Tapping into a Culture of Innovation
What good is
a manufacturing renaissance if it doesn’t produce lots of jobs for unskilled or
semi-skilled workers?
That’s the
backlash reaction we so often hear following reports that U.S. manufacturing
activity continues to rise.
It is
certainly true that, it’s current revival notwithstanding, manufacturing is not
likely to generate semi-skilled jobs the way it once did. That’s because
automation-driven productivity has reduced the need for direct manufacturing
labor. At the same time, automation has created a demand for a new generation
of educated, technically-proficient workers.
But one
thing manufacturing is generating in inspiring abundance is innovation. I am
qualified to make that statement because, as director of the Manufacturing Leadership Awards
program, every year I get a ringside view of the actions some of the best
manufacturers in the world are taking to get better.
And this
year, the ML Awards program’s 10th, the innovation level was off the charts.
Harnessing a wide range of emerging technologies such as enterprise social
networking platforms, advanced analytics tools, advanced robotics, and
collaboration tools, winners from across the globe and across manufacturing
verticals found ways to accelerate innovation and collaboration, increase their
agility, and successfully cope with the complexity that comes with fast-moving
global markets and dramatically rising customer expectations.
Big data and
real time analytics, for example, was a big trend among 2014 ML Awards winners.
Winning projects used big data analytics to understand and quickly react to
everything from variability in drug manufacturing processes to real time events
threatening complex global supply networks to rapidly shifting customer
preferences and satisfaction levels.
Another
major theme saw winners focusing on advanced collaboration. Using tools such as
enterprise social networking platforms and video as well as successful cultural
change initiatives, winners enabled distant product design engineers and
production teams to speed new products to market.
Another
inspiring group innovated around the use of 3D printing, advanced robotics, CNC
machines and other emerging production technologies to create entirely new
business models and to increase agility while cutting costs.
Such
inspiring winning projects make me confident that, having emerged from a global
recession, manufacturing leaders around the world are entering a phase of
accelerating innovation.
Of course,
as this kind of transformative innovation spreads, it puts pressure on all
manufacturers to measure up or risk falling behind. And that fact inevitably
raises the question: What distinguishes organizations that are able to envision
and execute transformative projects from those that are not?
One big
differentiator I’ve noticed is this: Manufacturing leaders more often than not
have cultures that are open to change. They embrace it, and they are able to
make the course corrections that are almost always necessary to successfully
land a truly transformative project. This may explain why companies such as
General Electric, IBM, Lockheed Martin, and Lexmark do very well in the
Manufacturing Leadership Awards program year after year.
This may
seem obvious. But, sadly, it is not all that common. In fact, a recent study by
Booz & Co. illustrates the critical link between culture and successful
transformational change. According to the study, only 54% of change initiatives
are adopted and sustained. And, among companies where change was not adopted
and sustained, a minority (24%) said they had been able to use their existing
culture as a source of energy and influence during the change effort. And only
35% of those whose change efforts had failed said they saw their companies
trying to leverage employees’ “pride in and emotional commitment to their
organizations.”
By contrast
71% of respondents who said change programs at their companies were adopted and
sustained also said their companies leveraged employees’ pride in the
organization and their emotional commitment.
In other
words, companies that are successful at implementing and sustaining important
change programs such as those honored by the ML Awards are consistently able to
tap into core aspects of their existing cultures to engage employees.
So how do
they do that? Here are some common cultural traits I’ve observed among ML Award
winners:
- They have the ability to clear communicate why the change is important and what it means employees and stakeholders from the top of the organization to the bottom;
- They are persistent in the face of inevitable challenges, and they are willing to admit when something’s not working and to reset;
- They are able to engage employees at every level by demonstrating that they have the ability to control and affect outcomes.
Of course,
adequate financial and human resources, not to mention wisdom and experience,
also help manufacturers successfully carry out and sustain transformational
change programs. But it’s worth keeping in mind that the ability to tap into
existing, positive organizational cultural traits is also an important piece of
the formula that makes manufacturing leaders.
Want your
company to be recognized for its excellence in manufacturing? Nominations for
the 2015 Manufacturing
Leadership Awards open August 21. 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment