Lean Manufacturing Boosts Satisfaction
Boosting that level of satisfaction, he believes, is the introduction of lean manufacturing concepts into U.S. manufacturing. At its core, lean is about maximizing customer value with fewer resources, in the words of the Lean Enterprise Institute. It is about optimizing value streams and ensuring that every person who touches those value streams is engaged in continuously improving them.
Keys to a lean transformation are teamwork and process improvement. "In my mind, these raise the level of [job] satisfaction," Tomlinson says.
Furthermore, he says, "Manufacturing is an industry that is constantly changing -- the types of products, processes, engaging new customers. It never really becomes mundane as a job."
That said, when asked what matters most about their job, salary-survey respondents were most likely to identify job stability (28%) and base salary (22%). But if you believe the return of salary increases is responsible for the high level of career satisfaction among manufacturing management who responded to ?IndustryWeek's survey, think again. It has been consistently high since 2007, even as the U.S. manufacturing economy faltered.
Kennametal CEO Carlos Cardoso is among manufacturers who are spreading the word about the good things happening in manufacturing and has challenged other manufacturing company executives to do the same. He recently shared his concerns about the lack of young talent entering manufacturing at a National Press Club event and more recently with IndustryWeek in its February issue.
"The fact that parents don't encourage their kids to get into manufacturing, the fact that at the K-12 educational level, manufacturing is not seen as a career option, for instance, is surprising to me," said Cardoso. "Because at the end of the day, I truly believe that manufacturing jobs equal middle class."
On the Job
IndustryWeek readers tell us they are overworked, on the go, appreciated and not appreciated. Here is what they have to say.
"Current job requires portability; always on the move. Office is in laptop." engineering manager in the industrial machinery industry with 26-plus years of experience, living in the North Central region and earning $111,000
"Work is finally breaking loose, but it is a real battle to find people who want to learn and stick with it." operations manager in the metals industry with 26-plus years of experience, living in the New England region and earning $110,000
"Too much work, not enough time to create new systems." engineering manager in the metals industry with 16 to 20 years of experience, living in the Mountain region and earning $60,000
"Although I am very satisfied with my salary, I find it difficult to manage my somewhat heavy workload, and management has made it known that adding more personnel to help in this regard is not currently an option. In jumping from one urgent task to the next, some do not get as much attention as they deserve or as I would like." environmental, health and safety manager in the petroleum and coal industry with 16 to 20 years of experience, living in the Mountain region and earning $92,000
"As most people do nowadays, I wear multiple hats and have an enormous responsibility. My pay is not commensurate with the accountability." quality manager in the metals industry with 26-plus years of experience, living in the South Atlantic region and earning $69,500
"Enjoyed the diverse opportunities I have had in my job to work in different countries, different projects. Especially enjoy the mix of supplier development and some equipment-design work that I am able to do." engineering manager in the petroleum and coal industry with 26-plus years of experience, living in the South Central region and earning $164,000
"Our company is in a small town; it is difficult to find people to work. My biggest challenge is to keep the plant manned." human resources manager in the plastics and rubber products industry with 16 to 20 years of experience, living in the South Central region and earning $53,000
