Magna Seating Automotive: Performance Issues Analysis

The institution I chose is Magna Seating Automotive in Detroit, MI. this company is a direct supplier and makes and ships automotive seats for Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, and Ford. They employ roughly 800 hourly production workers on three shifts to keep up with the constant demand if the “Big 3” demand. The seats start as a metal frame and move through an assembly line, adding parts on the seats until it is completed at the end of the assembly line. The product is then inspected, repaired if needed and placed on a truck to get shipped to its designated manufacturer for vehicle installation. Each auto seat gets installed on its own assembly line. Magna's focus is creating a safe, reliable, and comfortable automobile seat that will last as long as the vehicle but provide individuals with the luxury of coziness.

Magna is also a just-in-time (JIT) plant. This means the automotive seats are assembled in the exact order they will be installed in the automobile. For example, if General Motors is building a red truck, blue XLT truck, and black SRT truck, the seats will be built in that exact order for each vehicle's edition and should match up to the vehicle's edition and should match up to the vehicles paperwork. JIT parts require long-term agreements and supplier relationships (Boysen, Ende, Hoeck, Kauderer, 2015).

Performance Gaps

In looking at this organization, there are performance gaps and needs seen that should be addressed. For starters, there are too many seats failing the inspection and missing parts upon completion and being sent to rework. A seat can fail inspection due to parts, assembler error, not fully finishing the assembly at one’s workstation. The rework station can only hold two sets of seats per hour. However, six seats every half hour are being put in rework which leads to the seats being placed on the floor in the middle of the plant. This is also slowing up the delivery of trucks as they have to wait until a seat is assembled to substitute the one in rework. As Magna is a JIT organization, this holds up the customers in vehicle seat installation, which in turn can affect sales. Before a manager can talk a lot about performance gaps or shortfalls with employees, there have to be openly defined performance levels (Chevalier, 2014).

Goal Analysis

One the performance gap has been established, the next action is setting a reasonable goal to be met in less than a year (Chevalier, 2007). In looking at a goal analysis in the need for instruction, Magna can impose assembly training courses that aim to teach production workers how to correctly install parts at their workstation. They can also include a communication and leadership course to educate employees on how to speak up if they having trouble assembling, finding problems on a workstation, harmful to the seat, or reporting faulty work tools. It can also train leaders to come up with solutions to prevent repeat problems.

Addressing the performance gap

These courses/training can address the performance gap by identifying manufacturing/assembly issues as soon as they arise and fix the issue right there instead of having a build-up of failed products for others to work on. Furthermore, it will open up communication levels so employees can admit if there are missing, incorrect, or faulty items in their area instead of simply installing wrong parts to keep up with assembly in fear of a write up for holding up the line. This will employees the motivation to keep meeting greater goals (Chevalier, 2007).

High-level goals

High-level goals can also be set in doing the training courses that provide goals Magna aims to achieve. This included the organization increasing performance and product to raise profits. Secondly, the organization aims to provide a safe workplace for all employees. The overload of seats on the plant floor create a safety hazard and create obstructions blocking the forklifts from driving through. Lastly, Magna aims to reduce General Motors, Ford and Fiat being shut-down due to potential issues within the organization from automotive seats or Magna's direct material supplier. Performance is usually developed one step at a time and having a reasonable goal is a form of transmitting this step to employees (Chevalier, 2007).

Targeted Audience

In engaging in the curriculum, the targeted audience would be the production workers and management/supervisors. Magna's primary audience should be their supervisors and managers as they are the first ones to get the information on what needs to be done or new product builds daily. Without management knowing about new shipments, they cannot transfer this knowledge to the production teams. It's significant to communicate a clear goal and vision to employees and management to incorporate what they desire to nurture in their subordinates (Dutton & Kleiner, 2015). The production/assembly workers are the secondary audience as they are the ones who complete what is required. Once management provides them with the daily shipment information from customers, the production workers take action by creating the seats.

The impact on training needed in administration for meaningful learning should be delivered in a way to maximize learning. This includes more than one training course and training designed to show leaders how to motivate teams, ask questions, and be more open to subordinates. Slide shows can be available and scenarios on how to proceed with the steps needed to reach goals. As management consist of highly experienced professionals, a formal meeting in the conference is sought after and print materials for each individual to refer back to. Concerns or questions should be addressed as well. Furthermore, these trainings should be offered on the weekends to maximize the number of participants as most management works Monday thru Friday for the supervisors who work weekends shifts, their assistants will cover their shifts so they can attend the training.

To collect the information needed to create the wanted performance levels employees have to be asked the right questions in the right order (Chevalier, 2007). This impact on training needed in production workers for meaningful learning should be presented in a way to maximize skill. It should begin by covering the current and wanted levels of performances while getting participants feedback on how they view the difference. This includes more than one course to train every assembler on three shifts that will not interfere with production. The trainings can be held in the breakrooms with booklets provided to each employee. This audience learning style would be more informal as this group includes young, old, experienced, and in-experienced workers.

Contextual Analysis

For the instructional environmental adjustments, strategies, and action steps are required to support effective learning. The environments for both audiences should be familiar and welcoming. All courses will be face to face for personal interaction and feedback. Training should also be offered at more than one available time and minimize production halts. A website address will be provided to every employee attending training who may want to refresh themselves after training is completed. Workplace learning in various forms and meaning such as formal training, work-related learning, and learning at work was noted by researchers as the key factor (Daryoush, Silong, Omar & Othman, 2013).

Conclusion

Magna Seating Automotive is a direct supplier and makes and ships automotive seats. There are performance gaps and needs that are seen that should be addressed. For starters, there are too many seats failing inspection and missing parts upon completion and being sent to rework. This is also slowing up the delivery of trucks as they have to wait until a seat is assembled to substitute the one in rework. In looking at a goal analysis in the need for instruction, Magna can impose assembly training courses that aim to teach how to correctly install parts at workstations. A communication and leadership course can also be included in educating employees on how to speak up if they see an issue presenting itself or problems with parts.

These courses/training can address the performance gap by open up communication levels so employees can admit if there are missing, incorrect, or faulty items in their area instead of simply installing the wrong parts. High-level goals can also be set that includes the organization increasing performance and product to raise profits, aiming to provide a safe workplace for all employees and reduce the “Big Three” from being shut-down due to potential issues within the organization.

The targeted audience would be the production workers and management with the latter being the primary audience as they are the first ones to get the information on what needs to be done. The impact on training needed in administration for meaningful learning should be delivered in a way to maximize learning and the environments for both audiences should be familiar and welcoming.

References

• Boysen, N., Emde, S., Hoeck, M., & Kauderer, M. (2015). Part logistics in the automotive industry: Decision problems, literature review and research agenda. European Journal of Operational Research, 242(1), 107–120. https://doi-org.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/10.1016/j.ejor.2014.09.065
• Chevalier, R. (2007). A Manager’s Guide to Improving Workplace Performance. New York:               AMACOM. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=191898&site=eds-live
• Daryoush, Y., Silong, A. D., Omar, Z., & Othman, J. (2013). Improving Job Performance: Workplace Learning Is the First Step. International Journal of Education and Literacy  Studies, 1(1), 100–107. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1149910&site=eds-live
• Dutton, K., & Kleiner, B. (2015). Strategies For Improving Individual Performance In The Workplace. Franklin Business & Law Journal, 2015(2), 10–18. Retrieved from  https://search-ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=109025136&site=eds-live