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Agile Manufacturing Leadership Tips

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

In agile manufacturing, teams work in short cycles called sprints. These self-organized groups develop products in a modular fashion. This helps to speed up innovation. Such teams evolve on a continuous basis based on experience and customer feedback. How can you improve the management of such structures?

Some key components of management style need to change to allow for improvement in this regard. Consider the following:

  • A customer focus must be a priority. Determining what the customer wants and then defining those wants using tests helps to improve efficiency. Then, the tests provide for short cycles to deliver on those features and finding out what customers think of the new updates. Working with customers is essential.
  • Team organization is self-managed. Teams determine how they are organized in a way that is efficient and effective for the product. In doing this, the team is able to function specifically. A daily standup call ensures every team of small members remains on the same page. Hiring the highest quality candidates also makes sure that they are prepared for this self-managed work style.
  • The team focuses on meeting the guidelines the testing produces as desires from the consumer. This allows such changes to be made far less expensively and enables for the quickest return of the product to market. Unlike other situations where the next product takes five to seven years to launch, the product is in hand faster.
  • There is also a level of business transparency present. The goal is continuous improvement and that is done by ensuring everyone can see what is happening, who is doing what and understands the goals of the process.
  • As with any real management style, in this form, there is a great deal of effective communication taking place. This is called vertical communications instead of the traditional hierarchy form. The project owner does set goals in terms of what should be worked on. He or she is not the traditional boss, though. Rather, the team members are able to communicate openly with the project’s definitions and goals. The management can communicate a clear vision, then, to the group.

Rather than the traditional boss-is-at-the-top style of management, this is a more open concept. In agile manufacturing, the goal is to align with different goals to achieve a better result. Instead of one group at the top making a decision about what needs to be done, changes are made to products based on what the customer wants to see happen. Then, the group works on achieving those goals as a group, open and easily able to communicate.

This type of organization and management style means products in the hands of customers faster, lower costs and improved overall customer satisfaction since the customer is getting exactly what he or she wants. It also means new products and innovation are easier to achieve. But, this all starts with hiring the best team members, who can work well in the agile manufacturing work environment. Look for your new self-starters by working with the staffing experts at Advance Staffing Solutions.

How to Conduct a Job Search with a Criminal Record

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Getting a job in this economy is tough for everyone. For people who have a criminal record, it’s tougher still. Even in the best of times, it can be slow going to find the job that will net you that all important second chance. Here are a few tips to keep in mind to help you find a job and get the new start you’ve been looking for.

Be Honest about Your Past

There is some truth to the saying that honesty is the best policy. It’s better, even if it costs you the job initially, to be honest up front and not get the job than to get it and be fired later on for failing to disclose your criminal record.

Some businesses will not hire anyone with a criminal record while others will, depending on what your former criminal activity involved. Obviously, you’ll have a hard time finding a job dealing with a company’s finances if you were convicted of embezzlement in the past. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find employment in positions that do not require the handling of money and/or finances.

Apply for Jobs You’re Qualified to Perform

As with any job search, it’s important to apply for jobs you have the skills, knowledge, and qualifications to perform. If you’re a perfect match for the job, skill-wise, employers will be more inclined to overlook a criminal history and give you a chance.

When you’re applying for jobs where employers would already be taking a chance because you don’t have a history of experience or education in the field, it’s difficult to get them to overlook your record in order to do so.

Have a Positive Attitude

It’s hard when doors keep being slammed in your face, but it’s very important to remain positive as you look for a job. Every interview is a new opportunity. If you’re still dwelling over the negative outcome of your last interview, you’ll have a very difficult time making a good impression in this interview.

Also, it helps the interviewers to see the positive attitude coming from you. It’s one other thing that makes hiring you feel like less of a risk to the employer. The main thing you want to project to potential employers is that you will be an asset to the team. A positive attitude is half the battle in most businesses.

Consider Getting Help for the Job Search Process

There are services in most cities and states that are designed to help people with criminal records get jobs. Whether it’s your first job after being released or you’re looking to change fields and improve your situation, there are resources to help you accomplish your goals. You might also consider vocational rehabilitation services, the Salvation Army, and other resources for assistance in finding employment. Don’t rule out employment agencies as well.

There are jobs out there for you, despite your criminal record. Patience isn’t something you can always afford however. These tips will help improve your odds of getting the job you need regardless of your past.

Need help with your job search? Advance Staffing Solutions gives you access to a wide range of temporary and contract assignments in the Toledo, Ohio and Troy, Michigan areas. Be sure to check out our career portal for more informaton and resources for job seekers.

Why Your Manufacturing Company Should have a Blog

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Blogging is big business these days. Retail businesses and major corporations fully understand this. Unfortunately, some manufacturing businesses have been slow to understand this trend. Venturing into social media can seem like a scary concept for those who are new to online marketing.

However, blogs aren’t going away and they can actually be important tools for businesses of all shapes and sizes—even manufacturing businesses. Here are just a few reasons why your manufacturing company should have a blog.

Brand Promotion

Your business is a brand. Public perception is almost everything to businesses in the information age. The more information that makes its way onto the World Wide Web, information that is controlled by you, the better it will be for the health and long-term wellbeing of your brand.

Blogs are an excellent resource for providing frequent updates about all the good things going on in your business. More importantly, they are excellent tools for solidifying your brand with existing and potential customers. When you control the information on the Internet, at least a majority of that information, you’re able to have a huge impact on public opinion about your business.

Recruiting Tool

Keeping an active business blog for your manufacturing company is also a great way to recruit top talent in your field. A large percentage of job seekers today do the bulk of their job seeking online. The Internet is a major tool in the job search process these days and that isn’t likely to change.

By posting openings in your company on your blog you’re going to come up with a larger potential pool of knowledgeable and skilled employees than with a random job posting on most job boards. If you need specialized skills, this is the place to let people know about the positions that are available and which specific sets of skills are needed.

People who are reading your blog are likely to be people involved in the industry, first of all, so they’re likely to have the skills you need. Second, these may be people who weren’t necessarily looking for a job, but may be intrigued by the specific jobs you have available. Finally, it’s another way to bring attention to your manufacturing business and establish yourself in the eyes of potential employees and customers as a legitimate force in your particular manufacturing field.

The bottom line is that all businesses in today’s competitive marketplace, whether they are manufacturing businesses or fast food restaurants need blogs to provide a steady stream of data and information to the buying public while building their brands and reputation online. If you’re not controlling the conversation about your business on the Internet, to some degree, it leaves the doors open for people who do not have the best interests of your business in mind to control that information.

For more tips on the use of blogging and other forms of social media marketing in the manufacturing sector, be sure to check out our previous related posts on this topic: 

Treat Every Event as a Networking Opportunity

The Importance of Hiring a Social Candidate – Who Doesn’t Just Look Good on Paper

Social Media Recruiting 101: Make Friends, Not Fans

Build a Smart Foundation for Manufacturing Productivity

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

When it comes to building a smarter manufacturing company, companies need to do what’s important to them – putting together the pieces to make a product. Yet, manufacturing productivity is often a factor. There are some companies now taking steps to make the technology aspect of manufacturing so foolproof and easy to manage that companies can get back to focusing on what they do best – manufacturing without having to figure out where technology comes into place.

Productivity Matters

In nearly all situations, productivity is a big discussion point within the manufacturing industries. As staffing agencies, you know the value of finding team players that can meet productivity goals – it keeps the business going. However, for these companies, it is also important to find a way to get around technology difficulties.

Many manufacturing companies are facing a higher demand for increased productivity. Though some of this comes from staffing the right people, there is much more to the process.

Smarter Manufacturing Systems

Some companies are taking the goal of improving productivity to a new level. They are building smarter manufacturing systems (something your staff may soon see rolling out more frequently in the coming months.) The goal is to allow manufacturing companies to get back to managing what they produce and to leave the technology aspects of putting together manufacturing systems to the experts.

Staffing Agencies and Productivity

Could your staffing agency do something the same? Consider what some companies are doing to enable increased manufacturing productivity. For example, some are developing systems that provide mobile capabilities to keep business managers and operators in constant, instant access of each other no matter where they are. Cloud-based services are making the process secure, reliable, and real-time. This enables far more to be accomplished in a matter of a shorter period of time. This is a clear benefit to increased productivity.

In some cases, manufacturers are facing pressure to see significant productivity gains in a short period of time. Massive demographic changes as well as global competition are encouraging this demand. According to some reports, an estimated 70 million people will be moved out of poverty and will become consumers. Those 70 million people, over the course of the next ten years, will contribute to $8 trillion in spending. As this clearly demonstrates, it is critical for massive improvements in productivity to happen. Realizing it cannot come from just people and staffing enhancements, many companies are pushing for smarter manufacturing systems as a must-have.

Want more productive manufacturng employees in Michigan and Ohio? Advance Staffing Solutions has many temporary and contract manufacturing laborers ready to help your company reach maximum productivity levels.

Manufacturing on the Agenda: Presidential Campaign

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

As the US Presidential campaign heats up and the candidates hit the debate stage in full force, it seems that the future of manufacturing and energy is high up on the agenda. While the manufacturing industry is still rebounding from years of recession, there is a renewed focus on how those involved in the management of energy resources and re-building of America will become a critical factor in the coming administration.

While President Obama has consistently pushed for the enhancement of manufacturing and clean energy development, stating that “We can’t have an energy strategy for the last century that traps us in the past. We need an energy strategy for the future – an all-of-the-above strategy for the 21st century that develops every source of American-made energy.” (March 2012)

His opponent Mitt Romney, has released a comprehensive energy plan that could potentially open up more avenues for manufacturers around the nation, including those previously ignored coal and oil manufacturers.

Says the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons in a recent article “Manufacturing continues to occupy center stage in the presidential campaign discussion” and “For U.S. manufacturers to be able to compete successfully in the world marketplace, they need access to a consistent supply of affordable energy. To achieve that, a true ‘all-of-the-above’ approach is necessary.”

The overall concern among many manufacturers is whether the next generation of workers will be available to manage the responsibilities of this difficult industry. There are fewer and fewer college grads willing to work in the manufacturing business because of the uncertainty of future jobs in this sector – stemming from massive layoffs of the earlier part of this decade. Manufacturing is also a career in which specific, specialized skills are needed to be proficient. This is in an era when many candidates have diversified their skills in order to be eligible for more jobs.

While the future of manufacturing still hangs in the balance, one thing is clear. The United States must find a solution to sustainable energy sources that will support the manufacturing infrastructure for future generations. We also must be willing to train and provide career growth opportunities in manufacturing to attract tomorrow’s talent. These are the people who will reshape and rebuild America.

Looking for manufacturing workers for your organization? Advance Staffing Solutions has pre-screened, talented contract employees ready to support your manufacturing business goals.

Advise on Using Social Media in an Industrial Job Search

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Finding an industrial job can be a challenge. As a job seeker, social media may be the best tool available to you to find the right job. Social media is a method of interacting with others in the employment world in a more social manner than you may be used to. If you are a professional who has focused his or her career on applying for positions through written applications, it may be time to brush off your computer and learn about social media sites.

Where to Start with Social Media Job Searching

If this is the first time you are looking for a job in this manner, you’ll need a few tips to help you to get your foot in the door. Social media sites, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and dozens of others, allow people to connect with each other online. This can be a great way to find out about others in your industry and where the best industrial jobs are.

As a job seeker, your goal is to connect with those who you may be able to apply with or those who may know about job openings in the industrial field. This could include hiring managers in industrial companies. You can also connect with industrial businesses that you would like to work at directly. The key is to gain as many connection points as possible.

Set Up the Right Social Media Profile

Another step to take is to set up a stellar profile. A profile is like a resume, but on a much less formal manner. It communicates who you are, what your job history is, what you are looking for and who you want to connect with. Every social media account worth belonging to is free to use and set up like this. Make that your goal.

Connect and Interact in a Positive Manner

You do not want to use social network connections as a type of sales platform in which you are trying to sell yourself or your skills. Rather, you want these interactions to be more social. For example, if you hope to land a job with an industrial company, interact with the hiring manager about trends in the industry.

Should You Ask for a Job on Social Networks?

It is a good idea to connect with individuals on a professional level and then to drop a hint that you are looking for a job. It is best to ask for recommendations for positions or to be alerted if a specific type of job opens up. This allows you to ease your way into that interview, instead of appearing “desperate” for employment.

Remember, with industrial jobs, the competition is often fierce. No matter if you are looking for a floor position or upper level management, chances are good you’ll be better able to achieve that interview if you interact with the company socially rather than just turning in an application. Learn more about social media by reading our previous related posts:

6 Ways the Job Search has Changed

Best Ways to Use Social Media for Your Job Search

 

How to be an Eco-Conscious Manufacturer

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Investing in a green manufacturing initiative may be at the top of your list of goals for this year. There is no doubt about it, this does offer various benefits. For one, it is great PR in a world where consumers love a company’s efforts to reduce their carbon footprint. It can also save the company millions of dollars over its lifetime in many instances.

Some companies are taking big steps, and making big investments, to be an environmentally conscious company and it is paying off in spades.

What’s Behind the Push?

For many companies, it is all about the demands of the consumer. Companies are making significant changes to their investment plans to fill the demands of the consumer. The consumer is demanding eco-friendly, environmentally-focused products. This is driving manufacturers to invest in newer technology that is more environmentally friendly. The immediate cost is simply worth it in the long-term.

Solar Installation

Diamond Wipes is a good example of this extreme investing for the payout to the company. The company installed a 3360 panel solar system on top of its new manufacturing facility in California. It cost the company $1.6 million to do, which is about 8 percent of their annual earnings. In doing so, the company is creating enough power to fill virtually all of its needs or even to exceed them.

The company’s investment may be a wise one. With 35 to 40 percent of it coming back to them over time through federal and state rebate programs. For the total payback, it could take seven to eight years to realize their investment and break even. Considering this, it could take the company a decade to break even. It may not sound financially wise, but for the company it’s all about good business.

The benefit, the company says, comes from the PR value found in both the consumer and the corporate customers. This particular company is mainly a business-to-business provider, and the green model it is taking will appeal to those companies they operate with over the entire supply chain.

Beyond the Solar Panels

Environmentally friendly initiative extends beyond solar panels. Companies are investing in methods that reduce emissions. Another option is to improve shipping and warehousing to ensure they are efficient. Moving to biodegradable products is also a key benefit some companies are enjoying. Some are also looking to cut packaging costs to reduce waste. Others are demanding greener base products from manufacturers, all with the goal of creating a more eco-conscious end product for the consumer.

The initial investment may not pay off for some time, but for many companies, it is worth it just to do good business. Meeting the consumer’s demands and fulfilling corporate customer’s needs is worth the investment.

Advance Staffing Solutions in the central states of Ohio and Michigan can help your manufacturing program to become more eco-friendly. Find out how temporary staffing can support a more green manufacturing model.

Motivating Your Employees to be Productivity Machines

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Motivating employees in the industrial and manufacturing sector is not always easy. The work can be dull and boring. It can be something that people dread doing. However, as an HR manager, you should be fully understanding of the fact that productivity will make or break any business. Without hard working employees, even to the point of having productivity machines in them, you could end up lose valuable profits.

How to Motivate Employees Now

How can you turn uninspired workers into motivated, power-working machines? It all starts in knowing how to get under their skin and ensuring you have the right people on the job.

  1. Hire the right people for the job. The first step is to hire those who are willing to work hard and are detail driven. You also want to ensure that candidates are not over qualified as this can lead to the boredom some suffer from.
  2. Set goals and educate employees on those goals. Nothing is worse than waiting for employees to achieve objectives except finding out that they did not know what needed to be done first. Be clear about goals expected.
  3. Pay a fair rate. If employees believe they are being paid at a fair rate, they are far more likely to hit objectives. Those who feel they are underpaid, on the other hand, are more likely to slack off when they can do so.
  4. Keep productivity high by being around. Walk the floor from time to time, but never the same time every day. When employees see that you are around and that you are monitoring progress, they are more likely to stay on task.
  5. Manage incentives properly. Sometimes, incentives can be a great way to motivate your team to achieve bigger and better things, but you need to use them properly. Don’t let employees become so dependent on them that they do not work when no incentive program is in place. At the same time, do make incentives achievable goals. Who wants to work towards a goal they do not think they can reach?
  6. Manage people as if they are human. Yes, you may want them to work like machines, but you also need to ensure there is a human factor in place. Employers like personal attention. Companies that are able to learn an employee’s true potential, likes and dislikes and skill set and use them wisely will get more out of the employee than those that do not.

Overall, motivating your employees to achieve goals in this industry means you need to be creative and positive. Work hard to set reasonable goals and say thank you when employees accomplish those goals. Build trust with your employee base, too, so they know they are look up to their leaders.

Are You Taking Unnecessary Risks with Your Supply Chain?

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Risks are a part of managing the supply chain in any business. There are going to be situations where taking risks are a good thing, like launching a new product or replacing one item with another. Yet, in order for a business to maintain success, most of the risk needs to come out of this process. More so, there needs to be steps in place to minimize risk and to realize it is there.

What You Can Do

As a business owner, there are steps you can take to minimize the amount of exposure you have to bad risks. Ultimately, you need a way to measure and control risk in order to run your business successfully.

Visibility

To minimize risk to your supply chain, the first step is to know where your blind spots are. Extended supply chains are constantly growing and changing and this inevitably leads to potential problems associated with areas you cannot see as risky. Improve your ability to handle risk by knowing what risk factors are affecting your business on a regular basis. A good way to do this is to look at events as they are happening rather than just using historical data.

Know and Trust Your Professionals

The next step in minimizing risk is to put trust in your people. You have vetted them. They know their job. Now, it is your job to trust them. Use technology to help enable your team to respond to concerns right away. To mitigate risk, you need to know how well your human assets are able to respond to the situation and handle it. Of course, training and preparation will help here.

Practice

The only way to know the outcome of any what if situation is to practice. If you plan a process to follow for various scenarios that could occur, your people will know how to react and will be able to do so faster. While scenario planning is not a given, it can reduce risk factors significantly.

 Maintain your supply chain with quality staff from Advance Temporary. Get in touch with us today!

Lean Manufacturing Is About Your People, Not Tools

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

Lean manufacturing may be all that you are hearing about as a manufacturing organization or business owner. Yet, business owners who are putting all of their time and attention into lean tools are missing the fundamental key aspect of this movement. It is not just about putting in place a system for getting the work done on the floor. Rather, businesses need to think people, too.

The Mistake So Many Are Making

Going lean is the big goal. Many businesses are being told that by implementing lean tools in their organizations that they are going to see significant improvement and achieve global competitiveness. In fact, there are dozens of authors promising this type of outcome if we just implement lean. They are basing this on the performance results Toyota has achieved with their TPS production system – known for its effectiveness. However, TPS is not just about lean tools. Without the true connection to people, there’s something major missing that’s going to hold you back.

What Is TPS Really?

Two components make the Toyota Production System so ideal. One element is continuous improvement. The second is respect for all people. Yes, it is a simplistic symptom, but that comes from maintaining these two aspects. For those businesses in the U.S., learning about lean tools, such as value stream mapping, poke yoke, and kanban, there is a huge disconnect from what the TPS methodology really is. For lean technology and methods to be effective, there must be a change in culture within the business, too.

What Does This Mean?

To ensure that a business “going lean” is able to succeed at it, they must change their culture and way of thinking when it comes to people. The business owner must trust people within the manufacturing plant to solve problems regardless of where the problem came from. The goal here is that businesses must focus on obtaining a critical mass of people who will act, think and believe lean and rely on them to push the business forward.

Solve problems with a TPS perspective. Here are some examples.

  • Keep hitting your numbers is the old way of thinking. The new is to product only items that the customer has ordered.
  • Avoid too many problems with unions or vendors is the old thinking. The new is never to skip past a problem.
  • Make sure there is plenty of work in the backlog you say with lean focus the goal is to work to continually improve the processes.

Do not let people handle problems alone. Do skip over something that can be handled right now. This changes the job of the plant manager significantly.

The bottom line is that before manufacturing industries focus on lean tools in their business, they need to teach their employees the way of seeing the operation through lean eyes. Be respectful of the team. Teach them. Learn from them. Adapt together to approach a lean methodology.

Looking for the best manufacturing staffers? Get the right team members for your manufacturing business growth by working with the staffing experts at Advance Staffing Solutions in Michigan and Ohio.

What Workers Want from their Bosses this Summer

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

What can employers do to enable employees to be happier on the job? One thing they can do is to realize that summer is not when most workers want to put in long hours. Rather, a study found that in the summer, employees long for long weekends where they can cut out of work early on Fridays and flexible schedules to accommodate mid-week breaks. Is that outrageous? The same study found that employers are happy to offer these benefits.

Controlling the Schedule

There are many benefits to having some control over their schedule, employees note. A survey of 400 employees and more than 500 human resource managers provided the information. In the survey it was found that many employees expect these types of concessions during the warmer months.

  • 41 percent of all workers participating in the study desire flexible schedules during the summer months.
  • 28 percent of those who participated want the ability to leave early on Fridays.
  • Some employees desire company picnics and a more laid-back dress code during the warmer months, too.

It used to be that summer was time to roll up your sleeves and get down to business. It could be the fact that workers are putting in longer hours or it could be that more employers are hoping to accommodate the needs of their employees. In either case, employers are on board with providing such incentives.

Employers Offer Incentives

Employers who responded to the same survey were more than happy to extend some benefits to their employees during the warmer months. About 75 percent of them allowed for flexible schedules, which is the most commonly requested feature from employees. As far as Friday’s go, employers understand this need too. Accordingly, about 63 percent of them will allow employees to leave early on Fridays to get a bigger weekend in.

As for the other requests from employees, employers want to provide help there, too. About 50 said they reduced their dress code requirements and about 25 percent stated that they offered some type of picnic or outing during the summer for employees. About 6 percent stated they offered no benefits for this time of the year.

Should You?

A big question to ask then is should you be offering some type of incentive to your employees? It is a good idea to accommodate the needs of employees when it fits within your schedule and your abilities. However, it is critical to do so properly and that often means that there should be some level of supervision involved. While most will be more committed to their job when you offer incentives like this, there may be the one or two people who take advantage of it. That is why it is important to have monitoring in place.

Engage your Front Line Employees to Drive Growth

HMG Success on October 7, 2026

In a scenario in which management and front line employees remain distant to each other, there’s an increasing gap present in the ability to drive a business. In short, numerous studies, various research programs, and reports teach that a top-down strategy within the business environment is not a quality substitute for engaging employees and managers who operate the business at the customer-point. If this is the case, why is it still happening so often?

It’s a Tough Road

One of the reasons why so many businesses fail to take on this type of advice, of working in a front-line centered element, is that, for most situations, it is a game of staying at the top. The problem is, in a capitalism drive society, many businesses fail and even those that do not only remain at the top of their game for a short period of time. In a 2006 study conducted by John Stubbart and Michael Knight, the two looked at various firms and their history. The study found that of the six million firms included, only 10 percent were still in existence at their 40th anniversary. That study was done in 2006.

In many cases, businesses miss growth opportunities because they fail to engage the front-line worker and the managers on the scene. In fact, innovation is often unpredictable and based on unplanned connections within a business. In other words, some of the best people for finding these growth opportunities are those who work with customers on a regular basis, not top of the line (and often out of touch) management.

Think Like the Military

The U.S. military is a perfect example. While it may look like a top-down management style, it is just the opposite. Leadership and management within the military is dependent on a bottom-up design – the communication and learning within the troops comes from those men on the front lines, not those sitting in the offices. While the organizational chart displays a very complex method of managing these individuals, it is really the people on the ground that makes the biggest difference in the decision making and running of the organization.

In fact, in today’s military scenario, front line troops are given cyber technology to allow them to remain in constant communication with their leaders. These individuals have access to the top levels within the military. That is something that is not often easy to see within today’s management structure.

What does this mean for a business? It means CEOs need to create more points of interaction with their front-line workers. This type of leadership not only helps to grow a business, but it can also help to sustain it well past that 40-year anniversary so many do not make it to.

To build your team of front line employees, you need pre-screened and quality employees who can get the job done. Advance Staffing Solutions in the Toledo, Ohio and Michigan regions are there to help.

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