WJI July 2020 Feature Sample

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J U LY 2 0 2 0 | W W W. W I R E N E T. O R G

A WRAP-UP OF

W H AT S H O U L D H AV E B E E N

WIRE EXPO 2020

FEATURE:

EXTRUDERS

O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E W I R E A S S O C I AT I O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L

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WIRE EXPO 2020: A WRAP-UP OF WIRE EXPO 2020

W H AT S H O U L D H AV E B E E N

Yes, WAI’s Operations Summit and Wire Expo 2020 was canceled, just one of many industry events that were wiped out by Covid-19. But that doesn’t mean that WAI has to accept it.

This section presents some of the elements that should have been held, excerpts from three speakers, 10 instructors, the beginning of the Mordica Lecture, and more.

Keynote speaker Brett Culp: dare to be a leader, dare to leap Keynote speaker Brett Culp is an acclaimed documentary filmmaker whose work has inspired audiences around the world. He uncovers and captures powerful human experiences through his heartwarming movies. He has been featured in sites such as USA Today, WIRED, NETFLIX and others. He knows how to make a point in just a few words. Below is an edited excerpt from his presentation.

Emery Benson was 11 when his family was on a hiking trip in the Smoky Mountains. He wandered downstream to explore. Back at the top, Devin Leslie, 7, was standing on a boulder. Without warning, Devin’s mom heard a splash.

Her son had fallen into the raging current. It was a desperate moment. Devin was in serious danger, and his mom was powerless. All she could do was scream, “Help!”

Emery was startled by her cry. He looked at the river and spotted Devin rushing toward him. In seconds, Devin would move past him, and there was no one to assist in the river below. It was very dangerous. If he hesitated, Devin would be left alone in a life-threatening situation, out of control in the water. But if he jumped in, he was risking his own life and there would be no one to help.

What would you do? Standing at the side of a violent river, hearing the cry for help, understanding the risk for yourself, and having no time to think. A split-second decision to take a risk—or to play it safe—could have cost either of the boys their lives. Emery leaped. Without hesitation, he jumped into the water, swimming hard. When Devin came toward him, Emery held him with one arm and used his other arm to paddle to the closest boulder.

I included his brave story in my newest documentary film, Look to the Sky, which is now on Amazon Prime.

I asked Emery why he decided to jump into the river.

He told me that he had just earned his swimming badge in Cub Scouts so he felt he could do it. I have no idea if

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having such a badge qualifies an 11-year-old to jump into a raging river. I doubt it. But I’m touched by his belief that he could.

When we truly believe that our actions can make an impact, we are empowered to do bold, courageous things.

Brett Culp That sense of possibility makes us brave. It inspires us to dive into new relationships, explore different opportunities, launch creative projects, and build innovative ventures.

As a leader, an essential (and often unspoken) part of your job is continuing to “hold space” for the positive opportunities ahead, even when the circumstances are frightening. This hopeful perspective gives you the courage to jump in and stay with the struggle. It motivates you to take action when the safer path is to stand on the riverbank and do nothing. This kind of leadership is what we need every day to keep fighting and to believe our work in the world matters. It’s the courage we need to grow our teams, our communities, and ourselves.

For more on Brett Culp, go to www.brettculp.com/

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WIRE EXPO 2020 WRAP-UP

WAI President Jan Sørige: ‘remote’ welcome comments As the 2020 president of the Wire Association International, I never got to make my official welcome speech at the WAI Operations Summit & Wire Expo 2020, and it was such a good one. Due to Covid-19, a lot of work by volunteers and staff all got undone. On the positive side, it’s safe to say that the industry will long remember my year in office.

This “wrap-up” of an event that did not happen may seem odd, but in a way, it’s fitting. The industry has had to adjust to a different world, with each company figuring out its own path. That has been especially challenging for companies with international operations and suppliers.

As disruptive as this situation has been, the industry is learning from it. We have had to operate in new and sometimes unusual ways. Remote working, to a degree, is becoming more of a norm for many people, and the focus on employee safety and optimizing supply chains has never been so sharp. Again, the catalyst for all this is

highly unwanted, but we have responded. That seems to be a universal truism for industry.

The WJI April issue had the preview for this event, so it seems right to go forward with the scheduled July wrap-up. It presents some of what would have been said or done, and actually a bit more. The page Jan Sørige of the events sponsors and the list of board and committee members remind us that WAI’s Wire Expo and Interwire events, indeed, are by the industry for the industry.

This feature restates the importance of wire and cable, and why meeting together matters. We all look forward to better times, but for now, we continue. It’s what we do.

Keynote speaker Kathleen Edge: ‘next gen’ manufacturing Kathleen Edge, executive vice president of operations for Southwire Co.—which in May was named a 2020 US Best Managed Company, (see p. 16)—planned to focus on the challenges and potential for next-generation manufacturing. She has served in key HR roles for 24 years. Below is the short version she provided of her intended presentation.

While the three basic elements required for an efficient manufacturer have not changed—people, processes and technology—what has changed is how we deploy these elements.

Manufacturers traditionally operated with fixed schedules that required physical brawn to operate; however, the wire and cable industry has been traversing a path to more automated equipment. Now, we are connecting this equipment to digital technology, smart computing and big data to create “smart factories.”

In these types of discussions, the question frequently arises: will this technology displace manufacturing jobs?

In the book, “Human + Machine,” the research identified that artificial intelligence gives humans superpowers and humans make machines smarter. The book went on to note that technology will augment, not replace, human capital.

Manufacturers need to harness the power of technology to be competitive in the new digital world and transition their workforces to be prepared for these new expectations.

Installing new technology is the easiest aspect of modernizing. Integrating the technology to improve processes and augmenting human capital is where the hard work begins.

Wire and cable manufacturing workforces are in a transition, shifting from being hired for physicality to being hired for critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Operators will have more access to big data analytics in real time to improve processes and enable more efficient operations.

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Southwire is on our journey of machine learning, transitioning from descriptive metrics to predictive actions and, ultimately, to prescriptive performance. In the past, we relied on historical data to set up and operate machinery. Today, we are collecting real-time hourKathleen Edge by-hour data and measurements allowing adjustments automatically in terms of material usage and speed. At the same time, Southwire is building organizational capability to create a flexible, agile workforce. We are deploying innovative alternative shift schedule designs to flex the workforce to match demand in a predictable way. We have multiple facilities with alternative schedules for employees to determine what best supports their individual work/life investment ratio. Southwire is also working to enable cross training to shift human capital to the demand and enable agile operations.

The Next Generation Manufacturing is beyond installing new assets. To be competitive, manufacturers must also transform the processes and workforce to enable prescriptive performance and flexible, agile operations.

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Extruders

A close-up of an extruder being prepared for a Russian customer. Photo courtesy of Harter GmbH.

It has been an interesting period for OEMs, carrying out business plans for their extrusion portfolio while also dealing with the effects of Covid-19. WJI asked suppliers of extrusion technology and a long-time manufacturer’s representative to share their thoughts on both topics. This feature also includes a look at a unique extrusion service.

Extrusion suppliers keep focus on tech during Covid-19 times How much has your way of doing business with customers changed because of Covid-19, and do you see this as something that will long affect your field, or will this eventually become a distant memory?

The global health crisis caused Maillefer to quickly adapt to the situation in order to secure the best possible service to our customers and partners.

Our experts and support team continued to be fully accessible and ready to serve our global markets throughout the crisis.

Lars Fagerholm For most of our employees this meant flexibility in workplaces and work hours. Within days we started up full operations from remote offices. We were privileged to use modern communication methods and quickly adapted to support our customers, using a number of digital solutions. All customer projects have been progressing as planned in our engineering and manufacturing functions. We have not experienced disturbances in logistics and shipments. The project installation and commissioning support is of course postponed, and will be reactivated as soon as restrictions ease. The crisis has revealed much about the abilities of our personnel. The experiences over the past months are helping to shape our future work environments and the novel solutions we put in place to best serve the extrusion industry. The crisis has also reminded us how essential the

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day-to-day innovation process is, when people normally interact in a face-to-face environment–something we will continue to invest in moving forward. Lars Fagerholm, executive vice president, Maillefer.

The world economy was impacted by Covid-19 and we took all the necessary steps to ensure the continuity of our business during these challenging times. Even during such a challenging time, the MFL Group remained determined and cohesive. The impact on Tony De Rosa production was interrupted, but all the staff continued to give the best service to our customers, either by working remotely or from our company offices. In a postCovid world, workforces are adjusting their workplaces to embrace the new “normal.” Because MFL Group uses several cloud-based digital tools, we were able to guarantee a constant presence, even when working remotely.

We were ready to respond to these new realities and we were able to overcome the barriers this historic moment brought us. We know that the way of doing business has W W W. W I R E N E T. O R G

F E AT U R E

changed but, our strong customer relationships have not.

MFL Group remains flexible and always ready to adapt to the changing environment and we will continue to provide the best solutions to our customers. Best practice made perfect. Tony De Rosa, general manager, Wire & Cable Division, Frigeco USA Inc., an MFL Group Company.

Covid-19 has definitely caused some changes in our business, but we set up our business from the beginning to allow for remote operations.

We have no internal server, and everything that can be done in the office can be done offsite as well. Since Covid-19 began, we Dan Schilke have more heavily embraced digital communications for virtual meetings, extruder wet tests and lab trials. Like most manufacturing business, we have been deemed an essential business, so we have been following all state guidelines while remaining at full production building and shipping extruders and screws.

Dan Schilke, CEO, US Extruders.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our world with devastating speed. Our customers and reference markets have all been affected, although each of them with a different impact. Just think, for example, about the difference between the production of cars versus medical devices. Of course, we still hope for everything to get back to normal as soon as possible. That day will come, but the world afterwards will not be the same as before. In adjusting to the new situation, we are learning new habits and skills that we won’t want to unlearn. I am thinking in particular about remote digital teamwork, virtual conferences and 3D printing, which have become the new norm. And, last but not least, the continuous digital connection to our customers, real-time analysis of their issues and dynamic teamwork, which is focused on understanding their needs and delivering fast and effective solutions in the best possible way.

Federico Bussola, sales director, Sampsistemi Group.

Federico Bussola W W W. W I R E N E T. O R G

Kurre staffers, including, r, owner Stefan Plaggenborg In Germany, the effects of Covid-19 are less than other European countries in terms of the number of people who fell ill and the number of deaths. One reason for this was the early lockdown. The Kurre Group reacted very quickly. Wherever possible, employees worked at home.

An empty building was quickly converted into a second office complex to allow as little as possible direct contact between people. It was more difficult to rectify the situation on the shop floor. Kurre equipped its employees with mouth-nose scarfs. “We are pleased that there has not been a single Covid-19 case in our company, but we are also seeing a reaction from the economy. This has not had a significant impact on current production. We can continue to keep all employees working and currently have no shorttime working. Although there have also been project postponements and even cancellations, Kurre has orders well into the next year. Stefan Plaggenborg, owner, Kurre.

The cost of travel has a major effect on the “bottom line” of any company listed as a Manufacturers’ Representative.

The Covid-19 travel ban has, in a way, reminded us of a WWII slogan, “Is your journey really necessary?” However, as we know “business is people,” and a personal relationship with all Fred Hardy clients must be maintained at all costs. The negative effect of Covid-19 on many of our clients has been the difficulty they are facing in maintaining production output while trying to introduce personal distancing. The time spent on such efforts and production leaves fewer hours to move forward on new projects that may require investment in capital equipment. When Covid-19 has passed, many companies will compare just how their (traveling) sales staff performed under the travel ban. They will also compare just how efficient it was to have some or most office staff working from their home. The outcome of these two studies will then be compared to the pre-Covid-19 performance. Even if total sales volume drops during the J U LY 2 0 2 0 W I R E J O U R N A L I N T E R N AT I O N A L

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