Career development When is lean too lean? A manufacturing worker's pov.
I've been working at a factory that produces truck parts for about a month now, I live in Dallas, TX. Not going to name the company, but things have gone downhill as of recently.
I work in the better bit, the accessories department, my job is to put stickers on glued parts and pass them along. Almost everyone else works in much more physically, hotter, and health demaning areas (floating welding dust and chemical burns). Standing for 10 hours doing the same motions wouldn't be so difficult if our only safe space wasn't only in our minds. It's regularly hot enough that my coworkers' health is at risk (I mostly live with older ladies that aren't legal). Access to water is sometimes not worth the interruptions to the assembly lines. But we used to have earbuds to at least pass the time away and anybody trained enough to do another's job can take over so that production isn't stalled while someone is away.
Apparently we've been behind production needs so now an Improvements Manager has been called to get us back to speed. First of all, the earbuds are gone (reasonable). The other production lines are gutted (leaving certain workers having to do the jobs of two). No improvements on ventilation or water availability. Constant managing (strict quotas). Beverages must be bottled and put away (reasonable).
The pressure has led to a surge of new faces, destruction of cohesion, and a notable burn out of my coworkers and myself included. I'd be alright with this lean manufacturing stuff if we were given a compromise on earbuds and quotas. Some of us have resorted to malicious compliance i.e. doing the bare minimum to keep our jobs.
Am I being a baby or do I have a point in some of these complaints? I understand some of these things are legal matters so I'd like better explanation on them if possible.
•
u/Cultural-Answer-321 15h ago
When? When the million+ dollar lawsuits from the business customers start coming in from broken products.
But not until then. Not even when workers get hurt and successfully sue.
And always, ALWAYS, act your wage.
•
u/Gwendolyn-NB 14h ago
That's why you segment a business, so when those come in you can just declare bankruptcy, then close and avoid liabilities above your assets. Same thing that J&J did/is doing with all the Talc lawsuits, same things companies have done for years with Superfund sights, etc. But until then, drive the company to extract all the value you can! I mean that's the American way right? Unbridled, unrestricted capitalism!
•
u/Jolly_Mongoose_8800 12h ago
Lean is like combining processes to reduce the worktime, creating standard rework processes, and floor restructuring.
Walking in, cutting everything, and making work miserable is not lean. It's fucking stupid. You want turnover? This is how you get turnover.
•
u/Gwendolyn-NB 14h ago
You're in Texas.... I mean it's one of the lowest of the low states for workers rights. I mean they just passed laws about how water/breaks aren't required.
And what you're experience isn't Lean by ANY definition. It's pure lightbulb management, meaning every single one of you workers are plugged in, turned on to burn as bright as possible, then tossed in the garbage once your usefulness has run it's course.
This is how things USED to be before Unions came to be, and to get political how a certain political party want it to be again. Back to the days of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, and how China/Vietnam/name your cheap labor country currently run their factories.
•
u/PearBlossom 7h ago
Hi. Manufacturing supervisor. I manage 13 production lines and 40 people across multiple floors in a union environment.
Nobody is going to loosen quotas up. These machines were expertly designed and tested for a specific output and that's not going to change. They make sales forecasts, timelines to customers, etc based on what these machines are capable of. I know exactly what each machine is capable of.
Our areas will get to 80-85 degrees with high humidity and we work 12 hours. Anyone can stop at anytime to get a drink. Everyone has easy access to cold water, though ice machines struggle to keep up sometimes. We have pre shift meetings where we talk about hydration and the signs of dehydration not only in yourself but your coworkers around you. See something, say something.
As far as ear buds go, we used to allow 1 earbud until 3-4 months ago when there were 2 back to back incidents that led the Safety department to forbid them because people very stupidly werent paying attention bc their music was so loud and almost stepped in front of a forklift. I dont outwardly enforce it because we are off hours and people arent looking as close but I told them all the rule is no ear buds but you take your fate into your own hands because if the wrong person sees you or you get flattened like a pancake, consequences are on you for not following the rules. The union cant fight a reasonable safety policy because above all else safety is # 1.
Having said that, it has nothing to do with lean to take earbuds away from workers. In fact, earbuds actually cut down on chatter between co workers which can sometimes slow some people down. Im in the process of documenting this to our upper management so they can fight back against safety because I feel that I can prove that decreased morale directly tanks productivity and that an overreach on safety is not in anyones best interest.
Rules like that come about because some people who sit around in offices and have either never ran a line or forget what its like to run a line are sitting around throwing shit at a wall to see what works and to appease upper management who has most definitely no clue nor care in the world about workers. They just want results. You dont get results by making the environment miserable. "The beatings will continue until morale improves" is not a winning strategy. But also continued low performance isn't going to help your case, either.
Having said that, you have worked there all of a month and are quietly quitting? Come on now. I have to have this conversation with people from time to time. I know what every machine can do with consistent operator input. Im not asking for a feverish pace, Im not asking for fast. Im asking for steady. Im asking for consistent. Im asking for reasonable effort. If that's too much for you, I get it and that's ok. But the company isn't going to delay commitments to customers because Johnny on line 1 cant or doesn't want to meet realistic goals that others can meet. I tend to do a shuffle around to different lines to see what "clicks" for someone but if none "click" it just may not be the work for you.
Unless you have some sort of proof they are setting unrealistic quotas?
•
u/BadAtExisting 10m ago
OP isn’t in a union house, though. There’s no regular access to water, of course their productivity will slow down through out a shift, and OP’s company is relying on their workers to bend over and take it because becoming a problem will lead to deportation. It’s blatant exploitation. Instead of telling OP “this work may not be for you” you should be encouraging OP to organize their workplace
•
u/Other-Mess6887 11m ago
Sounds like a great place to start a union. Contact UAW for stickers and posters. What do you have to lose? You won't last another year at this pace. Union activity will definitely pucker the boss's assholes.
•
•
u/Current-Ad5994 11h ago
I'm not trying to be political , but this sounds like "end-stage capitalism." Employee health and well being are part of what makes or breaks a company. They have a direct effect on product or service quality. If management is not keeping a close eye on working conditions, people will start making mistakes quality will suffer revenue will drop. Is your company recently been acquired by somebody else? It sounds to me like whoever is in charge. There is trying to starve the goose that lays the golden egg. This can't go on much longer. Maybe it's time to start looking.
•
u/butidontwanna45 14h ago
I've never seen a good example of lean manufacturing tbh. But this goes beyond lean and into poor management period
•
•
u/FishermanBetter3963 15h ago
You’ve only worked there for a month at one of the simplest jobs. You haven’t been there long enough to know what you don’t know . Good luck in life with an attitude you have.
•
u/Frankenkoz 15h ago
This isn't Lean. One of the core pillars of Lean Management is Respect for People. Clean, healthy work areas and not overburdening workers is supposed to be part of Lean, as defined by Toyota and interpreted by Womack.
What you have is a good old fashioned cost cutting. Like cutting off a leg to reduce the number of calories your body needs. This is just stupidity pretending it's "Lean".
Lean revolves around cutting waste, not abusing workers.