Existence of "EcoLab" Evangelist for "Lean Management" is Decidedly Not Lean

http://jobs.brassring.com/TGWebHost/jobdetails.aspx?SID=^iCQmYAj7adgdZfloWGVxE2iIw0Uil02jfZSfeU3aLJ1p2qcpbSwwTQ==&jobId=1221537&type=search&JobReqLang=1&recordstart=1&JobSiteId=91&JobSiteInfo=1221537_91&GQId=0

"Job Title: Lean Manager

Functional Area: Lean Six Sigma

Division: Lean Six Sigma

Location: California - City of Industry

Country: United States

Employment Status: Full Time

Job Description: The Lean Manager will be a change agent and thrives on challenge as s/he leads one or more locations within the NA Supply Chain in the integration of Lean into the knowledge and daily activities of all site employees. The Lean Manager will work in this highly visible role to develop and implement continuous improvement actions to achieve breakthrough results in key performance indicators, including measurable improvements in safety, quality, productivity, service, cost, cycle time and employee development.

Main Responsibilities:

·The primary responsibility of the Lean Manager is to ensure a consistent, rapid and successful deployment of Lean.

·Train site leadership and other key personnel on Lean concepts in concert with the Global Supply Chain Lean deployment strategy.

·Work with site leaders to conduct assessments of critical site and business needs.

·Lead across the organization and influence others outside of the his/her location

·Develop a thorough, effective, and timely continuous improvement plan to address the top business needs at the site.

·Lead kaizen events, Six Sigma projects and other activities that execute on the site improvement plan.

·Provide regular reports of data and actions to measure progress against the site objectives.

·Remove barriers to deployment of the continuous improvement plan.

·Work with site leadership to update and re-prioritize the plan to maintain focus on the most critical site objectives.

·Coach and mentor others on Lean so it becomes engrained in the site culture.

·Develop shop floor experts capable of driving Lean in their areas.

·Maintain a detailed understanding of Lean best practices, implement them at the site, and share best practices and knowledge with others.

Basic Qualifications:

·Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Logistics, Science or Business.

·6+ years of experience in a manufacturing, supply chain environment

·3+ years experience working in a Lean environment

·2+ years of experience in a Lean leadership role.

·2+ years supervisory experience and strong interpersonal skills with the ability to influence & persuade decision makers and motivate team members

·2+ years experience utilizing the following key principles and methods of lean: 5S, value stream mapping, visual management and Kaizen

Sponsorship is not offered for this position.

Preferred Qualifications:

·Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification & success in leading complex manufacturing black belt projects, employing key principles and methods including measurement systems analysis, cause-and-effect, FMEA, DOE, SPC, process capability analysis and control plans.

·Comfortable with rapid change, able to recognize others' resistance to change, and lead individuals and teams through the change process.

·A 'hands-on' operating style and a tenacity to build support for change.

·Must be self-motivated, have a bias for action, a sense of urgency, and quickly take personal responsibility to drive improvements.

·Formal project management training with strong analytical skills, high potential to assume management responsibilities. Verbal and written communication skills needed to train and coach."

To its credit, EcoLab has produced much better job vacancies more clearly matching concrete KSAs to specific job functions as well as reducing the hype in the portion of the ads dedicated to the company description. Rather than speak broadly of leadership aptitude, EcoLab has honed in on the capacity to harmonize with others attracted to your department’s line of work and to basically stay off the toes of other departments. Here are some great examples:

District Manager: http://jobs.brassring.com/TGWebHost/jobdetails.aspx?SID=^iCQmYAj7adgdZfloWGVxE2iIw0Uil02jfZSfeU3aLJ1p2qcpbSwwTQ==&jobId=1200258&type=search&JobReqLang=1&recordstart=1&JobSiteId=91&JobSiteInfo=1200258_91&GQId=0

Service Technician: http://jobs.brassring.com/TGWebHost/jobdetails.aspx?SID=^iCQmYAj7adgdZfloWGVxE2iIw0Uil02jfZSfeU3aLJ1p2qcpbSwwTQ==&jobId=1203738&type=search&JobReqLang=1&recordstart=1&JobSiteId=91&JobSiteInfo=1203738_91&GQId=0

With that considered, I still find the whole idea of job titles dedicated to change management to be goofy because why would anyone need a full-time position, let alone an entire division, to nag other employees into changing how they work? Isn’t this why organizations hire project managers and business consultants? Are employers really so afraid of a hostile work environment or wrongful termination lawsuit that they hire a team of “change agents” (essentially full-time business consultants) to lobby managers to adjust to the Policy of the Week rather than outright threaten to fire those recalcitrant managers for insubordination?

I do find it odd that while the “Basic Qualifications” require “strong interpersonal skills with the ability to influence & persuade,” the “Preferred Qualifications” require mere “verbal and written communication skills needed to train and coach.” Perhaps those lines were transposed? That’s a minor quibble compared to the overtones of brainwashing evinced by the job duty, “Coach and mentor others on Lean so that it becomes engrained in the site culture.” Knowing how to do this is crucial because EcoLab wouldn’t want the lean manager to use hokey lines such as, “Did you eat your Leanies today?” or, “If you don’t do Lean, then you are not Keen!”

The requirement of “strong analytical skills” and the duty to “develop shop floor experts capable of driving Lean in their areas” colors the position as a hybrid of operations analyst and human resources specialist. I suppose the potential to be promoted to shift lead might motivate some shop floor workers to vocalize their support for the Cult of Lean in hopes of being tagged as a “lean driver.” I just think that promoting change for its own sake is sometimes counterproductive because everyone is always adjusting. Standard operating procedures become that way because they are effective. Perpetually pushing change onto employees weakens standards and makes results less predictable.

Notice how the lean manager is responsible for encouraging other managers to retrain their subordinates but is not responsible for identifying whether his/her own position has become redundant? What about statistical findings that a proposed change would produce savings smaller than the cost of implementation? This reminds me of how academic journals tend to publish only those studies demonstrating a statistically significant difference between or among variable conditions. Many types of change are irrelevant to outcomes in a given situation, but neither lean managers nor academic journal publishers want to bring attention to this fact. Change-centric or “dynamic” organizations acknowledge the status quo as more efficient than a proposed change as much as universities report the percentages of their respective recent college graduates who are in poverty and underemployed.

"EcoLab" Senior Buyer / Bespoke Production Planner

http://jobs.brassring.com/TGWebHost/jobdetails.aspx?SID=^jIzhqjTASfR28jelwisu0_slp_rhc_xGTWDYPehJo6zjdUf9EJe7w1_slp_rhc_Jze4pZg==&jobId=1217275&type=search&JobReqLang=1&recordstart=1&JobSiteId=91&JobSiteInfo=1217275_91&GQId=0

"Job Title: Sr. Buyer

Functional Area: Purchasing

Division: Global Operations

Location: Illinois - Elk Grove

Country: United States

Employment Status: Full Time

Job Description: Do you have a track record for successfully achieving significant cost savings and avoidance? Are you looking for an opportunity to drive growth with a stable global company committed to sustainability? Would you like to join a company recognized as among the 100 Most Ethical Companies in the World, not once but actually five years in a row? Help make the world cleaner, safer and healthier.

The Senior Buyer at our dish machine refurbishment plant will manage one Purchasing Analyst and will work with over 150 vendors to manage the purchasing of over $25 million in molded plastic components, metals, fluid power systems (hydraulics and pneumatics), labels, fasteners, electrical, mechanical and metal forming pieces and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts.

Ecolab is a Fortune 500 Lean Six Sigma manufacturer and the worldwide leader in our industry. We value diversity and, our employees are number one! We know that our employees are our most important asset -- great employees got us where we are today after 80 years of success! As our Sr. Buyer, you will gain recognition for successful cost savings and avoidance, strong negotiation results, decreasing the number of vendors and your contribution to the implementation of noteworthy Lean Initiatives. As a strong contributory you can expect the opportunity to lead broader projects and advance to larger procurement/supply chain roles across the network and headquarters.

Main Responsibilities:

•Works closely with Divisional and Supply Chain management on all new product introductions & acquisitions. Provides direction on RM price trends needed for pricing strategy. Regularly updates local management on purchasing initiatives and progress.

•Proactively communicates with internal Supply Chain and R&D associates to understand plan-needs and to solve problems. Implements purchasing infrastructure in conjunction with R&D and Manufacturing to assure availability at required quality and costs levels. Generates new ideas to reduce costs and increase availability.

•Sources raw materials, packaging materials, and finished goods through execution of global contracts and negotiation of local contracts. Issues purchase agreements, purchase orders, and blanket orders within corporate purchasing policy.

•Implements technology to improve results and increase efficiencies. This includes cost database, EDI, and Reverse auctions. Establishes consignment and VMI to best manage corporate assets.

•Ensures Ecolab control and environmental standards are implemented. Reports on purchasing metrics and produced reporting tools in plant. Updates North America Director of Purchasing on success of purchasing strategy.

Basic Qualifications:

•Bachelors degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, Purchasing, Economics or Engineering

•3 to 5 years purchasing experience

•5+ years supply chain experience

•No immigration sponsorship is available for this opportunity

Preferred Qualifications:

•Advanced technical or business degree

•2 - 3 years experience in a lean manufacturing environment

•Purchasing or negotiations experience in a Consumer Products industry, regulated production, or similar manufacturing environment and/or experience with related Supply Chain or R&D functions

•Accomplished in implementing improvement initiatives and achieving cost savings

•Advanced proficiency in MS Excel and ERP software"

The most glaring idiosyncrasy I see is the lack of a Six Sigma Certificate requirement. The position of Production Planner requires this and specific “Six Sigma experience,” yet the successful Senior Buyer applicant apparently does not need either despite utilizing vendor managed inventory (VMI) to ensure automatic order of supplies for restocking when a client firm’s inventory database sends electronic notification of low supplies. The description instead notes that having purchased for a supply chain is sufficient and that EcoLab prefers the supply chain experience was just-in-time supply. Does any reader care to explain what differences exist between the Six Sigma lean supply and any old JIT manufacturing?

Also, the second paragraph of the job description would better fit as the third paragraph because the flow of the current description goes from bragging about the company to a quick blurb about the general purpose of the position and then back to corporate feather preening before finally getting into the job duties and KSAs. One of these is competence in the art of reverse auctioneering, which is the bidding by sellers to provide a service to a client at the highest acceptable price (and avoid allegations of cartel operations when competitors hold their prices high as well). Readers might also recognize this as a Dutch auction because the sellers initially bid their highest prices to leave enough room for downward negotiation such that even a substantial reduction in sale price will net a profit. This is distinct from a forward auction, in which buyers bid to provide the lowest acceptable price to a seller.

The “job match” feature does not work properly! Several times I pasted my resume text into the textbox and clicked “search,” only to be greeted with the unfiltered list of job vacancies with an 8-point font error message, “Your search criteria: N/A | Refine search” atop the vacancies table. I then pasted the text of this paragraph into the textbox and searched, returning the positions of “buyer,” “logistics manager,” and “production planner.” Try it yourself to see what I mean:

http://jobs.brassring.com/TGWebHost/searchopenings.aspx?SID=^jIzhqjTASfR28jelwisu0_slp_rhc_xGTWDYPehJo6zjdUf9EJe7w1_slp_rhc_Jze4pZg==&ref=1272012122226