Arrow Engineered Products’ roots in our industry stretch back to 1923 when our predecessors first launched our Steelcraft facility. One hundred one years is a long time to be in the OEM metal fabrication business, especially in an industry where the wrong approach can quickly impact a company’s bottom line.
We’re lucky to have forefathers who were so forward-thinking that they knew how to create a foundation for future generations of management and skilled talent to grow and thrive. One of their strategies was to focus on continuous improvement of our skills, processes, and technology to ensure we’re always in lockstep with current trends and help us future-proof our company as the industry evolves.
Focusing On People Over Tools
In the OEM metal fabrication industry, many thought leaders focus on tech-based tools to help us measure quality control standards, work streams, and other essential facets of our work. However, we firmly believe the tools won’t serve their intended purpose without nurturing a culture of continuous improvement in our workforce.
The success of our approach to continuous improvement in our production facilities relies on giving our team members the capacity to identify opportunities for improvement in their day-to-day duties. Our leadership also plays a critical role in sustaining this culture to keep our teams motivated and engaged, creating a proper learning organization that is always looking for ways to improve and optimize safety, quality, quantity, and costs.
Read More: Arrow’s Proven Methodology Of Metal Fabrication Results
How We Achieve Continuous Improvement In Our OEM Fabrication Operations
Change is good, but it can also be hard for many employees, especially if they’re used to executing their tasks in a particular way. Arrow’s management team’s complete buy-in to this approach of continuous improvement helps keep our team members motivated and open to keeping these initiatives moving forward.
We’ve accomplished this by developing our team members’ capacity for change. Our management team helps them develop and elevate their problem-solving and critical thinking skills to identify areas of improvement that not only benefit the company but also open up new opportunities to add to their skill sets and enhance their careers. With our team members on board, we can embed process improvement in our culture so that everyone feels involved in making changes that can bring in millions of dollars of new business development.
Of course, process changes due to continuous improvement efforts rarely mean sweeping reforms throughout the organization. Instead, it means looking at the smaller details and making adjustments that will help our customers. By investing time and effort in optimizing the “little things,” we also get better engagement from our team members, who feel invested in the improvement process and directly contribute to our company’s long-term success and support the sustainability of our customers.
Read More: The Role Of Technology In Modern Metal Fabrication
Continuous OEM Fabrication Improvement Strategies In Action
On the shop floor, we take a practical approach to promoting continuous improvement by examining key metrics and determining whether a process is operating as needed or whether an issue exists that deviates from the prescribed specifications and expected outcomes of the process.
For example, we can examine whether the hourly output from the process is less than the target and work to determine what is preventing the target from being hit. We can also calculate the percentage of rejected products in a production run and investigate why this is happening. These exercises result in a tangible step-by-step strategy to improve the process and optimize efficiency, quality, and costs.
The more we identify areas of improvement in our OEM fabrication processes, the better our standard operations can become, setting the foundation for future optimizations as our customers’ needs evolve.
Arrow Engineered Products: Making Continuous Improvement An Everyday Goal In OEM Metal Fabrication
The flexibility of our constant improvement culture means we can apply it from the top down at all of Arrow’s global production facilities, whether it’s a smaller shop or a plant with dozens of cutting-edge machines. Constant improvement also helps our customers save on production costs and lower lead times to get their products to market sooner.
Since our founders launched over 100 years ago, our company has continued to change and improve, helping us become a world-class supplier of design and fabrication solutions to OEMs around the globe. We’re confident that our continuous improvement strategy will take us into another century of success.
Get An OEM Metal Fabrication Quote From Arrow Engineered Products For Your Next Project
Partner with Arrow Engineered Products for high-value design, engineering, and fabrication solutions to suit almost any application. Visit www.arrowmfgep.com/contact/ to experience the Arrow difference in quality, precision, and service for yourself. Get in touch with us today.