1. Project Summary
H & H Tool,Inc. isan ISO/TS16949: 2002 certifiedmanufacturerof precisioncomponentsforthe
automotive,defense,aerospace,andotherhighvolumeindustries.H& H Tool startedwitha 1,100
square footfacilityin1979 where twoemployeesmanufactured$300,000 worth of automotive fixtures.
Ever since,H& H has followedasteadygrowthpatternandby 1987, theywere manufacturingina
10,000 square footplant. Today,theyemployover150 people residinginastate of the art 68,000
square footfacility,towhichtheyhave recentlyaddedseveral newmachiningcentersandrotary
transfermachines.
TheirSTTF projectisnearingcompletion,andaccordingtoVice PresidentAndrew Harrington,ithas
causedpeople tobecome re-engaged.AndProgramManagerDarla Stoffel saysthatithas “propelleda
differentwayof thinking,andona broadersense we have ateam of problemsolversnotjustdelivering
immediate effects,butareal longterm solution.” Theyhave agreat“homegrownteam”whichtheyare
makingevenbetter,resultinginenhancedleadershipthroughoutthe organization. H& H Tool has not
engagedinformal trainingina couple of years,butthisprojecthas inspiredthemandhelpedthemto
identifyothertrainingneeds.
Human Resource ManagerLori Curtisconfirmsthe successof thisproject,statingthatall feedbackhas
beenextremelypositive andthateveryonehasbeenexcitedaboutparticipating. She saysthat“itbrings
core people togetherfromdifferentareas,similartoa retreat.It makespeople feel special,thattheir
companyiscommittedtotheirvalue.”
Project Impact
A total of 21 people have completedtraininginGD&T,Core Tools,and TS16949 Internal Auditor,
resultingingeneral andspecificpositiveoutcomes.Accordingto38 year manufacturingveteranJane
Carpenter“the biggestoffendereverywhereyougoisnot followingaprocedure.” SupervisorJeff
O’Learyechoesthissentiment,statingthat“thishashelpedeveryonetobe onthe same page withthe
same toolsand processes.”35 yearEngineerSteve Wellinghasobservedpeoplestartingtolookat
thingsdifferently,withnew toolstouse,andnew waysto developsolutions.SupervisorRonBabcock
saysthat “this hasinternallyopenedeyesonprocessandproblemsolvingmethods. And,QualityTech
BethBerk isalreadyputtinghernewknowledge of corrective actionsintopractice,evenusingsome of
the numbers gleanedfromherclasses.

2. Accessto thisdata isan important resultof thistraining.A huge amountof valuable datahasbeen
collectedthroughtheirPLEXERPsystem, butmostpeople were unaware of whatwasavailable beyond
theirindividual departmentorareaor responsibility.This projecthasopenedtheireyestowhatdata
theyhave,howto getit,and howtheycan adjustitmovingforward.Theysee the powerof knowledge
management,andhowitcan drive processimprovementthroughoutthe entire organization.Thisnew
companywide accessto soliddatawill be the engine thatmoves theircommitmenttoprocessand
problemsolvingforward.
Darla pointedouta concept“what’sgood? – what’sbad?”or facts versusassumptionsasvery
important.And,SupervisorJeff O’Learydiscoveredthattheymayhave beenscrappingoutgoodparts,
whichhe will continue tofollowupon.Correctingthisone issue willhave adirectimpacton their
bottomline,potentiallysavingthemthousandsof dollars.
Anotherverystrongoutcome,isthatall of theirinternal auditorsare now fullycertified.Thislendsmore
weightandcredibilitywithoutside auditorsandcustomers,whichwill leadtoimprovedtopline and
bottomline performance.
New Hire/On The Job Training
H & H Tool hastraditionallyhiredthroughstaffingagencies,sohiringMatthew Thomashasbeentheir
firstforayinto an On The JobTrainingContract,whichhas deliveredgreatresultsforall involved. Matt
isdoingwell,meetingall of hisproductiongoals withinhisfirstweekof employment. Withall of his
manufacturingexperience beinginplasticproduction,this hasbeenaverychallengingandsometimes
overwhelmingexperience forhim.Hislack of machiningexperience made theirchecksheets difficultto
understand,butthe GD & T classmade it a lot quickerandeasier.He can now referback to the
blueprintif he hasquestions,andinsome casesbypasschecksheetsaltogether.
Matt said“I didn’tthinkIwas goingto make it,but people were veryhelpful,andIwas able tomake
productionwithinacouple of days.Ihave neverseenteamworklike thisinanycompany,andIwas
astonishedhoweveryone waswillingtohelpme learn.”He didn’tneedtoaskforhelp.If anyone saw
himstrugglingorgettingbehind,theywouldcome overandaskhimhow theycouldhelp.Some would
evenhelphimcleanuparoundhismachine.
How H & H approacheson the jobtrainingshouldbe held upasa model,andI hope theywill continue
to explore OJTcontractsas a viable option.
General Evaluation/Insights
Thistrainingprojectprovidedmultiple benefitstoH& H Tool on several differentlevels,resultingin
quite a fewbestpracticesworthyof sharingwithothers.Thiswasthe firsttime thatH & H hasever
conductedonsite training.The traditional off site classroomtrainingtypicallyisamixture of people
fromdifferentcompaniesandindustries,whichdoesnotallow foraspecificfocusonany one of their
particularneeds.But,withthe participantsall beingfromone companytheywere abletoachieve far
deeperinsights,andconcrete actionableresults.

3. The firstbestpractice,is that the leadinstructormetonsite withH & H Tool’suppermanagement,the
weekbefore the firstclassstarted.Theygave himaccesstodata from theirERPsystem, whichhe used
to not onlycustomize the course content,butalsotodevelopactual currentproblemsforthemtosolve.
By the time the program wascompleted,theyhaddevelopedactionplanswhichwill be implementedin
the near future.
The secondbestpractice is to bringpeople togetherfortrainingfromdifferentareasandlevelsof
responsibility.Theyweredividedintocrossfunctional groups tosolve these identifiedproblems,
resultinginabroadersense of teamworkacrossthe entire organization. Everyparticipanthasagreater
understandingof the relationshipbetweenfunctions,andhow databeingsharedacross departments
can greatlyenhance productivity. Thisprocesstaughtthemleadershipandproblemsolvingskillswhich
theywill neverforget,because theylearnedbydoingnotbylecture.
Anotherbestpractice isto make trainingapplicationbased.Mostmanufacturingworkersare usedtoa
fastpaced,productionorientedday,filledwithactivity.Togofrom this,tosittingina classroom can be
verydifficult.So,the instructor’sgoal istogetthemoutof theirseatsand engagedas quicklyas
possible. The powerof thisactionbasedlearningisexponentiallymultipliedwhenitisbasedonthe
company’sowninternal processes.Butthisrequiresacommitmentfrommanagement,because when
movedtothe factoryfloor,the learningtakesona life of itsown.If people are willingsolve the
problemsthatmaybe revealed,itwill resultinnotonlyretainedlearning,butalsoenhancedleadership
and processes. H& H has embracedthisformof learning,resultinginseveral process improvements
whichare alreadystartingtobe implemented.