suppliers, giving each lots of opportunity to network and build relationships. The next meeting will be held again in Walkerton in March of 2013. Watch this site for details.
Books on Lean worth reading:
- The Goal, a Process of Ongoing Improvement – Elie Goldratt
- Learning to See – Mike Rother and John Shook
- Lean Thinking – James Womack and Daniel Jones
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