Maquiladora Survival Guide — Contents

I  INTRODUCTION


1 The Maquiladora challenge

2 Should you be working in a Maquiladora?

3 Getting oriented

II OBJECTIVES


4 THE objectives of the company

5 How much do companies earn?

6 priorities?

7 When sales are high everything is OK

8 Issues with the corporate office

 

III DEPARTMENTS


9 departments

10 Plant management

11 Production

12 Production control

13 Quality Control

14 Human Resources

15 Engineering

16 Material Control

17 Maintenance

18 Accounting

19 Purchasing

20 Support departments and the production schedule

22 Service while walking around

21 Why are there “control” Departments?

23 Are traditional organizations out of place?

24 Shelter programs

25 Consultants

 

IV STRATEGY


26 Most changes are made much later than they should

27 Continuous flow vs. batching

28 Consolidated areas vs. dedicated lines

29 Delegator or “hands–on”

30 If a machine will not work get rid of it

31 Always look for the easiest way to get things done

32 If you have a theory set up an experiment

33 Operators know what they are doing

34 Making the “vendor–client” idea work

35 Justification of equipment

36 Layouts that work

37 Layouts that can be changed in  minutes

38  The importance of housekeeping

39 Use the path of least resistance

40 Automation

41 The machinery emergency room

42 Put ball bearings on everything.

43 If you are losing pens eliminate their need

44 Designing for manufacturability

45 Technology transfers

46 Reacting to quality rejects in the field

47 Doubling your headcount

48 Absenteeism pools

 

V  MEASUREMENT


49 If you want to control something measure it

50 e + e + e = E

51 All work is measurable

52 Learn to count

53 The importance of production standards

54 Where do production standards come from?

55 Value added and the standard

56 Throughput or cycle time

57 Understanding allowances.

58 What is the unit of measurement of your product?

59 The application of learning curves

60 THE “80/20” rule

61 Direct to in direct ratios

62 Certifying processes

63 Budgeting funds

64 Budgeting hourS

65 How cost per hour is determined

66 Inventories

 

VI PERFORMANCE


67 Quality Delivery and Cost

68 Efficiency and productivity

69 Overtime

70 Identifying productivity losses    .

71 Maintaining a good pace in your production lines

72 A job will take as much time as you give it

73 Good work stations produce good products  .

74  Get finished material into shipping

 

VII CONTROL


75 “Dog and pony” shows

76 You can control anything on the floor with audits

77 Change things into the way that you can control

78 Management by walking around

79 A principle on supervision

80 Don’t wait for a crisis to occur

81 Eliminating “fire–fighting”

82 Don’t leave things until the last minute

83 visual controls

84 Keep and carry a logbook

85 Follow–up on activities

86 Planning

87 Scheduling and man-loading your lines

88 A corollary to Murphy’s Law

89 Are your computers really useful?

90 Bar coding

91 Minimum and Maximum

VIII CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

92  Cultural considerations

93 Adapting the maquiladora to the Mexican culture and experience

94 Attitudes affecting job performance

95 Work–force skills

96 Social skills

97 Record keeping

98 Maintenance

99 production Supervision?

100 Great expectations

IX  ABOUT THINKING


101 Perceptions and reality

102 To get from A to B define A and B

103 Root cause

104 Make sure that you keep your objective in mind

105 Make sure that you understand the question

106 Ability to solve problems

107 Encouraging thinkers

108 It’s hard to work and keep track of time

109 Trouble shooting

110 Trust your hunches

111 Define the task—define the focus

112  Read your own reports

113 The first-shift second-shift  battle

114 Don’t to make “snap–decisions” when it comes to personnel issues

115 Check your work

116 Making quality decisions

 

X  COMMUNICATIONS


117 Communicate plans and strategy with everyone

118 Be firm on the goals that you aim for

119 Make sure that everyone knows what’s expected of them

120 provide frequent feedback

121 An information center

122 A manager is no better than his or her interpreter

123 Actions speak louder than words

124 Can anything be kept confidential?

125 Rumors

126 Handling your mail and records

XI MOTIVATION


127 motivation

128 Buy what you need and keep the and keep the change

129 Could you do it for a million dollars?

130 Self–fulfilling prophesies      .

XII PERSONNEL


131 Psychological evaluations

132 Testing and evaluating before hiring

133 Team building

134 Employee evaluations

135 Delegating

136 Turnover

137 Internal turnover

XIII YOUR CAREER


138 Your career

139  Ethics

140  Make company policy your policy

141 All bosses are looking for the same results

142 Overcoming “NO’S”

143 Are you progressing?

144 Mixed signals.

145 “Strike while the iron is hot!”

146 Go after the job you want!

147 Start with small victories

148 Be an expert

149 Exceptional people are always noted

150 Education isn’t everything      .

151 Everyone already has their own business

152 Know your market

153 Your strength can become your weakness

154 Don’t GIVE UP your authority

155 Getting that promotion

156 Do not assume that you are the front–runner

157 Increasing your salary

158 On being bilingual   .

159 When a Mexican employee becomes a U.S. resident

160 Seminars

161 Public speaking

162 Your resume

163 Interviewing for a job

 

XIV EMOTIONAL ISSUES


164 Being more assertive

165 Everyone wields their power in a different way

166 How do we want to relate to others?

167 Confrontation

168 Don’t let a mistake get you down

169 Don’t block criticism

170 Place emotions where they belong

171 Excuses aren’t acceptable

172 Don’t be afraid to say “no”

173 About the author