July 2007 E-zine

Greetings!

"We contend that there are three linked commonalities that drive an organization toward providing the best value, which results in a strong competitve advantage and a winning organization. The three linked commonalities are PEOPLE, LEAN, and INNOVATION. They are the three critical factors in an organization's success." [The Leadership Roadmap]

There is still room for Scanlon Members and Friends to study innovation from one of the top ten most innovative organizations in the world! Please join us August 7-9 as we study 3M. In this E-Zine you'll find links for more information.

Our 2007 Leadership Retreat will focus on building cultures of Innovation. We will tour Motorola's new innovation center and learn how to lead for innovation from leaders from Motorola, Dell, the Illinois Institute of Technology and more! Please join us on September 18-19 in Chicago. (We are even hoping that Bob Galvin will be able to join us). Please follow the links for the agenda and registration information.

Results from our innovation survey conducted at the annual conference have been computed. We share the overall results in this E-Zine.

We are pleased to include the Mistequay Group, Ltd into our Network. Learn about this entreprenurial organization in this E-Zine. Mistequay offers a wide range of machining/manufacturing services to a multi-Industry base of customers in over 30 states, as well as Canada, Mexico, France and the United Kingdom. Follow the links to learn more about our newest member. Welcome Mistequay!

As many struggle to learn the lean methods of Toyota, we are pleased that one of our members (and a member of the Toyota Family of companies) is being studied by Toyota companies as a model of success. TG Fluid Systems has become the Network member to benchmark on how to manage change. Learn more about TG Fluid Systems in this E-Zine.

Myron Marsh is CEO of Thomson-Shore and Chairman of the Board of the Scanlon Network. He has led three different Scanlon organizations in his career. In our latest EPIC Leadership podcast, Myron shares what he has learned about Scanlon and leadership. Follow the links in this E-Zine to hear Myron's interview.

Don't Miss The Chance To Benchmark 3M And Motorola

Don't miss the opportunity of a lifetime to study innovation by missing the August 7-9 tour of 3M! Ranked as one of the top ten most innovative companies in the world, we will be hosted by the GRIT team...3M engineers and leaders who made 3M a leader in innovation. This Team includes 3M innovators like Art Fry who helped to develop and launch the Post-It Note phenomenon. Space is still available for members and for friends of the Scanlon Network.

The tour's next stop is Motorola and the Motorola Innovation Center on September 18-19, 2007. Motorola is ranked as one of the world's top forty most innovative companies. Praveen Gupta will be helping host this tour. Praveen is President of Accelper Consulting. He worked at Motorola University when the concepts and methods of Six-Sigma were created. Praveen is author of "Business Innovation for the 21st Century."

Leaders will learn how to create cultures of innovation, and how to avoid innovation failures, from frontrunning innovation executives and thought leaders.

"Scanlon's focus on innovation creates exceptional opportunities for leaders to learn how to create cultures that support continuous innovation," said Gupta. "The tours and the 2008 Conference will provide leaders and front-line employees with critical compentencies for increasing innovation. There is no better way to learn about innovation than to study great innovators and great innovative companies. The Network has opened doors to help organizations become truly innovative and successful."

The first day of the tour will prepare leaders to assess innovation, integrate continuous Improvement and innovation, teach innovation and entrepreneurship and build winning organizations. Speakers include Praveen Gupta; Adam Hartung, President and Consultant, Spark Partners; Bill Grundstrom, Director, Global Business Process Improvement, Dell Computers; Bob Carlson, Ph.D., Illinois Institute of Technology; and Mary Clark, Executive Director, Winning Workplaces.

Throughout the entire tour there will be opportunties to network with top leaders from Scanlon organizations and to share innovation practices. There will also be an Innovation Hour where participants will learn how to "increase their creative juices". Magical Innovation will be the theme of dinner with Bill Cooper of Super Cooper Magic as the entertainment. (Bill is the former Quality Director for the Lear Corporation.)

The second day is dedicated to the tour of the Motorola Innovation Center conducted by Motorola employees. The Center will help leaders understand the global breadth of technology solutions that Motorolais involved in. By examining past and present innovations and studying Motorola's predictions for the future, leaders will learn how Motorola endeavors to change life through innovation.

For more information on the Tour and Leadership Retreat contact the Scanlon Network office at 517-332-8927 or office@scanlonleader.org.
To download the tour registration form as a pdf file...

Innovation Survey Says: There's Room for Improvement

"The survey results from Scanlon companies were average, implying there is room for more innovation," said Praveen Gupta, President, Accelper Consulting.

"Scanlon is focusing this year on innovation to help members grow through innovation. It only made sense to conduct surveys to establish innovation baselines," he said.

At the 2007 Annual Conference, members of The Scanlon Leadership Network participated in the Accelper Innovation Survey. The survey consists of 18 questions.

"Organizations work to hire the best employees but often they never give the employees they hire the opportunity to think and create new ideas," said Gupta. "Scanlon encourages employee involvement and innovation. Becoming involved with Scanlon is one of the first critical steps organizations can take to become more innovative."

Results from the Innovation survey completed at the Scanlon Conference can be downloaded as a pdf file. (Please click on the quick link in this E-Zine.) The Innovative survey is also available online and results are constantly updated.
To participate in the innovation survey click here....

TG Fluid of Brighton Heralded As Model of Success

TG Fluid Systems of Brighton, MI has been heralded as a model of success and is currently being studied by other TG manufacturing divisions in North America who want to learn how they function. The Brighton group has been a member of the Scanlon Leadership Network for six years.

"Our membership with Scanlon helps us measure employee attitude, benchmark leadership development and give us support for business planning. All of these areas have been key to our success," said Scott Maly, President. (Scott is pictured presenting results to TGFS Employees).

TG Fluid Systems designs and manufactures custom thermoplastic tubing assemblies for automotive fuel and emission systems. TG brings the knowledge of the Toyota Production System into its manufacturing and has world-class expertise in the technical areas of design and testing at their Michigan facility.

They recently had to overcome changes including new tubing forming and assembly processes.

"The Scanlon Leadership Network has conducted annual employee satisfaction surveys and TG Fluid's ability to manage change is one of the best we have measured," said Paul Davis, President, Scanlon Leadership Network.

TG credits company practices for its successful adaptation to change. For example, every day each shift has a start up meeting with supervisors reporting on daily activity and goals. The intranet TV called "Tube News" gives weekly updates to employees as well. Monthly meetings with the President are held including a question and answer portion to keep the company communication open also.

The 2008 Scanlon Annual Conference will be in Dearborn , Michigan, allowing more Network members and guests to learn from this exceptional organization.

"We are looking forward to the Scanlon 2008 Annual Conference and the Tour being conducted at TG to share Innovating-Survival and TPS integration," said Maly.
To learn more about TG Fluid Systems....

New Member Mistequay Has International Customer Base

The Scanlon Leadership Network's newest member is Mistequay Group Ltd., a Saginaw, MI, based company founded in 1991 with customers throughout the United States, and internationally in Canada, Mexico, France, the United Kingdom and more. (Sherry Carpenter, VP and GM, Scanlon's Majel Maes, and Jake Shinners, Exec. VP shown).

"We are continually attempting to improve our operational processes to better engage in national and international competition. Mistequay is very interested in being a member of the Scanlon Leadership Network and working on a collaborative basis to discuss and improve Best Practices within our business community," said Jake Shinners, Executive Vice-President of Mistequay.

Mistequay provides a wide variety of complex machining services and manufactures products for a multi-industry base of customers. They offer precision tooling to the machine tool industry through the Universal DeVlieg division located in its world headquarters in Saginaw, MI.

Universal Engineering is renowned for its tool holding products and DeVlieg for Micrometer Adjustable Boring Systems. In addition, Mistequay offers local and international engineering solutions for all industries through Mistequay Global Engineering, headquartered in Saginaw, MI with various other U.S.A. locations and internationally in India and Pakistan. The company promotes its products and services through direct sales/marketing and through standard distribution channels for its Universal/DeVlieg products.

Some of Mistequay's customers include the Aircraft and Aerospace, Satellite/Launch Vehicle, Automotive, Off-Highway, Defense, Agriculture, Hydraulics and other industries that require precision-machined manufactured parts with the rigid application of high quality standards.

"The Scanlon Leadership Network welcomes Mistequay Group and is looking forward to their membership," said Paul Davis, President, Scanlon Leadership Network.

Mistequay Group Ltd employs more than 185 people at its various locations with its headquarters in Saginaw. Mistequay operates manufacturing facilities in Saginaw and Standish, MI, Fort Collins, CO and Cody, WY. International locations include a sales office in Coventry, England and Manufacturing in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Mistequay offers a wide range of services including high precision machining, CNC turning, CNC milling, grinding (including CNC), broaching, EDM, and splining. They provide CNC machining of parts from bar stock, forgings and castings in small to large quantities and specialize in highly "processed" parts requiring multiple machining and processing operations which include the purchase of material, castings and other outside services including heat treat and numerous plating operations. They also specialize in prototype and experimental parts. The latest state of the art CNC machinery is used at all of their facilities.
For more information on Mistequay Group, Ltd....

Myron Marsh latest Steward to share EPIC Leadership Podcast

The latest EPIC Leadership interview features Myron Marsh, CEO of Thomson-Shore and Chairman of the Board of the Scanlon Leadership Network. Myron shares his unique insights on leadership, having worked for three different Scanlon organizations in his career.

Myron's experience at Tokheim, Xaloy, and Thomson-Shore illustrates how Scanlon programs can lead to increased organizational performance. They also show what can happen when leadership changes and the Scanlon Principles are abandoned.

Trained as a shop teacher, Myron left his High School shop class and joined the ranks of business executives, but he never stopped learning and teaching. In this podcast of a little over one hour, you'll learn about leadership from one of the great contemporary Scanlon leaders.

Note: You do not need an Ipod to listen to this interview. All it takes is a computer with a speaker and an internet connection to download the audio file. A podcast is a great way to increase competency while commuting. Our next podcast will feature Max DePree!
Click here and then click on the podcast logo....