Demag Cranes and Components

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Tying it all togetherCompany president John Paxton tells Jenn Monroe how Demag Cranes and Components makes everything fit. Demag Cranes and Components takes pride in having developed a unique range of products in which ÔÇ£everything fits together.ÔÇØ This idea also informs how the company does business and where it looks to make improvements. Based in Germany, Demag Cranes and Components is a subsidiary of Demag Cranes AG and is one of the worldÔÇÖs largest manufacturers of top running and under running overhead cranes, hoists, enclosed rail cranes and monorails, gearmotors, and material handling solutions. DemagÔÇÖs products are used for material flow, logistics and industrial drive applications in manufacturing facilities around the world. DemagÔÇÖs North American operations are headquartered in Cleveland and led by president John Paxton. He oversees operations at factories in Ohio, Texas and California that manufacture the steel girders and assemble the cranes and hoists, as well as 33 field service locations. Components for the cranes and hoists are manufactured at DemagÔÇÖs facilities in Germany and then assembled at the US plants. Paxton says that in the past several years the company has been focused on its aftermarket service business, including making enhancements to new products. Part of this effort was building a supply chain for its spare parts business. Today customers and dealers place online orders 24/7 and have immediate access to DemagÔÇÖs extensive inventory system. Supporting that is a high-speed miniload warehouse system that allows orders to be pulled and shipped on the same day. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs about processing the orders from our distributors and customers, and getting them out the door,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£In our industry, not many have logistics and parts support like ours.ÔÇØ Another recent improvement has been the creation of part sets for repairs or replacements. Demag interviewed customers and its service technicians to ensure the kits contained all the necessary parts and instructions. ÔÇ£If you need to do a particular repair, we provide a set of parts and the instructions to do that repair,ÔÇØ Paxton says. ÔÇ£We know what the customer wants to accomplish and pre-package these items together.ÔÇØ This has made not only repairs easier but inventory management as well. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs easier to manage one package than ten individual parts,ÔÇØ Paxton says. To help reduce emergency repairs and replacements, Demag Cranes and Components has placed small microprocessors inside its hoisting products to help track and produce maintenance information, something truly groundbreaking in the industry. Data such as number of cycles, brake wear, load moves, and life remaining can be downloaded onto a PDA and help customers schedule maintenance. ÔÇ£It helps to become more preventive focused as opposed to an emergency breakdown situation,ÔÇØ Paxton says. In addition, all the technicians who work in DemagÔÇÖs service business, Crane America Services, have been trained in the last year on how to do inspections using new, PDA-based software. ÔÇ£The technician has all the customerÔÇÖs records on this hand-held device,ÔÇØ Paxton says. Details of the inspection are entered directly into the PDA, which then creates a report that is emailed to the customer and stored on a website the customer can access. ÔÇ£It has really standardized our process,ÔÇØ Paxton says. ÔÇ£With more than 100 inspectors, weÔÇÖd get more than 100 versions of the inspection reports. Everyone describes it differently when writing it down. Now all the possible action items are already documented as pull-down selections on the PDA. It has brought standardization of information, standardization of our process and increased accuracy of our information. The customer receives consistent reports regardless of the inspector.ÔÇØ Field service is not the only area that has seen process improvements at Demag. It recently completed a value stream analysis of its material flow and girder fabrication. While they did get assistance from an outside consulting group, the company created a worldwide team and took the best practices from all of DemagÔÇÖs facilities. ÔÇ£We standardized processes worldwide and really organized our own manufacturing to save time,ÔÇØ Paxton says. As a result of its process improvements, Demag Cranes and Components was able to save more than $1 million in girder fabrication alone. ÔÇ£Even the simple things can make a difference,ÔÇØ Paxton says. ÔÇ£For example, one of our steel structures can be 100 feet long, and to move it from one station to another takes time. We organized the material flow and movements to minimize that time. Even something simple like that saves money.ÔÇØ That Demag is making these enhancements is not a surprise to Paxton, who has been with the company for more than 20 years. And he is not alone; half the members of the companyÔÇÖs product division in the US have been with the company for more than 20 years. ÔÇ£The company continues to invest in its products and leading-edge technology,ÔÇØ Paxton says. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs an exciting company to work for. There are always new products and new things to learn.ÔÇØ ItÔÇÖs also a company that appreciates the dedication of its employees. It has a number of recognition programs including ÔÇ£You Make a Difference,ÔÇØ in which employees nominate each other for outstanding contributions, three levels of recognitionÔÇöbronze, silver and goldÔÇöfor its customer service staff and application engineers, and an active service anniversary program. ÔÇ£The true benefit of long-term employees is the experience of the people,ÔÇØ Paxton says. ÔÇ£They are well trained and have really deep product knowledge and customer application and support knowledge. However, a challenge for us now is succession planning. ItÔÇÖs really hard to replace all that experience. We need to be proactive with our training and development programs to develop future expertise.ÔÇØ In searching for new Demag employees, Paxton says heÔÇÖll be searching for people who want to be challenged but appreciate stability. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre not looking for short-term employees,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre looking for people who want to learn and grow with our company.ÔÇØ In the coming months, Paxton will be focused on securing the companyÔÇÖs ISO 9002 certification. Because of the way Demag Cranes and Components has done and continues to do business, the process has not been as difficult as it might have been. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖve had most of the criteria in place, but it was not well organized or well documented,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£We didnÔÇÖt have to change our business process, but connecting all the processes together will also provide big improvements for us. This is tying it all together.ÔÇØ┬á Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *   ┬áFirst published August 2008