Converting Quarterly’s Post

🚀 Engine Development Meeting Highlights! 🚗✨ This morning, our team gathered at our headquarters for a powerhouse meeting on engine development! 🌐💡 Discussed in the meeting: ✅ Range Updates ✅ Exciting Opportunities ✅ Strategies for Growth ✅ Strengthening Partnerships with Suppliers ✅ Innovative Marketing Approaches ✅ Pricing Strategies The collaboration between our Sales, Procurement, and Business Development teams was nothing short of inspiring! 🤝🔧 📸 Check out this snapshot capturing the essence of our dynamic team in action! Stay tuned for groundbreaking updates as we continue to drive excellence in the automotive industry. 🚀🛠️ #EngineDevelopment #TeamWork #Innovation #AutomotiveIndustry #MeetingGoals #TeamCollaboration #BusinessDevelopment #GrowthStrategies

"We’ve hit record-setting performance on our lines. It’s been a direct result of day in and day out engagement by the operators, the engineers and mechanics, and all of the other teams contributing to the organization." In this blog, learn how Raven helped transform the frontline’s mindset and what key continuous improvement wins look like: https://hubs.ly/Q028n9N30 #Manufacturing #SmartManufacturing

Discover valuable insights and practical tips for navigating the automotive industry effectively and maintaining seamless production with ArcBest. Our tools and expertise drive your automotive logistics and business forward, helping you stay ahead of the competition and optimize your operations. Learn more:

𝗙𝗨𝗝𝗜 𝗘𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗚𝗺𝗯𝗛 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 "𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆" 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟱. Ö𝘇𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻 (𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 & 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲) 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.   𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺?   Often, when manufacturing a new product, our customers are surprised with new components that cannot be fitted with standard nozzles/chucks. The history of our so-called special applications began with the fact that customers sometimes needed these special nozzles/chucks at short notice, but encountered long delivery times because these products had been developed and produced in Japan up to that point. In addition, there were increasing inquiries about special feeders such as bowl feeders, punch feeders and bending feeders.   As a result, we started working with local manufacturing partners to develop solutions for special nozzles/chucks and special feeders. This allowed us to significantly shorten delivery times. Initially, I was able to handle the order volume alone. From the beginning of 2017, however, the inquiries increased to such an extent that I was working at 100 percent capacity. From the end of 2019, another employee therefore supported me in this division.     𝗙𝗨𝗝𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀?   Most of our customers are internationally active and have locations in different countries. Therefore, our range of special applications is not only focused on Germany, but on Europe. In addition, there are customers in the territories served by FUJI agents. These also purchase their special solutions from us - especially because of the attractive delivery times. Our customers include, for example, a German automotive supplier with its own development of electronically controlled chassis and vehicle safety systems. The challenges are particularly exciting in a project where the components to be machined are outside the machine specification and usually require a separate special machine and thus new investments.   We then manufacture tools, special nozzles/chucks or special feeders for this purpose, which enable the use of our standard machine.   𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 ... 𝗢𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲: https://lnkd.in/ea4-XPd2

A key element of this particular talk, and one of the recurrent wider themes re management from some of the other talks too, was my Management Philosophy, though that term always feels a bit pompous in the context of how I did my job. It wasn't that grand a thing. For myself and for non-sociopaths [1], I advocate a simple form of servant leadership - the manager's job/role is to serve the team and the company (hence the bridging motif). The key word is serve, not be servile or in servitude. The manager's role is to enable the team to deliver what's good for the company ... which in practice, taking a long term view [2], mainly means delivering what's good for the users and wider society while ensuring that the team members grow and develop. There are lots of ramifications to that, including: what not to do (play favourites, prioritise ones own immediate career objectives, compete with other teams or managers, mis-represent things upstream, exploit ones staff,...) being open, honest and transparent with staff (to the extent possible, as some information simply cannot be shared, but even then, be open honest and transparent about the limits of what you know and what you can say) being open, honest and transparent "upstream", in particular trying to ensure leadership are told what they need to know, not simply what they want to hear allowing your team(s) to get on with their real work, so minimising the pointless paperwork, distractions and gratuitous meetings - this may mean that, as their manager, you aren't fully occupied: if so, find something useful to do to fill your time, don't waste their time in order to make yourself look busy That last one can be tricky. It may feel like spending time in 1:1s to keep yourself informed is good for everyone, but it may not be. Find more efficient ways to keep in touch with what's happening (skim reading the code review material and reading design docs is often helpful), and use 1:1s specifically for what is good for that individual. Three simple questions for 1:1s: - are they happy? - do they believe in what the team is doing? - have they learned something new / got better at their job, in recent times? In each case, watch for hesitations in the answers and ask "if not, why not?" of yourself as well as of them. [1] I prefer that sociopaths do one of the following: (i) learn not to be a sociopath, (ii) see the value in constraining that aspect of their personality and instead try to behave like a decent human being, or (iii) quit and go and work somewhere far from me. [2] Long-term perspectives seem to me to play out better, for all concerned. E.g. manage people with consideration for the next 20 years of their career, not to maximise output in the short-term; manage a product considering the entire product lifecycle, and what benefit it can provide to users long term, not just to maximise current user growth; and aim for long-term value for society and the company, not just today's goals.

In my professional life, when I was working as an Industrial Engineer with a manufacturing organization, we had one department known as the Salvage Department. All the sub-standard and defective products came to this department. The goal was simple: fix them up so they wouldn't go to waste. Sounds like a fantastic idea, right? Well, it was a terrible idea. As time went on, the demand for the Salvage Department kept growing. We found ourselves working on the bad products more and more, trying to fix them. These products were already substandard, and all we were doing was trying to make them 'less bad'. In this process, we started overlooking the root problem, which was within the process that led to the defective products in the first place! We have noticed a similar pattern when dealing with Product Backlogs. Tackling items in the Product Backlog might seem productive, but often, it's just an illusion of progress. Yet, we continue to work on these simply because they are tied to our KPIs. This is a reminder that ‘being busy’ and ‘making meaningful progress’ are not the same. I am curious though - how do you ensure that you focus on making meaningful changes to your product while filtering out the noise?

The 2023 Plante Moran Supplier Working Relations Index® reflects the complexity of OEM-supplier relationships as the auto industry transitions to EVs. We share lessons the industry should build into supplier relationships to minimize risk and cost in the EV transition. #automotive #EV

During my last two weeks prior to retiring, I gave a series of talks at work. One of them was an extended repeat of a talk I've given before about the role of managers in a technical organisation. Thanks to some excellent promotional videos from Volvo Trucks ( https://lnkd.in/eJbAerQy ) I was able to illustrate several important issues, including: The crucial role of managers in supporting their team members and the wider team during transitions, including individual transfers between teams: https://lnkd.in/eRHE4KaW Trust in the competence of their workforce, by senior staff: https://lnkd.in/euTGDsdJ Trust in the competence of their colleagues, by team members: https://lnkd.in/e3suzBfT The absurdity of trying to get things done purely via incentive manipulation and micro-management, when just doing the job oneself would make more sense: https://lnkd.in/ey2KgZcW And, perhaps most fundamentally, the importance of the manager as a bridge (between teams, between different roles, between perspectives & working styles within the team, between senior leads and front-line workers, etc) ... especially when the gap gets uncomfortable: https://lnkd.in/emrFWx83 Enjoy.

What are the legal issues driving the industry forward, onward, upward? Dykema’s 2nd Annual Automotive Trends Report has taken the pulse of industry leaders—from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers to seasoned executives and key decision-makers—to identify the legal landscape of this space and the trends that are shaping the road ahead. #DykemaDrives #AutomotiveIndustry

Our latest paper is out. Pain points and challenges of core return management among German and French automotive aftermarket companies just has been published in European journal of international management. #circulareconomy #automotive