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Upcoming Events
May 18th 2012 08:00 am
- Using the Manufacturing Compensation & Benefits Survey to Make Pay Decisions
May 23rd 2012 08:00 am
- Onboarding Best Practices
May 24th 2012 08:00 am
- Staying Competitive With Lean
May 24th 2012 08:30 am
- Design of Experiments (DOE)
May 30th 2012 08:30 am
- High Performance Leadership
May 30th 2012 08:30 am
- A3 Strategy Deployment
May 31st 2012 01:00 pm
- Working with Different Personalities
June 6th 2012 07:30 am
- Visual Management & 5S Improvements
June 6th 2012 08:30 am
- Optimized Maintenance & Inventory
June 13th 2012 01:00 am
- Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
Article Index
Artistic Finishes Succeeds on Its Lean JourneyAuthor Unknown Artistic Finishes, Inc., has been dedicated to continuous improvement since it's inception in 1985. Located on Terminal Road in St. Paul, the company officially launched its lean journey in March 2005. During this period, we trained all of our colleagues on the 5S principles to target "muda" or waste. |
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Tax Sense Saves Money Author Unknown Growing companies are challenged to stay abreast of the latest opportunities for lowering their tax obligations. It doesn't help that tax laws are changing constantly. |
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COMPLIANCE NEWS NOTES Article by: Vija Kelly Safety Incentive Programs |
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Workplace Privacy Requirements Under the National Labor Relations ActArticle by: Gregory Peters Employers are facing increased legal requirements in their efforts to monitor employees. Most employers are aware of the privacy requirements for medical and Social Security information, as well as the requirements applicable to lawful searches of an employee's office or personal property and lawful workplace investigations. However, the scope of workplace privacy goes far beyond these issues. Oftentimes, employers overlook important employee privacy issues when monitoring employee performance or conduct or when trying to protect the employers' confidential information. These efforts can run afoul with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). |
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Artistic Finishes Succeeds on Its Lean Journey |
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Artistic Finishes, Inc., has been dedicated to continuous improvement since it's inception in 1985. Located on Terminal Road in St. Paul, the company officially launched its lean journey in March 2005. During this period, we trained all of our colleagues on the 5S principles to target "muda" or waste. Completed Kaizen events focused on key areas of potential improvement, both in the office and in production areas. We have also used other lean and six sigma tools, including FMEA, value stream mapping, TAKT time, spaghetti diagram, and process map, etc. For Artistic Finishes, the main gains of lean have been a positive cultural transformation, high employee engagement, improved customer service, and superior quality product. We experienced a 26% inventory reduction while increasing plant capacity by 31%. These meaningful metrics allow Artistic's management team to plan for ongoing growth, as well as to positively reinforce our progress with our employees and customers. One of the most significant success factors for a lean journey is for the executive team to have a sincere commitment and understanding of lean. It is important to get everyone-not only those in manufacturing-involved in the process from the start. We consider our goal to be a lean enterprise. Fun and recognition are also a critical part of keeping lean alive in the people who must implement it. Using simple things like gift cards and lunches creates an atmosphere of support and appreciation for improvements made. Having a long-term perspective is key because all gains aren't achieved overnight. Gains must be maintained while we pursue new horizons.
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Tax Sense Saves Money |
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Growing companies are challenged to stay abreast of the latest opportunities for lowering their tax obligations. It doesn't help that tax laws are changing constantly. To get you up to speed this tax season, here are some key tax incentives and credits that apply to many manufacturers. U.S. Production Activities Deduction The centerpiece of new federal law is a deduction for domestic production activities conducted within the U.S. The U.S. Production Activities Deduction is allowed with respect to a taxpayer's qualified production activities income, which is the taxpayer's domestic production gross receipts, net of expenses. Domestic production gross receipts are receipts derived from any lease, rental, license, sale, exchange, or other disposition of: qualifying production property (i.e., tangible personal property, any computer software, and certain sound recordings) that was manufactured, produced, grown, or extracted in whole or in significant part by the taxpayer within the U.S.; any qualified film produced by the taxpayer; electricity, natural gas, and potable water produced by the taxpayer within the U.S.; construction performed in the U.S.; engineering and architectural services performed in the U.S. for construction projects within the U.S. Research and Development Credit Businesses involved in manufacturing, assembly of equipment, and technology may be eligible for the Research and Development Credit. Qualifying activities for manufacturers include: improving processes; building prototypes; technology enhancements; designing new products; designing product improvements. In addition to the federal credit, a Minnesota credit is available for those businesses that are C corporations and have research and development expenses incurred in the state. Qualified research expenses include: in-house research expenses (e.g., research, employee wages, and supply costs); contract research expenses; payments to qualified organizations to perform research. Discuss these opportunities with your tax specialist to see if they apply to your company.
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COMPLIANCE NEWS NOTES |
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Safety Incentive Programs Virtually every workplace we walk into has a sign up showing the number of days the plant has gone without a lost time injury. Where injuries are few, this can be a source of pride. When a plant has many injuries, the sign can be evidence of failure in meeting safety goals or just a meaningless part of plant décor. Those signs were meant to be part of an incentive program. It is obvious, however, that by themselves they accomplish very little. Are incentive programs to promote safety effective or meaningful? OSHA is not a fan of incentive programs. Although the agency does not condemn all safety incentive programs, and even acknowledges that many employers have excellent programs, it does have a number of concerns: Incentive programs try to reward employees for not getting hurt rather than for working in a safe manner. This type of incentive program can lead to hiding injuries. This type of incentive program assumes that accidents are primarily caused by employee error and may fail to uncover underlying unsafe conditions that cause accidents. In its "Voluntary Protection Programs," Policies and Procedures Manual, OSHA states: The review of incentive programs must focus on ensuring that any incentive programs in operation at the site are not based solely on providing rewards to employees for the reduction or absence of safety or health incidents. Instead these programs should be innovative, positive, and promote safety awareness and worker participation in safety-related activities. The onsite evaluation will focus on the incentive program's potential impact on the accuracy of reporting injury and illness data. Any cause for under or over-reporting must be addressed.
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Workplace Privacy Requirements Under the National Labor Relations Act |
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Employers are facing increased legal requirements in their efforts to monitor employees. Most employers are aware of the privacy requirements for medical and Social Security information, as well as the requirements applicable to lawful searches of an employee's office or personal property and lawful workplace investigations. However, the scope of workplace privacy goes far beyond these issues. Oftentimes, employers overlook important employee privacy issues when monitoring employee performance or conduct or when trying to protect the employers' confidential information. These efforts can run afoul with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Employee Discipline One Court of Appeals recently ruled against an employer's use of video cameras to monitor employees. In that case, as a result of concerns about on-the-job employee drug use, Anheuser-Busch installed hidden video cameras in an area where employees often took breaks. Due to camera footage, five workers were terminated for smoking marijuana, four were suspended for leaving their work areas, and seven others were given "last-chance" agreements for sleeping or for urinating on the building's roof. The union objected to the disciplinary action because of the cameras. The Court of Appeals agreed with the union that Anheuser-Busch would not have known about the employee misconduct without viewing the videotapes. Since the employer had not bargained with the union about installing the cameras, the Court rule that this constituted an unfair labor practice. Confidential Information Employee handbooks frequently contain a section outlining the employer's prohibition against employees disclosing confidential information and trade secrets. However, a broad employee prohibition against this can be a violation of the employees' rights under the NLRA. The NLRB recently held that a broad "confidential information" provision within an employee reference guide interfered with the "employees' right to engage in concerted activity" because the policy indicated that employees could be disciplined for disclosing confidential information. Although the policy did not specifically restrict the employees' right to discuss the terms and conditions of their employment, the NLRB held that the policy could have a "chilling effect" on employees' seeking to exercise their right to engage in concerted activity and to discuss the terms and conditions of their employment. This decision held that employers who discipline their employees for discussing the terms and conditions of their employment with others, including disclosing their salary and benefit information, violate the NLRA. When reviewing their policies, employers should be careful not to overlook privacy issues. All employers should consider a "privacy audit" to evaluate their policies and procedures related to employee privacy, as well as those related to protection of employer confidential information.
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Hazard Management is a consulting and training firm specializing in occupational safety and hazardous waste management. Call Vija Kelly at 651-697-0422 for more information.