Team Building / Selection

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Team Building / Selection
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Background

• Coolidge developed process around 1910
• Process used world wide
• Little change in process since that time
• GE has long been the leader in the US lighting
  marked
• Competition and new management philosophy
  demanded that process be examined

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General Process

• Mining of tungsten ore
• Production of ammonium paratungstate
• Production of tungsten oxide
• Production of tungsten
• Ingot
• Wire

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Potassium

• All lamp quality tungsten must contain about 60
  ppm potassium
• Discovered by accident

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Comments about Process

• The ingot to wire stage takes about two weeks
• Most problems occurred at the end of the two week
  process - LOSS OF
• Unused tungsten sold as scrap

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Company Profile - 1988

• RD Center - Schenectady, NY
• Lighting Engineering - Cleveland, Ohio
• Tungsten Plant - Cleveland, Ohio

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RD Center

• Employed mostly PhDs.
• Placed high value on patents and publications
• Sometimes viewed as irresponsible/country club
• Researchers pursued their hobbies away from the
  real problems

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Lighting Engineering

• Degree level varied
• Engineers responsible for products and daily
  problems
• Patents / products / trade secrets important

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Plant Engineers

• Bachelors degrees / hourly workers
• Ship product
• Make numbers ()

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Team I

• Composed of about 30 people
• Manager of each group tried to be in charge
• Group polarized between two ideas about how to
  run plant
• Took philosophy that process could not be changed
• But after three years no real improvement

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Good Results of Team I

• Got RD engineers into plant
• Increased quality control
• Made teams spanning from PhDs to hourly workers -
  developed friendships across the entire group
• Realized we do not need a perfect product but do
  need consistent production

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Problems with Team I

• Too big and too many managers
• No single leader and no single vision
• Too many people wanted to be heroes
• Attention of team members divided
• Without success, team members became disgruntled

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Team II

• Smaller and more focused
• Little duplication of talent
• Assignments/accountability/prime assignment for
  all team members
• Frequent meetings (technical and social)
• Single goal and vision with total buy-in
• Good working conditions / rewards

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Team II - Other Lessons Learned

• You must constantly sell your product to your
  customer
• Do not expect immediate acceptance
• Be prepared to take product all the way to
  completion
• Take incremental steps where necessary to get
  end results
• Try to anticipate every issue as they arise be
  the first to solve them
• Determine what information would make your
  customer more comfortable