SEABLOG

We’re learning some lessons by observing the quarterly report process and we wanted to share these and invite questions.

1. People are asking a lot of basic questions and we wanted to let you know that there are free webcasts where you can get a lot of information and ask questions about implementing the roadmap. Just go to http://seaonline.org/Briefings/webcasts.html and register.

2. Please make notes on examiner feedback each time you submit a quarterly report. Feedback on one quarterly report will become a potential rejection on the next quarter if the examiner sees the same thing again. The examiner is keeping notes - you should too.

3. Value Streams - we’re looking for the fact that you’re using the basic elements of the roadmap and process maturity in your value streams. In order to prepare for certification you need to select at least one value stream and within that value stream at least one process. Be sure to list the names of the champion and process owner on your quarterly report comments. Prepare them to comment each quarter about their progress - maturity level of the process and what they’ve done to improve it. Champions for value streams should have goals and metrics for measuring value stream performance - what are they and how are they doing? The reason we build the roadmap foundation is to create a strong basis for improvement across the company - clearly you get the “bang for the buck” when you use the roadmap stage one processes as a foundation for improvement across your value streams.

4. We seem to be having a problem with value stream definition. We’re seeing a lot of value streams that are really processes. Here is the definition from the SEA website:

“Value Stream – All the processes required to produce a product or service of value to a customer. The term value stream applies to product families or individual products or services. The value stream includes the flow of materials in production as well as information flow. The customers of a value stream could be internal or external.”

Our main point is that a value stream is a collection of processes. It is useful for that reason.

5. Report Comments - remember, a report that includes facts - how many, how far, when, where, what - is more credible to an examiner than a report that is “anecdotal” - tells a good story but is mainly devoid of facts. If you held communication meetings with all employees, include how many meetings, how many employees, who spoke and how long the meetings were, what topics they covered, etc.

IRVINE, Calif., December 15, 2008 – Supplier Excellence Alliance (SEA) Board Chairman, Michael G.
Beason announced the election of new officers for 2009 to the SEA Board of Directors. Current board member, Frank Thompson was elected President, board member Bill Hayden was elected First Vice President, board member Randal (Randy) Fry was elected Treasurer, and board member David J. Blanco was elected to serve another term as Board Secretary.

Frank Thompson is the group vice president of supply chain management for Parker Aerospace.  Named to the position in June 2007, Thompson in responsible for developing and implementing group-wide plans and strategies for strategic supply chain. Joining the company in 1998, Thompson has led positions in procurement at Parker’s Air & Fuel Division.  Most recently, Thompson served as supply chain director for the division. Prior to coming to parker, Thompson held such roles as materials director and purchasing manager at Interstate Electronics Corporation and the former Hughes Aircraft Company. Thompson earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from California State University, Long Beach, and a master in business administration degree from Pepperdine University, Irvine, California, and campus.  Thompson is also a graduate of Parker’s Taking Charge of Change program.

Bill Hayden is Senior Director Supplier Performance Management, Honeywell Aerospace.  Mr. Hayden is a Supplier Management professional responsible for developing and implementing a Supplier Quality Improvement Process (SQIP) across the Honeywell Aero supply base.  The SQIP is a process that is data driven to measure and improve the Honeywell supply base by applying Advanced Product Quality Planning, Current Supplier Quality Improvement and a defined Supplier Development Process.  Prior to joining Honeywell, Bill had a 28-year career at General Motors Powertrain.  He held various positions including the Director Supplier Quality & Development for Powertrain and the joint ventures between GM and Isuzu in North America, Europe and Asia.  Mr. Hayden is a graduate of Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.

Randel (Randy) Fry has been CEO and owner of Airco Industries (d.b.a Photo Etch) since 1997.  Under Randy’s guidance, Photo Etch has developed a leadership status in the aerospace manufacturing industry and has established a significant customer base that includes:  Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Rockwell Collins, Raytheon, Honeywell, L-3 Communications, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy.
Prior to purchasing Airco, Randy was in the capital equipment manufacturing industry for more than 22 years.  His numerous positions have spanned senior and general management, worldwide service management and engineering – among others.  Randy has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Indiana Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Dallas. He also attended the Syracuse University Graduate School of Advanced Management and Marketing program.

David J. Blanco is the Small Business Director for the Supplier Excellence Alliance Mr. Blanco supports small business development and program implementation for SEA small suppliers.  Mr. Blanco serves as a member of the 2008 Board of Examiners for the Malcolm Baldrige National Award program, served as a Judge for the California Baldrige program, advised a United States Senate Committee on Hispanic workforce development issues and initiatives, participated on a California Senate Select Committee for Workforce Apprenticeships, received various commendations from state and local government, Mr. Blanco’s educational background includes undergraduate studies at the University of Redlands and graduate studies in Business Management at the Peter F. Drucker Executive Management Center at Claremont Graduate University.

2009 will be a good year to get this blog started. I’m looking to the users to help tell us what topics would be of interest. I will work to get contributors if I see clear interest in the feedback from our “blogsters” so please take a few minutes and think about what you would like to hear and what conversations you would like to see on our blog?

Right now I have planted three starter discussions/topics on the blog. They’ve caught a few comments but generally not many. So it’s clear we need to hear some ideas from those signed up.

Thanks and happy new year.

There are hundreds of suppliers across the country implementing the SEA Roadmap. There are a variety of ways to implement the Roadmap. Some suppliers have trained a key person or two in the SEA Leader workshop (included in the BASIC+ membership) and these suppliers are using their internal resources and sometimes their favorite consultants to implement. Some suppliers have hired a lean “guru” or expert to help them with the Operational Excellence track of the Roadmap. Hiring one or more people to dedicate to improvement signals to our customers that we are willing to invest on an ongoing basis and is very encouraging that we, the supplier, “get it.”

Some suppliers invest in outside consulting because they want to learn faster. The details of how to look at investments of this kind are at here.

Regardless of how and how fast you go, suppliers can remain integrated into the SEA process by submitting the quarterly report letting the SEA members that you are actively improving your operations - including leadership processes, workforce development processes, and operational processes. The quarterly report format is located here.

Once a supplier has mastered stage one of the Roadmap, they are ready to submit to the SEA Stage One certification. This certification designed by suppliers for suppliers establishes your achievement and progress toward excellence. The SEA Supplier brand means excellence in the aerospace and defense industry.

Implementing the SEA Roadmap can be daunting especially to smaller companies. The implementation goes beyond anything you might encounter in AS9100 although the two overlap and work together in many ways. The Roadmap requires that the supplier build an infrastructure to support and sustain improvement. It’s like taking a normal car and building it for racing - you have to change the engine, the transmission, the suspension, and the tires. The car might look the same, but it is built for acceleration, handling, and safety at high speeds.

Some suppliers are busy painting flames or racing stripes on the outside of the car. That’s where SEA Business Results come in. If you can demonstrate continuous movement in your Inventory Turns, On-Time Delivery, Parts per Million Defects, and Sales per Employee, chances are you’re on the right track.

To compete globally in the new world economy, we need to build an organization that can accelerate improvement and can sustain those improvements once they are made.

There are some that say this is 80% of the game for accelerating performance. Most leaders think of lean and six sigma as things that take place on the shop floor, but without a complete understanding of these disciplines, it is unlikely that leadership will be able to support continuing improvements and formulate strategies and practices that encourage and reward people for changing how they work.

We can’t under-estimate the value of having leading taking the initiative to practice what they’re asking others to do. Creating five level 3 maturity leadership processes with process owners and a champion demonstrates to everyone that leadership is taking its own medicine. This has a lot of cultural impact by itself.

Process Maturity is a discipline. It’s roots are in AS9100 but in order to be useful and valuable it has to be practiced and re-enforced by everyone. It says that we value standard work practices, that we the disciplined approach of following processes that have been designed to prevent most of the common errors and mistakes that we know we don’t want to repeat.

Leadership can explain why this new discipline and practice is so important in reducing cost, and improving performance to the customer. Leadership can make Standard Work make sense and the Process Maturity Model can help leadership explain how to get there.

SEA is an industry-wide initiative to help suppliers who are committed to excellence distinguish themselves among the many who are not.

How do you distinguish a supplier who is committed to excellence? The barriers are many including lack of a common language and framework, lack of agreed upon metrics, lack of common definitions, and lack of an agreed upon roadmap for how to get there.

SEA was founded by industry primes and tier one contractors who knew that in order for an industry transformation to be successful, it had to be supplier-led.

The Roadmap, the Quarterly Report, the Certification, and the Awards System are maintained by the Supplier Advisory Council in order to assist our entire industry in defining the best of the best.