“Our working culture seems to kill the creativity in long-time employees, rather than nurture it.”
“People often don’t understand the need to be more innovative and productive when the manufacturing floor is busy and customer orders continue to flow.”
Manufacturers must do a better job in communicating and celebrating the innovative achievements of their workforce.
Educators must strengthen the analytical capabilities, entrepreneurial, and creative-decision making skills of students. Students need a mix of specialized skills and multidisciplinary perspectives.
Colleges and universities must include manufacturing improvement and innovation management studies in the curricula for engineering, business, and technical education, as well as for trades training.
Manufacturers must cultivate the innovative and creative problem-solving capabilities of their workers by effectively managing change, organizing cross-functional work teams, allowing for the interchange of innovative ideas, and ensuring that business processes lead to the effective execution of new ideas.
Manufacturers must train their employees and external business partners in Lean business methods in order to align their sights toward the objective of achieving results for their customers.
Manufacturers must thoroughly train their workforce in performance improvement methodologies.
Manufacturers must do a better job in sharing best practices and solutions with respect to innovation management, HR practices, and training with each other.
“Our future depends on creativity and innovation, but our business organizations and education systems all too often stifle innovation and change.”