Blog
Are Your Managers Equipped for Change?
By Ben Hershey, CEO, The 4Ward Group of Companies Ask yourself this question, true or false: The most resistant group of employees in many component and LBM companies is the frontline employees? If you answered true, like most people you guessed incorrectly. It’s not our frontline employees who resist change the most, it’s the managers,…
Read MoreAre You Communicating the Same Old Message?
By Ben Hershey, CEO, The 4Ward Group of Companies Here we are at the start of 2020 — Happy New Year! As we begin the year, we’ll likely have times when we look at the past and then look forward, as we plan our strategy and set the tone for our teams and work with…
Read MoreKnowing the Ideal Manufacturing Cycle Time
By Ben Hershey, CEO, The 4Ward Group of Companies Building components is really great! It was a lot of fun in the 1970s when several plants had competitions on who could build the fastest run of trusses (for example, see Joe Kannapell’s article on Vertical Presses–The World Record). Back then, it was really easy to…
Read MoreAs the Market Changes – Plan Now for Continuous Improvements
By Ben Hershey, CEO, The 4Ward Group of Companies No doubt that as I am writing this, many of us have had to turn our focus to our families, our friends, and our businesses as the COVID-19 virus has rapidly spread throughout North America. The impact to many has been requirements to shelter families in…
Read MoreStrategy, Culture, and BCMC
By Ben Hershey, 4Ward Consulting Group, LLC Two manufacturers walk into the BCMC Show. One is a seasoned manufacturer who has been attending the show for many years and will learn something new, but really just goes to shake hands and be seen. The other manufacturer is new and eager, ready to learn and network…
Read MoreWhat Tools Are You Using
By Ben Hershey, 4Ward Consulting Group, LLC I really enjoy local county fairs and local attractions, because they give us an opportunity to see cool things from the past or something related to the area (and our fair has fresh roasted corn!). Recently at our local fair, the Stanwood Fair, I walked into a building…
Read MoreThe Importance of Our Leadership Actions
By Ben Hershey, 4Ward Consulting Group, LLC Recently, a Pastor at our church, Morgan MacPherson, shared a teaching from the Book of James talking about how our Actions Speak Louder. Though there was a lot of “meat on the bone” from what he shared, one of the additional thoughts I brought home was how important…
Read MoreMeasure the Tempo of Your Operation
By Ben Hershey, 4Ward Consulting Group, LLC My wife Dianne and I were recently going through some of our old family photos and I came across this photo of Dianne’s Dad, Jack Hendershot, as a teenager on his bike delivering ice in the early ’50s. For those who may not know, before the advent of…
Read MoreEmpower Your Team to Success
By Ben Hershey, 4Ward Consulting Group, LLC When I recently started some restructuring work for a client, I saw a sign posted on the wall. As shown in the image here, it took a sad approach to giving 100% at work. How many of the associates on our teams show up to work on Monday…
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