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For much of the manufacturing world, the past two years have been defined by the challenges we\u2019ve all faced. At Minco, we\u2019ve decided to define them by how we\u2019ve overcome those challenges \u2013 and our team is the greatest example we have of our longevity.<\/p>\n
Jamil Ben Abdallah has been with Minco since 2018. Now a production manager for all three of Minco\u2019s business units, Jamil has been an integral part of the Minco team as we\u2019ve navigated the manifold challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic \u2013 thanks in large part to a person-first approach to building and maintaining teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cManufacturing is very simple,\u201d he says. \u201cYou have input, you have output, and there\u2019s a transformation in the middle.\u201d In contrast, he says, manufacturers are more complex: \u201cPeople are not like machines.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jamil says his first job every day is \u201cto make sure everyone is safe\u201d \u2013 not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. \u201cI want to make sure everyone goes home happy at the end of the day.\u201d He says his dedication to fostering a great work environment, especially when times are tough, is an investment in his team: \u201cI talk to my team to see how they feel. They feel appreciative that someone is actually listening to them. When people feel appreciated, they will take extra steps for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
That includes masking and social distancing, but it also includes regular gemba walks and check-ins with our team members. That feeling of appreciation, Jamil says, makes every member of the team want to achieve personally and as part of Minco. You can see it in their work: when passionate people are empowered by their workplace, they feel more confident in their contributions to their team.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s crucial to managing cost, optimizing production, and maintaining quality \u2013 all things Jamil\u2019s work at Minco helps ensure: Empowered employees who genuinely feel heard want to pursue knowledge of their own to simplify the way they work while improving the value of their services to their company and customers.<\/p>\n
Jamil believes that \u201call knowledge is connected\u201d \u2013 that when you learn something, you can build on it with new understandings to innovate in process and product alike. It\u2019s what binds teams like Minco together.<\/p>\n
He says that confidence leads the teams he supervises to better quality work in less time, with less stress, and with less waste. \u201cLean has taught me that the more solid a team is, the easier it is to keep going,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen you get closer and say, \u2018Let\u2019s work together,\u2019 then we can share expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n
And here\u2019s the best part: our spirit of collaboration doesn\u2019t stay inside our walls. Our engineer-to-engineer (E2E) approach breaks down the siloes between our customers\u2019 engineering teams and Minco\u2019s to design better, more innovative solutions quicker.<\/p>\n