   |
   |
     |
<% Dim MyValue2 Randomize MyValue2 = Int((6 * Rnd) + 1) Set Conn = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") Conn.Open Session("trsa_ConnectionString2") MySQL = "Select * From HouseAds Where HouseAdID Like '%" & MyValue2 & "%' " Set Conn = Conn.Execute(MySQL) %>
 |
By Charlotte Caffrey What a spot to be in. You've got a brand new plant you're proud of and you invite some of your peers in to — well, sort of approve of it, you expect. But before they're done, they've practically blown you away. Then, when all is said and done, you throw a party for these rascals and say you're glad they came. What's it all about? Well, first off, this is a true story. And it describes a happening that is not merely accommodating. It's curative.  The story is about a group called the National Management Bureau, an informal collection of 10 textile rental operators, competing in separate geographical areas, who get together three times a year to discuss balance sheets, P & L statements, linen replacements, operating rates and delivery expenses, and to "roast" the operator whose plant is the target of the visitation.
There are a number of similar groups — they're called cost bureaus — or critique groups —and, as Pat Dempsey describes it, "We're 10 people without secrets, a quasi board of directors or a company.'' Or, as Mike Potack says, "You're standing naked." Bob Wayne tells what it's like to be host to the rotating meetings. "They come and tear the place apart. That's the purpose of the thing. I was happy," he says reassuringly, "when they visited me. I was able to realize substantial savings because these people say it like it is." He believes everybody has some condition that could stand correcting. And, so, on July 19, arriving in Kalamazoo, Mich., to snoop in the plant of Ted Vander Meer, Continental Linen Services, were nine CEOs accompanied by a couple of comptrollers. But, before introducing the "jury," a look at the defendant. Vander Meer has proven himself to be an astute operator in textile rental. His career began with another company for which his father worked. He joined Continental in 1963 as a salesman, unaware of its bad financial situation. When the impetus in sales he brought in caused the company to go to a second shift, a concerned bank asked Vander Meer if he would operate the company and try to turn it around. In a year, it was turned around and in two he owned it 100 per cent. Product mix for the firm is 70 per cent linen — a wide gamut, says Vander Meer — and 30 per cent industrial. The plant does 90,000 pounds a week using 102 employees, 57 in production, and 19 routes, including three from a depot in Ludington, Mich. The data processing capacity is impressive with four terminals in the data processing department and eight others through the plant. Capacity of the main memory is 256 kilobytes. A customer shares time on the 300-line-a-minute printer. A number of executive offices front the building Vander Meer bought, behind which is the U shaped, 40,000 square foot production floor. An 18-foot, clear-span ceiling holds sodium quartz lighting. Soil sort is done by emptying bags from an overhead conveyor onto wire mesh tables. A conveyor belt moves merchandise past a sorter who separates soil into slings that are lofted overhead to the washroom. The wash aisle contains two 800-pound washers, three 400-pounders and a 100-pound washer. From washing, merchandise is dumped into sling-lined plastic carts and moved to one of two extractors. Three 400-pound tumblers and two ironers, two finishing tunnels, a carousel box conveyor and garment pressing equipment complete the production floor equipment. Because Vander Meer believes in "two of everything," two boilers, two air compressors, and two water softeners are housed in the boiler room.  Vander Meer explained his move from an 80-year old plant in downtown Kalamazoo to a pleasant country site two years ago. "I've been in the business for 41 years. I've worked with baling wire for all those years so I thought as long as the family (sons Ron and Kurt) have joined me in the business, how nice for all of us to have something new and efficient. My sons aren't
going to have to battle it out with equipment." His older son, Ron, vice-president of operations, added, "We're a family company. We could've got by a couple more years (downtown) but we're in the business for the long run." He also cited security as a reason for moving from the cramped city block with a decrepit building occupying three floors and a basement beyond reconditioning. And — energy consumption was "astronomical." Further, the company could not convert to gas there. Security has been planned into the present structure set on seven acres of an industrial park with flowers, grass, and picnic tables for employees. There's a fenced-in vehicle area— quite different from the old site where the garage was 10 blocks from the plant. In the new facility, each route salesperson's area is a lockable cage made of fencing. A single entry door to the plant is controlled by the switchboard operator/receptionist. The cashier's office is also kept locked. Route personnel check into a service exchange room where their orders are filled from a window and they sign a document for add-ons and replacements. Items are exchanged on a one-for-one basis.  Route personnel do not interface with production but are segregated by an office.
A motion sensing devise monitors in-plant movement at night and weekends. Nineteen offices provide space for almost everybody to think things out and a sizeable lunchroom, computer room, and document storage complete the arrangement. Enter the National Management Bureau: John Black of Associated Textile Systems, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Pat Dempsey of Dempsey Textile Rental Services, Scranton, Pa.; Harvey Goldstock of H & H Services, Baltimore, Md.; Jean-Pierre Laverdure of Roger Laverdure, Inc., Montreal; John Neal of Ineeda Uniform & Linen Service, Hutchinson, Kans.; Hart McIntyre of Prathers, Inc., Fort Myers, Fla.; Michael Potack of Unitex Textile Rental Services, N.Y.; Jerry Ruwe, chairman, of Superior Linen & Apparel Service, Cincinnati; and Robert Wayne of Wayne Towel & Linen Supply Co., Kansas City, Mo. Hal Black, John's father, is considered by the group to be the "father" of the point system used by NMB. In the mid-Seventies, he did a comprehensive cost study, eliminating items of discretion, and locked in cost-related items so that over a period of time the same relative costs to produce an item could be compared. "He took away the dollars and cents," explained Dempsey, "and assigned points instead so that members could assign so many points to aprons, so many for sheets etc. That way, if your plant is heavy in aprons, Ted's in garments, and mine in sheets, we can compare our operating statements on an intelligible basis. "The points are related to the cost to produce an item. And all I want to know is how many points were produced and how many hours it took to produce them." "If all of us are equally efficient, we should produce the same number of points." Chairman Ruwe got down to business early. He gave the Vander Meers a chance to define their business — "Who you are, where you're going." Ted Vander Meer replied: "Number one: Who are we? Ron Vander Meer is vice-president of operations; Kurt Vander Meer is route manager, and myself, president and chairman of the board. "We are a family-owned and operated linen and industrial service company. "Number two: Where are we going? Our goals are to expand in areas we are best at and become the most efficient supplier in our area.  Ron Vander Meer filled in a few of the specifics and the team swarmed into the production area.
The men were thorough — Pat Dempsey climbed onto the top of the boiler. John Neal perched on the edge of an unused ironer, watching feeders working at another. Hart McIntyre scribbled notes as he quizzed production personnel. Harvey Goldstock cased the computer system. Everybody had a notebook. And it turned out later, nothing was missed. And so, on to lunch. After which, the group settled into a motel conference room, everyone along the outside of a U-shaped table surrounding Ted and Ron Vander Meer in the center. Just before Ruwe rapped the session to order, Neal quipped, "It's all over, Rover, the dogcatcher's here." He was right. Ruwe gave each man 10 minutes for his critique. He told the Continental people to "listen to learn. It's not necessary," he added, "to defend everything. You can accept or reject the criticism, but we ask that you hold your comments until the end." Black began. He considered the soil department operating on a wrong ratio of personnel. He thought the company had more men and trucks than it needed. Potack carried on. In one instance, it was the amount of walking a production employee had to do at a poorly organized work station. Ruwe said, "You need to write down where you want to go." Neal, too, recommended strategic planning. He added, as far as efficiency is concerned, "I swear in every case people are walking as far as they can walk to get anything done." McIntyre thought steel wool and diesel oil would do a lot to improve the washwheels" appearance. And he didn't approve of production employees keeping track of their own production. Potack, poking around, had seen the company ''cheated out of $10 worth of gasoline" because the manager in charge didn't check a delivery. Dempsey said the gorgeous facility provided a tremendous opportunity. "You're like a kid with a dollar in his pocket. As you settle down, you'll make your gains. But before you do anything else, you must clean up your act." He said, "Over-staffing is a nightmare. The best way to kill productivity is to bury a man in his office. He can hide behind paperwork." Goldstock told Vander Meer he couldn't afford "a pleasant life without paying the price, and the price of success is eternal vigilance. "You're not counting the rugs in," mused Wayne, "and that's the most expensive item you have." And the security systems were seen to be for naught because areas were not kept locked, and traffic moved in all directions. The critiques continued for 90 minutes. At the end, Ron murmured, "We appreciate your candor. It's tough to take it." McIntyre responded as one who's been there himself. "Tell us about it," he said. "You'll see on paper how my company was last year — terrible. But something of what the group said came home — and today I can say thank you to each and every one." Ted Vander Meer said, "What I've heard today — well, it hits you in the stomach. I argued with Dempsey (Pat) for two years before I joined this group. I guess there was a message for me in the invitation. We thought we were doing pretty good, but the list you've given me today — well, you've really helped me." That was last summer. The next day, the men pored over their print-outs and points, learning from each other better ways to operate efficiently. And today? At year's end, Vander Meer was basking in the afterglow. Since his neck is out of the noose, he's been able to implement many of the suggestions. He said he's going down the list, arranged by priority, and is making improvements all the time. "I must hurry to get these things done. They'll be back in five years or less," quipped Vander Meer. While the summer meeting at Vander Meer's plant was the one time in the year the group goes over P&L statements, balance sheets, the point system, operational expense, delivery expense, and such items as linen replacement costs, the other two meetings are structured so that the second day of the gathering is concentrated on one subject. In November, the National Management Bureau met at H&H Services, Baltimore, and after giving Harvey Goldstock a drubbing, spent a day with an insurance consultant. Said Vander Meer, "It was very enlightening. Out of five areas of insurance coverage, I found that in two, I was way over covered, and there were two areas I had not even considered." It was the NMB's idea to publicize the experience of a bureau such as theirs because its members think such programs can be so beneficial. They would encourage other operators to organize similarly for the improvement of the industry. Goldstock says, "I have such limited access on a regular basis to my peers. Consequently there are few I can talk over my problems with. In a situation like this, I can expose my problems. I have the ability to tap another's mind to learn what capable people think about current business problems." Critique groups are not for the faint of heart. They're for the hardy. And for them, ultimately heartening. |