We are all familiar with the wheel, right? We all understand that a wheel rotates on an axis using ball bearings. When a wheel is properly lubricated, it keeps the heat away and the parts from rubbing together. Without that lubrication, the force and resistance would cause the parts to weld together as they heated up from friction. This is pretty well understood as a basic rule of science. It takes many parts working together in unison to achieve the desired result.
In the component design world and the building industry, we have a phenomenon similar to this basic premise of science. The biggest difference is that the moving parts are the manufacturer’s personnel and product. For argument’s sake, let’s call this “force” the customer’s satisfaction level and the “resistance” the product each customer receives.
To keep the parts from “welding together,” we need lubrication. For this, I want to suggest a simple, yet effective, lubricating tool: an open mind.
We’ve all been a part of a project where things have “heated up” due to improper lubrication, right? Things such as:
- Something didn’t fit out on the jobsite
- An area had a jobsite problem due to omission
- There was a communication problem between design and build
- Mechanicals were not considered for a commercial project.
We have all been there at one point or another in our component manufacturing careers. Hopefully we learned from it and did not repeat it. But how do we overcome it? How do we educate our co-workers to learn from our mistakes? After all, we are in business to make money and we can’t do that if someone is sending us a back charge!
Many years ago, when I was operating Gould Design, Inc., customers started asking questions, wondering how a company of remote folks could be outperforming their internal staff in both margin and accuracy. They began asking me to come on-site for consultations at their manufacturing facilities and share my experience with their team to help them grow in efficiency and profit. I developed a model that I call “Component Designers and the Wheel of Responsibility.”
The Heartbeat of the Company
The designer is responsible for so much throughout the company. In fact, there is no other position in a component manufacturing company that is more directly responsible for that particular company’s profit margin and reputation than that of the designer, and there is no other position that has more impact on customer satisfaction.
The responsibility each designer has is broken down into four quadrants. In each of these quadrants, there are three specific targets that are highlighted as the key “lubrication” for a component manufacturer’s business model. Simply put, the designer has the most responsibility directly related to the component manufacturer’s:
- Reputation
- Profitability
- Customer satisfaction level
- Repeat business factor
Simply put, the component designer’s relationship to the manufacturer’s reputation, profitability, customer satisfaction, and repeat business is undisputable fact. Ask your Salesman. Or your Bookkeeper. Or your General Manager. Or your EX-customer. Ask them where the “force” and “resistance” came from! Chances are it was as much management’s fault as it was the designer’s!
As a designer, I need to be humble enough to admit when I do not know something and be willing to ask for help from my peers. You see, there is much, much more that goes into the design process than is acknowledged. Are you aware of this fact? If not, ignorance is NOT bliss. If you are aware, then are you a part of the solution or a part of the problem?
The responsibility for the designer is further illustrated and begins with the model in the diagram [for all diagrams, See PDF or View in Full Issue]. In each of the 4 quadrants, there will be 3 specific targets that are highlighted as the key “lubrication” for a component manufacturer’s business model. Simply put, the designer has the most responsibility directly related to the component manufacturer’s:
- Reputation = Designer has to think about
- Profitability = Designer has to comprehend
- Customer satisfaction level = Designer has to meet the needs of
- Repeat business factor = Designer has to understand how to please
When all is said and done, each of these 4 items is interconnected. They all touch each other. They are all so tightly interwoven that if just one of these quadrants is ignored or overlooked, it could be dangerous to the other 3 quadrants. It could also be costly, VERY costly.
Let’s examine this further.
Reputation = Designer has to think about
What exactly does a designer have to think about in consideration of the company’s reputation? Each and every product delivered to the jobsite has to uphold the manufacturer’s company values, adhere to the building codes, and satisfy the building inspector, right? Each of the 3 items in this quadrant have a direct effect on the component manufacturer’s reputation. If the designer is not thinking about these things in the design process, reputation suffers. Plain and simple!
Time to ask yourself a few tough questions (now is the time to be open-minded):
1. When was the last time your design team held a meeting about company mission, values, and/or direction, to propel the team in a unified direction?
2. When was the last time your design and sales team collectively (NOT individually) took the time to review the building code changes and updates proactively, to understand its impact on design and pricing?
3. When was the last time you scheduled a meeting with the local building inspector to help foster a direct, open, positive relationship of strong communication?
Profitability = Designer has to comprehend
What exactly does a designer have to think about in consideration of comprehension? Each and every product delivered to the jobsite has to uphold to the software provider’s capabilities, precisely adhere to the project’s plans, and satisfy the expectations of the framing crew installing the product, right? Each of the 3 items in this quadrant has a direct effect on the component manufacturer’s profit margin. If the designer is not thinking about these things in the design process, profits suffer. Plain and simple!
Time to ask yourself a few more tough questions (remember to be open-minded):
1. Is the design team being allotted “Professional Development” time which is built into their work schedule?
2. Are there any team training/sharing sessions occurring on at least a monthly basis?
3. When you do have “truss repairs,” how many of those design errors are directly related to plan reading? Was the designer educated to prevent a re-occurrence? Was the rest of the team alerted?
4. When was the last time you asked your veteran designers on the team to take the time and help out those with less experience reading plans?
5. When was the last time you scheduled a meeting with the local framing contractor on the jobsite to help foster a direct, open, positive relationship with strong communication?
6. When was the last time you took your design team out to a jobsite to let them experience the realities of product installation and see how it all fits outside of a computer screen?
Customer satisfaction level = Designer has to meet the needs of
What exactly does a designer have to think about in consideration of meeting needs? Each and every product delivered to the jobsite has to uphold the contractor’s expectations, precisely adhere to the engineer’s specifications, and satisfy management’s sale price in order to make a profit, right? Each of the 3 items in this quadrant has a direct effect on the customer satisfaction level. If the designer is not thinking about these things in the design process, jobsite efficiency moves at a turtle’s pace. Plain and simple!
Time to ask yourself more tough questions (be open-minded):
1. Has the design team had a collective discussion about ways to be cost-efficient, based on new shop equipment and/or newly stocked inventories?
2. Are designers aware that these amazing new saws will cut web/chord lumber for multiple trusses out of the same board?
3. When was the last time you asked your veteran designers on the team to take the time and help out those with less experience and discuss common types of things engineers do not like and that can be avoided?
4. When was the last time you scheduled a meeting with the General Contractor on the jobsite to help foster a direct, open, positive relationship built through strong communication?
Repeat business factor = Designer has to understand how to please
Each and every product delivered to the jobsite has to uphold the shop production staff’s expectations, precisely adhere to the company administrative requirements, and satisfy what your company’s salesman promised the customer, right? Each of the 3 items in this quadrant has a direct effect on the repeat business possibility. If the designer is not thinking about these things in the design process, repeat business is a struggle. Plain and simple!
Time to ask yourself these tough questions (remain open-minded):
1. Is the design team and shop production staff having a collective discussion about ways they become frustrated or continually lose time in the fabrication plant?
2. When was the last time your company asked a designer to put on the tool belt and work in the fabrication plant? To learn about recently acquired shop equipment to truly understand how the design affects shop efficiency?
3. Are your designers exposed to continual training from your Design Administration team that helps them continue to grow in specific, measurable areas?
4. When you do have “training meetings,” how many of your designers are participating? Are all required to share their experiences, or are one or two people doing most of the sharing?
5. When was the last time you assigned your “junior” designers on the team to take the time and study a topic to teach others on the design staff? Is there any better way to learn something than to have to teach it to someone else?
6. When was the last time you scheduled a meeting with the General Contractor on the jobsite to help foster a direct, open, positive relationship built on strong communication?
7. Is there a sense of camaraderie and harmony between design and sales staff? Or are they always adversarial and butting heads?
Simply put, the component designer is responsible for MUCH more than anyone gives him/her credit for. So why is it that the component designer:
- Always seems to get resistance when there is a request for additional training, that workload takes priority?
- Why is it that this particular individual and the position the individual holds are so underestimated?
- Do we not understand that the reason designers have so much to do is that they all have different levels of experience and efficiency?
- What could be more desired by management than more output and less errors?
These are questions that only can be answered within each specific company.
It has been my experience that ANY company (big or small) that is not willing to invest at least 10% of an individual component designer’s weekly time on additional Professional Development is spending at least 20% to 30% more on each and every project that leaves their facility. This is not a guess. This is a fact. The two biggest areas are wasted material and inefficiency.
If the component manufacturer would simply take the time to invest in their most valuable asset, they could exponentially increase their profits. This is especially true now, more so than ever before, due to the power of the software and the “smart” equipment in the shop. No, I’m not talking about the biggest, fanciest saw that money can buy. Sure, that may be the most expensive asset, but it is not the most valuable. I’m talking about the individual responsible for making sure that everything that gets on that saw is efficient, optimized, and fits correctly within the scope of the project to which it’s assigned.
You see, all 4 of these quadrants are interrelated. They are all connected as the model represents
And folks, it ALL starts with company values.
Do we truly understand the cost of hiring a new component designer? Depending on the quality of their Professional Development before they got to your company, you will need to determine the amount of investment they need to be successful and fit within your company’s protocols and boundaries.
So many professionals truly do not understand that the component designer:
- Is responsible for a lot more than anyone acknowledges
- Must perform so many tasks simultaneously
- Seldom is recognized for the multitude of efforts put forth daily
- Needs non-design time to be built into their schedule
- Has to have excellent time management skills and avoid distraction
- Is the “grease in the wheel” of profitability for the manufacturer.
In closing, I ask you to check your open-mindedness. Remember that not one of us has all the answers for every situation we encounter, but collectively there is not anything we have not seen.
Starting in the industry as a teenager, Christopher Gould has experience in all aspects of component operations, including one of his startup companies becoming a globally known entity. Currently, he is a Design Professional at KA Components in Otterbein, IN.