Welcome to Manufacturing talks with JimVinoski. industry has a million cool stories and Jim, talks to the movers and shakers who are making them happen. Let’s dive in.

Thanks, Jim, and thanks for having me.

Oh, you too. You too. Thanks so much.

It is. This year. It seems like it’s flowing. It’s crazy. Yeah, One is almost two. Well, I guess three years behind us.

Sure. And first of all, thanks for having me as well. So to start, I’m originally from the Dominican Republic. You probably hear the accent. Spanish is my native language. And just, you know, fast forward through life, basically. When I first was starting to decide my profession, believe it or not, I want to be a lawyer and that’s the path I wanted, you know, solving problems, being inquisitive.
And when I learned you had to take a bar exam for every state, you moved to, I said, okay, that’s enough for me. And I landed on industrial engineering. And that’s what’s taking me into manufacturing. I have a passion for improving, solving problems, that kind of thing. And when I was first exposed to manufacturing, when I was in college, I just fell in love.
I just remember the hair on my back standing up and saying, Wow, this is fun. But the other part that over time I recognized what was fun was just collaborating with people and really making a difference, driving improvements. So I completed my undergrad degree and Puerto Rico, that’s where I went to college and eventually I moved to Texas, which is my home base.
And at one point I transitioned from working for an airline and finally found a home in manufacturing. And what I did over my career, I was very quickly introduced to continuous improvement operations management and again fell in love with it. I said, okay, this is this is all, you know, amazing things. You can do amazing things with this. And in my first impression and my first and my first company, my first employer, I got I got exposed to consultants.
And that was when I said, okay, I think that may be what I want to do, because my entrepreneurial, you know, mindset goes back from when I was like nine years old. Like my dad just instilled that in me. And then over time, I had different roles and different manufacturing companies knowing that, you know, consulting was going to be the destination.
And back in 2016 is when I felt that I was ready to take that leap and jump headfirst into the journey. And we’ve been in business since 2016, working with manufacturing companies.

Now it’s great. I think manufacturing, it’s fascinating. It’s so complex and there’s so much to see. It’s just amazing. I enjoy just visiting manufacturers.

Yeah, So, you know, I, I can go back as far as, you know, early 2000 that I discovered consulting and I was taking workshops and things like that. So I just had I didn’t have my, my arms wrapped around it. But as I mentioned a few minutes ago, that company that I was exposed to gave me more clarity.
But the other thing was I was working with this company and they sent us to some training and the person facilitating the training was a consultant. And I got curious, you know, and I’ll admit, I’ll be a little vulnerable here. When I first came to the U.S., being an immigrant, English being my second language, that was very intimidating.
And I questioned, you know, can I even do this? You know, little old me is going to come to, you know, powerful U.S. and do it, make a difference, do something. And then when I met this consultant, I got curious and I started asking questions, How did you do it? Did you do it by yourself? And and he just gave me and I’m grateful to him to this day when I talk to him, it’s a pleasure and I express my gratitude.
But he gave me the confidence, helped me see that, you know, the backbone of of the U.S. economy is small businesses and that’s the start, and I remember it was June of 2009 that I said, okay, I’m committing, I’m making a contract with myself. I am going to do this. And from that day on, I basically directed my career to be exposed to as many different manufacturing industries as possible, to learn as much as I could to practice as much as I could.
And, you know, when the time came, some of these sometimes these things happen and you don’t plan it. Like I was thinking maybe in two years from now or three years from now, I’ll start my company. And then I got laid off well, and I said, okay, am I going to go apply for a job I don’t want or am I going to, you know, get my courage and and that’s when I decided I said, okay, I’m going, let’s do this.
And I started in 2016, you know, my inspiration, Alphanova means “new beginning” because my passion is to really make such a difference that people feel like, wow, there, you know, this. These folks came and it was just like a new beginning. That was the inspiration for the name. Of course, every engagement doesn’t lend itself for that type of scenario, but that was the inspiration.
And the main thing I’ll say is from my experience, we learned that, you know, there’s it’s two things that really make a difference. It’s having the right processes, but also having the right behaviors and specifically leadership behaviors that drive really the heart of the culture of a company. And so with that, with that philosophy in mind, that’s that’s what we strive to, you know, to effect with every client engagement.

Oh, yeah. I mean, I can someday I will post this on social but I remember being, you know, where I lived. We lived just just I mean, literally, like just up a couple streets off the shore, like Reef was there like this, you know, the coastline was there. And I remember staring at the horizon and thinking, I will be somebody someday I will do something.
And and then when I came here to Dallas, there’s a tower that’s called Reunion Tower. And it’s very famous up here. And you just sit there. I remember going with some friends within like a month of me moving here. And when I got my first manufacturing job, we went up there around that time and I remember just staring.
You could see the whole city. And I said, okay, you’re here. What are you going to do now? And just having those flashbacks, it’s it’s just amazing.

I appreciate that. And I’m guilty of not recognizing my own accomplishments. My wife, has to remind me all the time like I don’t feel I’ve made it or I’ve made any any significant accomplishments. But it’s when you look back at your trajectory, our own trajectory, It’s really revealing for sure.

No question. No question about it. That’s one area I need to focus on. And it just, just appreciate things for what they are.

Okay. So all of it, it was a mixture of my education and also my experience. So of course my background’s in industrial engineering. So as soon as I started working, it felt like a kid with toys. Let’s move the machines and improve the flow and have fun with all this stuff. That was natural. But when I started doing that, what I recognized was that having an influence, having if people don’t buy in, that the leaders are going to actually execute this day in, day out.
You have a hard time being successful. And over time, I mean, Jim, I, I work with companies and I honestly saw the dirty side or not the dirty the ugly side of culture. I was in a company that it was so stressful, the environment and so cutthroat that it exposed that flared up the heart condition that I have, and I ended up a handful of times in the ER and I ended up having to heart surgery.
And that just cut me deep to the point that I said, you know, there’s got to be a better way. You got to find a way to change the culture. It’s I remember just the pressure I put on myself because I wanted to be successful. It got me to where my health was being affected and through that and seeing the effect, living through it, and then also being exposed to seeing when both things come together, the process, but also the behaviors, the leadership behavior specifically.
I can see the results of it, quite honestly. I’ll give you an a recent example was working with this client and we just finish this project. We’re just wrapping it up three quarters of the way we implemented the main things and the results were marginally better and it came to the point where we had to decide that we had to made a change, we had to make a change on leadership, and we made the change.
And within weeks the results just incredible. When you have the combination of the right leaders with the right behaviors and the right processes, that’s what magic happens. And so through those experiences, of course, that personal experience was very strong, made a very strong impression on me, led me to think or led me to develop our approach. Of course, that focuses on developing the right processes, but also ensuring you have the right leader so that you have the right culture.
And then when it comes to execution, you have a competitive advantage.

It is. And, you know, sometimes, you know, leaders, manufacturing leaders, probably your listeners are drawn to higher profits, shorter lead times, better quality and all that. And sometimes it becomes hard to quantify really the effects of having those environments and having poor leaders. So I’ve actually I feel like I’m on a quest to bottle, you know, bottle that and really what roll that out because we feel while it’s not measurable or or tangible, I feel that’s probably as much, if not more impactful to the performance to the results of a business.

Yeah, no question about it. No question.

So if you could

share that with your listeners that would be great.

Good, good. Thank you. So to answer your question, some of the things that we look at. So there’s four main areas that we focus on too to sum it up, or 4 categories. So number one is operational. Of course, some of the things we look at operational performance right, things like safety, quality delivery and cost and those have their own measures, right?
Are we delivering the time? Is the quality correct equipment effectiveness, overtime, labor costs, things like that, and safety incidents, those kinds of things. Then we get into the strategy deployment process and some of these are not going to be as tangible. But I’ll tell you a little bit about what we look for on the strategy we look at, All right, do they have a strategic plan for the next 12 months, for the next 3 to 5 years?
Do they have goals that they’re pursuing and how is that deployed and cascaded from the executives all the way down to the shop floor people? And how are they performing? Are they being completed? Is it a structured approach where they have recurring reviews and they have metrics for for the entire system, for the entire business that focuses on short term goals, but also long term goals so that, you know, the outlook, it’s it’s balanced.
So we look for those things. The next one would be on the people side, on the on on the leaders. And we look at both things, leadership and management. On the management side, it’s more of the operational things you would see. You know, are they good problem solvers? Do they do they look at metrics? Do they are they good at accountability or process management, which is one term we we kind of coined where is enforcing protocols and processes.
And then on the leadership side, some of the things we look at our, you know, how how good are they developing their people? How good are they are retaining people that those can bring some of the tangible or measurable metrics such as turnover. But I’ll give you a little more. What percentage of the people are our internal promotions?
What’s the what’s the tenure? Maybe looking at some of the exit interviews and see what are the comments? We start digging into those things. We do some surveys as well to understand the culture.
Let’s see, we we do some surveys to understand the cohesiveness of the leadership team because we see the the leadership team or the senior leadership team as almost like the parents. If if you look at this from a family dynamic, they have if there’s disarray at the top, you can’t help but have the same, you know, throughout the the following or the lower layers.
And so we look for that cohesiveness is are they high levels of trust? Are they good at having conflict and and are they engaging? And I’ll give you a little bit more on culture, which is the last one. You know, You know that culture is a fuzzy thing, hard to measure. So I’ll give you the the analogy I give people.
So how would you feel if you go to a company that values an attribute in and that’s something you have absolutely nothing of. If you walk in and you see that the expectations are clear, the rewards, the reward systems are very clear, rewarding those attributes. And you don’t have them, it’s almost like it’s going to sting you and you’re going to say I either shape up or I don’t fit.
So we help companies understand and leverage the power of developing what we call a culture identity. So that culture needs to come through so strong that when people set foot for the interview, for when you’re actually screening, them, that it’s going to repel them. If they’re the wrong fit and it’s just going to pull them in, if it’s the right fit.
And it’s developed throughout your human systems where you when you’re screening, when you’re interviewing, when you’re onboarding in that, what’s the word I’m looking for that that 90 day period that gosh, what’s the I’m forgetting the word that that that temporary period where you’re having that trial time, and so we help those companies because a lot of companies don’t leverage their values, their priorities, their purpose, all of those things.
So we help them leverage that to be able to create that work environment where the overlap on the cultural values is so strong that people that don’t fit are naturally going to say, I don’t I don’t feel good here. Yeah, and that’s not a good or bad thing. It’s just we all have to find a place where we we can fit and we can contribute, and go home.
You know, fulfilled with, with the work that we do every day.

Probationary period. Thank you.

yeah,100%.

Yeah, as you can, as you probably see, there’s a theme to this, right? And we actually have an article up on the website. It’s called The Ten Reasons Why Lean Manufacturing Implementation Fails. So encourage listeners to go check that out. But basically, if you look at it, as I mentioned earlier, to us, the formula is ideal behaviors combined with ideal processes give you the ideal results.
So I’ll break that down for you. Processes are the easy part, right? Machines don’t talk back to us. Machine don’t have feelings or bad days or get sick. You could argue they get sick because they break down, right? But other than that, machines are the easy part. You know, we call it like moving furniture, right to get flow and balance the line, all those things.
But it’s what you get into the behaviors, right? Keeping people engaged and and in displaying and being consistent and having those behaviors. That’s where the challenge lies. So the majority of the time, what it fails it’s not because people don’t have the skills to really apply the improvement it’s more because people can’t find the alignment to actually function cohesively in displaying those behaviors.
Just to give you some examples. Some people have what we call, you know, the that the hero syndrome or the addiction to heroic recovery where they feel their job is to watch production. And whenever it breaks down, it’s my job to intervene, fix the problem and then let it go, as opposed to being proactive and measuring things and giving people participation in improving the work environment.
And so when those two schools of thoughts clash, that’s where the breakdown happens and that just perpetuates over just any purpose at all, at all levels. It could be strategic, it could be tactical. And so when you don’t have leadership support and I’m talking about senior leadership support, when you have the senior leader of the business committed 100% and I always tell this to them, I need you to be so committed that if we have someone that’s work with you shoulder to shoulder for 20 years, that you have a high level of respect and they can’t come on or they’re going to be a blocker, we have to be able to get past that.
That’s the level of commitment we need and you have to rally everyone else around that to raise their level of commitment as well. So that’s where the challenge lies. And it’s all on the leadership. It’s all on the behavior side. Once you have that, it’s much easier and it’s not much easier because the obstacles are going to get easier.
It’s just you’re going to have the ability to overcome them as opposed to just fall into this ongoing struggle to really overcome those. And that’s really.

So from the leader, I’m looking for that level of commitment. And then the other one, a big one, which actually happens to be one of our core values, courage and it takes courage to tell people that, you know, they either need to come calling a board or they’re going to have to find a different role or possibly a different company to work for.
That takes courage. I can, you know, tell you how many times people tolerate a competent person that has a character that just not a good fit. From your facial expression I’m guessing you’ve probably seen that a time or two. And if you’re really going to build a high level execution business, you have to work on those folks and you have to bring everybody on board.
And that takes courage. Change agents are not going to get results by being nice and by making everybody happy. It’s by doing the right things and getting everybody on board. That’s that’s how change happens. It was your second question around what to expect from the front line. That’s an interesting question. You know, openness to learning. You know, a lot of times we go to these companies and it if you doesn’t cease too surprised me that when you ask how much training have you received when it comes to leadership and the answer is typically none. Yet we throw them into these leadership roles a lot of times because they have a high
level of technical ability, which is one of the reasons to do that, because handling people and just motivating people, matching them up with the right role, counseling them, holding them accountable, enforcing processes and protocols have nothing to do with with technical ability. And so what I look for is openness to learn, being coachable, being a good listener, because that’s what that’s what we’re going to help.
We’re going to help them develop the right leadership mindset. We’re going to teach them, you know, how to hold people accountable, how to coach someone in coaching, not in the sense of telling them what to do, but more like helping them go through that self-discovery process where you guide them and when they see it for themselves, it’s just hit them like a brick upside the head, Oh my gosh, that makes so much sense, you know, as opposed to me pointing out the way, you know.
So I guess those are the two things being coachable and an openness to learning. And if those two things are there, I mean, just the sky’s the limit and I’ve seen it a number of times when we have those two things, people just make a remarkable difference.

Yeah, I’ll tell you a little short story. I was talking once with a prospect and he point blank asked me, Is this something you come over a weekend, smack us over the head and now we’re lean? And I said, No, that’s that’s definitely not the way it’s going to happen, you know, and here’s how I kind of calibrate that expectations, those expectations.
I tell them, Look, I want you to think that this is not a program or a project. This is a management system that we’re going to embed into to your company, and it just becomes the new way you function. So, I mean, one of the most difficult things to accomplish is change behavior. For you to change behavior, you got to change your mindset.
And and this could turn into a psychological black hole that I don’t want to get into, but you have to get into the minds of people and really change their mindset at the core of what their beliefs are. And that takes time. That takes numerous interactions of teaching them things they don’t know, but also getting them to see things from a different perspective.
You know, there’s this concept out there that’s called emotional intelligence. The that we really drive with leaders. If if your self-awareness, self-awareness is low, you’re you’re potentially a bull in a china shop. You’re wreaking havoc out there and you have no idea that people just have this perception of you that, you know, you’re rude, you’re inconsiderate, or whatever the case may be.
And to untangle those wires and really put them in the right place are those people from the humble, humble themselves and really get on board with, you know, I’m not perfect and I need to learn and I’m going to admit my mistakes. I’m going to learn new tools from you and and I’m going to get on this growth journey as an organization.
And that takes so much work, so much effort, so much openness, so much vulnerability that that it’s work. And so without foundations set, then we have to get into, okay, where is the performance of your business today? How receptive are your folks? How complex is your organization? And now we get on that journey to start making those changes.
And and it’s not a linear change because sometimes we get ahead on changing the process, but then we get people that are resisting and we have to enforce that. And so it’s a dance where we’re trying to move both these needles and it’s unpredictable how people will react and how fast we’re able to get results. And typically on the on the short side of the timeline, I tell them 18 months.
And and then on the other side of the spectrum, it’s open ended. We’ve worked with clients for several years to really complete that transformation. Yeah, hopefully that gives listeners a sense of what’s entailed and how long to expect.

That’s exactly right. Especially what you know when you’re talking about changing the mindset of of a group of people.

That’s exactly right. And one thing to consider is and I think some of your listeners will connect with this, you know, some of these folks have been, you know, one, let me take a step back. One of my mentors very early told me the executives usually get from the get go, you’re going to help me improve my old time delivery.
You’re going to be make more money. I’m in. But it’s, you go in with the middle managers that they’ve been doing this for 20 years and they’ve ascended, you know, they’ve built a career doing things this way and you’re going to come in. You don’t know anything about our industry. You’re going to tell me that I have to do things differently, that that can be shocking to someone.
And that’s actually the biggest challenges. But as long as you have that support from the top leader and that person starts to open up, that’s when the magic happens. Yeah.

Yeah, so for us, it’s growth right now. We want to continue to expand. We’re building a footprint here in our area and we want to continue to expand. We have a small team and, you know, we we have our sites set on growth. You know, I want to say that we have a mission to work with thousands by the time we’re we’re through of midmarket manufacturers and just change that culture, change the result.
You know, I want to our purpose is to help U.S. manufacturing thrive. So that’s a that’s a mammoth of of a purpose of of a goal. And we want to grow enough to make a difference in the manufacturing sector. That’s our goal.

Yeah, this is going to sound maybe out of the out of the blue, but I was doing some research here recently and I just came across this piece of information that said that between now and 2030, the workforce for manufacturers is going to grow by 0.31%.
That’s a fraction of a percent. So all this reshoring, all this growth, there’s going to be a lot of competition for all these jobs. What that tells me is that there’s going to be a lot of jobs unfilled. And so that’s going to put a challenge in front of manufacturers. And so this is where people are going to have to think outside the box in terms of hiring practices, hiring.
Right. But also developing their current workforce. Right. Which is untapped opportunity for the most part. And it’s it’s going to require a lot of creativity from people, too. You know, if you set foot on a manufacturing floor here in the U.S., you know, there’s a lot of English as a second language type of workers that, you know, if if manufacturers open to, you know, open their mind to helping these workers maybe acquire certain skills, their market is right there. Their bank of workers for those higher level positions could be in their backyard and they don’t see it.
And so that’s a market that it just hit me here recently that I said people in manufacturing need to start really getting behind this because this this workforce shortage crisis, it’s not going anywhere.

And then one, I guess one a small addition is also, you know, part of, you know, implementing or adopting lean is right. You become more efficient. And so the reliance or the need for for a large workforce comes down. Now, I will say that with a caveat. I don’t subscribe to the school of thought of we need to you know, we need to reduce our workforce or cut the fat or whatever mindset.
It’s more about right sizing your your, your operation and removing what’s not necessary. And that’ll give you, you know, relief when it comes to the need for labor, but not to be used maliciously to just call jobs and just do the the things that, you know, what things fall in the bad hands.

That’s exactly right.

I mean, I think we talked extensively about culture, which I really appreciate. It’s one of our passions, I would say. I guess if people want to check us out, visit us at alphanovaconsulting.com. I encourage you respectfully, to take that self-assessment. It’s always good to look at what areas can we improve, what benchmarks should we be striving for?
And yeah, and if we can be of help, feel free to reach out.

Thanks, Jim. Thanks for having me. I enjoyed the conversation and wish you and your listeners Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Thanks for tuning in to manufacturing Talks with Jim Vinosky. Watch for new episodes dropping on the first and third Tuesdays of every month.