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Craftsman
Commercial Drywall, Inc. Vol. 3, No.4
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February 1982
An open letter to all CDI’ers In the past three years there has been a lot of talk at CDI about productivity. In fact, the company has implemented a program called Operation 3P to help us improve our productivity. But .what actually is productivity? Well, economists tell us that productivity is what you get for what you put in. Basically, it is a measurement, much like a ballplayer's batting average or a student's test scores. What it measures, though, is not how hard we work, but how smartly and efficiently. That is what this issue of the Craftsman is all about. We will take a look at productivity in
general. And, we will take a look at some of the things going on inside CDI to improve productivity - our ability to get more from what we put in. Hopefully you will find that the bottom line on any of these programs is the commitment of our people. Of course, new technology, streamlined processes and innovative company policies can all help raise our batting average. But, it is the ideas of our individual employees that will make the difference. In an industry such as ours, labor accounts for about 70 percent of costs with materials consuming most of the other 30
percent. Therefore, the biggest challenge we face as a company is to get the individual employee - you - even more involved, more responsible, more informed, and consequently more productive. The individual employee at CDI holds the key to our entire productivity as a company. We hope this issue of the Craftsman helps us along in our endeavors to unlocking some of the doors to higher productivity.
Where it’s been, where it is
3P — COD5s answer to died™ mg productivity Since late 1979, the phrase "3P” has been used quite freely within CDI. While it has become an almost everyday expression for many individuals, some employees do not fully understand 3P, its concept or its purpose. Such a lack of understanding is understandable when dealing with a productivity improvement program such as 3P. Productivity itself is a complex idea that is not fully understood, even by those who work with it on a daily bcisis The year 1979 is a good starting place to describe CDI’s operation 3P because it was then that the company first recognized the cause of an ever growing problem — that of higher and higher costs of doing business. The problem of rising costs was not unique to CDI though. Virtually (See 3P, page 2)
In early 1980. all CDI employees participated in a survey to determine worker needs so that 3P would head in the right direction. Input from this survey led to the develop ment of several activities.
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3P- still at work for CDI (From page 1) everyone in the construction industry was and continues to be faced with the same situation. In fact, the malady is spread throughout our country’s economy with only one result - higher costs for everyone, especially the one at the end of the line - the ultimate consumer. The primary reason that prices have been rising within the economy is declining productivity. Because the costs of materials, machines, energy and labor are increasing, many companies’ ability to produce at a given cost has been on the way down. The realization that CDI, along with a lot of other companies, was suffering from such a decline in productivity growth, led to the development of Operation 3P - a Positive Productivity Program. 3P became the vehicle for which CDI would work to improve its efficiency. From the outstart, though, it was apparent that the remedy for declining productivity was not to work harder. Rather it called for the ability to work smarter and more efficiently. Thus the slogan, “work smarter, not harder," became the watchwords of 3P. Initially the program consisted of incentives, rewards and recognition for those who utilized the work smarter approach. These incentives came in the form of our budget beater program, supervisor of the month and belt buckle awards and the publishing of our company newsletter to recognize those who excelled. Later, we initiated other programs to improve our efficiency such as new attendance requirements and safety regulations. Other ways included the in-house computerization of our accounting department, the development of more precise budgets, more accurate job status reports for jobs in progress, development of a tool accountability program, and most recently the emergence of a supervisory training program. In early 1980 a company wide survey was administered to determine the exact needs of CDI personnel and to identify the things that would allow them to increase
their own individual productivity. Many of the programs just described were products of that survey. So where is 3P today? Have we, in fact made strides to improve our productivity? That is a difficult question to answer, and probably one of the most challenging parts of any productivity improvement program - the ability to measure its results. For the construction industry, it is especially true.
Operation 3P — what’s been happening? Incentives Budget beaters barbeque lunches Budget beaters steak dinners Supervisor of the month awards CDI belt buckle awards CDI craftsman newsletter Improvement Measures Project S.A.F.E. Supervisors breakfast Supervisory training program Orientation program for new employees Tool accountability program In-house computer system Activities To Improve Work Environment Fishin' fools bass tournament Softball teams 3P survey Worker surveys For instance, in a factory setting, a company can calculate the amount of energy, the number of man-hours and the cost of materials necessary to make a product (lets say a pair of shoes). In construction, though, it is extremely difficult to measure the cost of putting up a building. Buildings differ in size, shape and degree of difficulty. Work generally goes more smoothly in the spring and fall than it does in the 110 degrees of summer or the 28 degrees of winter. Productivity also suffers because of factors beyond our control like storm damage, poor coordination between subs, and a lack of sequence in the work. 2
So when we ask ourselves how have we done, it is Indeed a difficult question to answer. But, there are many indications that we are makina headway. First, there has been a 9 marked improvement in the mood or attitude of workers within CDI. There is more of a sense of belonging to a team, to a worthwhile organization. We have also been able to assemble the largest backlog of work in our history, while continuing to do more interior contracting than any other company in Texas. And, we get praise from our customers for the ability to produce a quality job in a reasonable time frame. Despite these positive indications, 3P continues to seek a way to find measurable results. Presently, one of the biggest thrusts underway includes the utilization of worker surveys to identify specific problems at the jobsite. These surveys have already led to changes in manpower, supervision and procedures on several major projects. CDI's budget beater contests and other incentives are still very active. And. the worker surveys should have a tremendous impact on productivity and our ability to beat budgets and receive awards. The surveys help to remove obstacles to good performance such as lack of training, excessive idle time and insufficient supervision. They are useful because they tap the best source of information possible - the worker, the craftsman who knows the problem and often the solution first hand. This is where 3P is today (See 3P, page 3)
CDI Craftsman Editor. Larry Williams The CDI Craftsman is published monthly by Commercial Drywall. Inc. for its employees and their families. Employees should send their news contributions to Larry Williams, Commercial Drywall, Inc., P. 0. Box 10686, Houston, Texas 77018.
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3P—bettering GDI
The fundamentals of improving productivity W trying to get this information so that it (From page 2)
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can be utilized to our best advantage. Our is no way an ,. ..3P program , indication that a craftsman is not willing nor capable of beinq more productive. Nor is it an admission of management inability. Rather, it is simply the recognition of the ' increased complexity of today’s projects and the need for better methods to deal with them It is CDI's realization that unless we do find ways to address the problems of these complex jobs and the rising costs associated with them, then the industry and our national economy will continue to be strickened with inflation. 3P is evidence that we are willing to meet such a challenge rather than to ignore it. Such a business approach has helped us to the forefront of our industry and keeps us ahead of the crowd. We extend the same challenge to every business in every industry to deal with the problem of declining productivity so that we can all enjoy the benefits of an economy blessed with high productivity and diminished inflation, rather than what we contend with today.
1. Realize that everyone in the company is a worker—manage ment and labor. 2. Understand that profit is everybody's business. 3. Use teamwork throughout the company. 4. Everyone should set business goals. 5. Foremen should routinely ask everyone they supervise how the work can be done more intelligently. 6. Foremen should give feedback on performance.
7. Improve planning and coordination at all levels of the company. 8. Adopt a material handling plan for every job. 9. Automate wherever possible. 10. Demand excellence in both quality and quantity from employees at every level. 11. Invest in training. 12. Invest in research and development. 13. Share productivity improvement ideas. 14. Pay systematic attention to good work.
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Why a productivity program? 1. To strengthen competitive position 2. To improve profits and generate funds needed for capital investment in modernization or expansion 3. To improve communications through worker involvement 4. To maintain wages at fair levels in terms of buying power 5. To improve job satisfaction and working conditions
6. To preserve job security 7. To increase leisure time 8. To meet the pressures of rising costs in labor, capital, materials, and energy 9. To reduce waste and conserve materials, energy, or human resources 10. To enhance customer satisfaction 11. To enhance flexibility of response to changing economic conditions
Promise Yourseif Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet To make all your friends fee| that there is something in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only of the best, to work oniyforthe bes and expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about you ■ forget the mistakes of the PJst ^ s press on to the greater ac?h , o, .he future. To wear countenance meet a smile. every living creature you To give so much time to the hgve
• SSSJSSwSSSf role too too permit the presence of trouble. -Christian D. Larson
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3, an enjoyable and healthy diversion from work.
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What makes CDI-ers more productive in their work?
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4. Getting praise from your foreman makes you more productive. It gives you the extra drive. Also, if the other workers say you're doing a good job, you’ll want to do it even better. I like a foreman who is straight, though. If you are doing good, he should tell you. If you aren’t, he should tell you that too. Either way, I'm going to try harder if I think he’s being honest with me.
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3 1. A person has to like what he is doing. You have to enjoy your work or you won’t get good at it. To me, productivity means doing my job better and faster. And, before I can do that I’ve got to like it first. Eddy McCall Carpenter, Millwork Shop 2. There are a lot of things that make someone productive in his job. It takes a healthy work environment. The place where you work has to be acceptable to you. You can be more productive if you feel like part of a team, and if you have a good relationship with your co-workers. I guess overall you have to see your job as more than a paycheck. If there’s no satisfaction except for the wages you won’t be as productive. Charlie Boyd Greenway Project Administrator
Willie Villalobas Journeyman Finisher, Four Leaf
3. Liking the job has a lot to do with how productive you are. Besides that, you need to feel good about the people you work for. It’s hard to be productive if you dislike your supervisor or even the company. And, the people you work around too are important. You have to get along with others, and if the person next to you does a good job then you’ll do a good one. If he puts out the extra effort then you will too. Kathy Sams Apprentice Painter, Four Leaf 4
5. Working for a good company like CDI makes me more productive. When you work for a good place you want to do more, especially if they treat you fair, give you a little credit when you do good, help you when you have a problem, and have good people to work with. Steady work is important too, because it's nice to know that as long as you earn your pay, you’ll always have work. I guess overall, the main thing is to work for a company that treats you like a person and doesn’t hassle you as long as you do your job. That _ is the best way to become more productive. Stephen Moore Yard Laborer
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6. A person will be more productive when he knows that the organization is behind him. Individuals are generally willing to do more when they feel they have the support of management. This # includes being told that you are doing a good job and that you are needed. A little praise or recognition goes a long way. To a lot of people it is more important than the amount of pay they receive. I think a good balance of fair demands, wages, support and recognition is all that it takes to make a person productive. Barbara Stoever Accounts Payable
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7. A person needs to know that the work he is putting in is appreciated. If he gets a little praise when he deserves it, he'll do a lot better job the next time. Something that helps too, is knowing that you are part of a growing, successful organization - and feeling that the work your doing has an affect on 1 success. Another thing that is to important is pride. A person needs i feel a sense of pride in his job an A the company he works for. Pride M helps you make it to work and do W good job. Chris Howard Interior Systems
8. I think good working conditions do the most for making a person productive. This includes the physical surrounding, a system for doing things, and people that are willing to do their part. A person needs to feel comfortable in the job, work environment and with the the people around him. You also need to have a good attitude toward your ufnrk And a good attitude comes from the1 good9working conditions, 2 other things like fair pay benefits, and overall treatment from your supervisor. Tami Kirkpatrick Century Accounting 5
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Productivity - it affects everyone of us Earlier we defined productivity as being what you get for what you put in. An even simpler definition is output per worker. Productivity is nothing new to the U.S. economy, but its importance has increased dramatically in the last nine years. In the 1980's, productivity has become the watchword. It is the economic elixir of the 1980’s.
Regardless of what productivity is or is called, it affects all of us in our ability to pay the rent, buy groceries and provide for our families. For 28 years following World War II, the U.S. boasted the strongest and most productive economy in the world, with a steady rise in the output of our work force. Since 1973, however, the productivity growth rate
has been on the decline; in 1978, 79, and '80, the output per worker actually fell. That means that the average worker produced less with the equipment and resources available. That is not to say that we are all getting lazy or have been on an extended coffee break. Rather, we can look back to 1973 as a good
Catching on elsewhere
The ‘think smarter5 principle (Editor’s note; The following article appeared in Enterprise which is the journal of the National Association of Manufacturers. It is included in this newsletter because it provides further illumination of the "think smarter” attitude, a theme with much the same ideals as CDI's "work smarter" slogan. It’s author is Bruce Thrasher who is director of District 35 of the United Steelworkers of America. What can the union and its members do about productivity? The most important thing is to have a clear definition of what is meant by "increased productivity” or "productivity improvement.’’ There are some who think that these are veiled terms for crew cuts, job eliminations, job combinations and work speedups. For those who wrongly think that increased or improved productivity means crew cuts, job eliminations, job combinations, work speed-up and in the final analysis "work harder,” I have a counter definition of their contribution “think smarter." What do I mean by “think smarter?” Well, simply, it means that industry’s increases in productivity in the past were largely due to technological advancements and an absence of the same among many of its competitors. Today, producers of competitive products at home and foreign producers have closed the technological gap. So that leaves the union and industry with primarily the human side of the equation. It means, for both of us, closer attention to the most effective use of the more efficient plant equipment that has been and will be installed by industry.
As unions and industry continue to work to improve productivity, who will benefit from our efforts? We will, the union and its members, because increased productivity is the basis for future wage increases and continued job security. Industry benefits. An increase in productivity will help offset gains in cost increases, enabling industry to keep prices competitive. The result will be a stronger and more profitable American industry that is
able to provide steady employment and greater job security for union members. Last, but not least, our country benefits. Rising productivity is essential if American products are to remain competitive with those produced by foreign countries. Without it, we face increasing difficulty in maintaining our envied position in the world - a standard of living which is the highest ever achieved in world history.
starting point to explain productivity's z* role in our economy. The year 1973 marked the first oil crisis. After a huge jump in oil prices the cost of running the machinery of industry rose substantially. As a result, the cost of producing the same number of items by the same worker on the same machine rose. Consequently, the manufacturer had to sell his product at a higher price; the price was “inflated" because the product cost more to produce. The inflation of prices occurred throughout the economy, and as consumers, we found we needed higher wages to keep up with the cost of living. While all of this was, and continues to transpire, the federal government created a huge deficit. Since the $40 billion deficit has to be made up somewhere, the government borrows the money. With the government borrowing so much, the demand for funds go up. This creates higher interest rates. The federal government has been borrowing so much money over the years that our country is presently in debt to the tune of one trillion dollars - a one followed by twelve zeros. In fact, one out of every seven tax dollars we send to Washington is used by the government to pay the interest on the debt. With such high interest rates, fewer people can afford to buy new homes and cars so the home building industry, the auto manufacturers, and the related industries start laying off workers. This situation only adds to the federal government deficit through increased spending for unemployment compensation and food stamp payments, while reducing federal revenues through lost income taxes. Just as high inflation and interest rates hurt us as consumers, businesses are faced with the same Problems. Record high interests rates are causing companies to delay ^vestments in new equipment and new technology. Without the newer, i 9) more efficient machines, the output w per worker — our definition of productivity — continues to decline. So, what is the answer? Actually, there is no one answer. But, there
American productivity has broken out of the steady pattern it held for so long, his graph shows the recent trend of private business economy according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics
AVERAGE ANNUAL PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH 1966 -1975 OUTPUT MANHOUR
9% 8% 7%
6% S% 4% 3%
2% 1% 0% Source: BUS
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual growth of output-per-month in the U.S. has been less than that in four of those nations.
are some things that can and are being done to turn things around. First, the need to reduce Government spending and borrowing is being addressed with the recent Budget Reconciliation Act. Second, businesses are being given incentives to invest in new, more productivity equipment and technology through the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1982. This new tax law also encourages tax PaV.®r^ to save more , adding to the available 7
funds and thus reducing interest rates. But, the real burden is on the individual worker to find new and better ways to do his job, to become more productive. And, it is on industry to provide a climate that will allow this to happen. Workers must bring forth their ideas on how to do their jobs more efficiently. And, business must tap this information and utilize it so as to become more competitive and productive.
What makes CDPers productive? 9. Something that makes me more productive is knowing that someone (the company) is depending on me. It’s a trust that exists, and knowing that I have been given the responsibility to fulfill that trust keeps me going. Another factor is knowing where you stand. A person will be more productive if he understands what is expected of him, if he knows his deadlines and is kept abreast of how he is doing in relation to quality, quantity and budgets. Also, a person tends to be more productive if he is involved in helping solve problems and making decisions about parts of the job that affect him. If he feels like he had some input in the way things are, he is going to do more to see that they succeed. 9
Mike O'Brien Finishing Supervisor 10. To be more productive, you have to have the right attitude. You have to care about your job and have the will to work at it. Attitude also means caring about what others think about work. If you don’t care about it and it doesn’t matter what other people think of it, then you won’t be good at your work. Of course, it does take the right tools. But, without the right attitude and a little caring, the tools won’t help much. Lenzy Bean Tool Manager
CDI Craftsman Commercial Drywall. Inc. 3539 Oak Forest Drive RO. Box 10686 Houston, Texas 77018
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Praise has to be used with complete honesty and sincerity. But properly used, it is one of the effective tools of management.
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Morale is always higher among those workers who have high demands made upon them but are able to meet those demands — and are shown appreciation for meeting them - than among a group that works under sloppy supervision with low or no standards set for workers’ performance.
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