My perception of Jacobsen is coloured by what I read on the forum (not always good), except some posts by some of their distributors; a trip for training at Racine, after they had moved everything out except the training room; a stint at a Jacobsen Distributorship, when the SV and GKV first came out (not the best of times) and GCSAA conventions. 
If you’d been on the TURFtech Forum the last few years you couldn’t miss some of the posts regarding Jacobsen equipment. Most of them had to do with parts availability and what techs were going through because of it. During that time, one of the Jac people, Phillip Crisp, had been on the forum helping where he could. From an observer’s point of view, this wasn’t always pleasant, but it was a plus, and then he got promoted.
Later, at last year's GIE convention, several of us from TURFtech, Skip Heinz, Steve Spuhler, and myself, met Phillip and addressed their recent lack of participation on the site. Our feeling was the lack of participation was not only hurting Jacobsen, but causing serious problems for techs. We were taken up the chain of command till we came up with a person who would make sure a person would monitor the site. That alone made the trip worthwhile.
Their involvement with the site since then has given me a sizeable contact list for their company. This list goes from Vice Presidents to the people in parts. This involvement with the site and the desire to resolve issues lead to several phone conversations with Mark Williams, Sales Director of their Jacobsen Direct initiative in the Carolinas. One thing lead to another and in December I was on my way for a visit and tour with Mark and Greg Hewitt, Executive Vice-President.
It wasn’t at all what I had expected. Corporate Headquarters is in a non descript office building they share with the University. No sprawling campus, no bling, very professional and to the point. And from what I could tell getting a little cramped.
What amazed me was the openness of the people I met and their desire to improve. I was tempted to say be Number One. That may be a goal, but I don’t see them going about it in that fashion.
My general idea of what Number One means would be the top sales figure for the industry in equipment. I think we’ve all heard about,
 
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Eric Kulaas & Greg Hewitt at GIE |
“buying market share”, sell the equipment low and make it up in parts. That does get the figure up but disgruntled customers will usually only go through that once with a company. I don’t see them going with that model which is why I say being Number One does not seem the immediate goal.
What I saw was a company that is rebuilding itself and looking under every stone in the process. I don’t see anything there as being sacred, everything is open for improvement. And that aspect, improvement, is what seems to be driving the company.
After our meeting at the office, we headed to the plant where we were met by Pete Slaymaker. Pete’s official title is “Continuous Improvement Leader”. After getting our safety glasses we proceeded through the glass doors into the plant entry way. This is a semi-circular area highlighted by a free standing pictorial display of Jacobsen’s equipment achievements over the last 75 years. This is surrounded by some early and current mowers. The feeling one gets is of tradition and history.
Having never been in a turf equipment manufacturing plant before, I only had vague ideas of what to expect. It was big, but not big enough; there were all kinds of noises, but it wasn’t loud; it was light, it smelled fresh, it was organised, clean, and in some way, sectioned by different requirements. It was 30 something degrees outside but comfortable inside. There were no people standing around, all seemed to have purpose.
After walking through the plant viewing some of the areas, a pattern of how it was laid out began to form. In a nutshell, it was so the least amount of effort produced the maximum amount of results. I know that sounds like the obvious but we know from our own experience that improvement is a continual ongoing process.
A case in point; the reels have their own section of the plant. Envision a circle. The basic parts, shafts, spiders and blades are brought in one area. The spiders are welded to the shafts and then the blades are individually inserted and welded. Then they go to be checked and ground, then to their own powdercoat system. This one area is just about the basic reels, and it leads into the reel assembly area. It’s compact and the product flows through in a natural progression. It’s that way for each item that goes through.
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Hydraulic black room to check for leaks with ultraviolet. |
While we were touring the plant, what really began to peak my curiosity, was their philosophy. I had been introduced to it in my meeting with Mark and Greg but the plant was where it seemed to be embodied.
Before my visit I had scoured Jacobsen’s website for company info and then motored over to Textron’s. You don’t have to dive to deep to come across Six Sigma. The best short description of this I found at www.isixsigma.com:
Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach to process improvement aimed at the near-elimination of defects from every product, process, and transaction. The purpose of Six Sigma is to gain breakthrough knowledge on how to improve processes to do things BETTER, FASTER, and at LOWER COST. It can be used to improve every facet of business, from production, to human resources, to order entry, to technical support. Six Sigma can be used for any activity that is concerned with cost, timeliness, and quality of results.
It provides the businesses with the tools to improve the capability of their business processes. This increase in performance and decrease in process variation leads to defect reduction and vast improvement in profits, employee morale and quality of product.
I viewed this in action in the corporate office, viewing the assembly line, and in talking with the supervisors on the plant floor. It seemed to be just about everywhere. It was nowhere more apparent then when talking with the shift supervisors in their areas of responsibility.
Each section of the plant, had well defined perimeters. An example would be the GK line. You could see the path that the mowers made through the plant with stops at various stations for different additions. This path was marked out with rectangular boxes painted on the floor. Each box contained some item needed in the process. It could be a rack of hydraulic lines or a workbench with torque wrenches, but each and every item had a specific spot for it.
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Welding reel spiders |
In each section was a kiosk. It was about 2ft X 2ft and 6ft tall. Each one had similar information on the sides. Pictures and info on each person assigned to that group; awards that they had received; and on almost everyone, detailed information on how they had improved their group. Each kiosk also had a door and inside was safety gear the group would need in an emergency.
Each one would also have information about their last Kaizen. When I had talked to Mark prior to the visit he had mentioned that they had people over from Japan helping them setup the plant for efficiency using these principles. The only thing I had heard coming out of Japan and setting up structures was Feng Shui. My wife is interested in that and now we have a purple back and red front doors. I’m not sure what I expected but it sure wasn’t Feng Shui.
Kaizen is another business philosophy that Jacobsen uses. From what I saw it’s more of a tactical program and from what I gathered, very intensive. An example of its use would be a bottleneck in production. A team would be created, usually several from that section, possibly an engineer, a person from the section before it, maybe one after it, and any support personnel needed, maybe someone from purchasing or the paint area. Whoever they thought they needed, they brought in. Through a series of processes the team will analyze what the problem is, ways to rectify it, and implement the changes immediately.
Kaizen means continuous improvement and from what I saw involves just about everyone in the section. The supervisor of the laser cutters was telling me that they were working extreme amounts of overtime trying to keep up with production. One of the problems was whatever material they needed; they had to get out of a stack. These are 4 x 8 sheets of steel so you know this was no small feat. What really helped was installing auto loaders for the machines. One loader fed the thin steel cutters and another for the thick. Deliveries were scheduled “Just in time” so the material could be put on the racks immediately, reducing handling time.
I’m sure there was a lot more involved than that, but the bottom line was they now have very little (if any) overtime and are on time as far as production. Each station was like that; each one had their own story.
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Celebrating Their History |
I’d have to say that learning about he company’s philosophy behind building the equipment, was as interesting as seeing it built. It’s a process oriented operation where people continually look for ways to make a better product. For example, they have a separate dyno for the Greens Kings. All the wheels turn rollers with resistance, the steering is cycled, the reel motors are bolted into fixtures with resistance and each component is cycled numerous times. Then it’s loaded onto a lift, in a blackout room, and an ultraviolet light is used to look for any leaks. They’ve just added a larger room and dyno for larger equipment. Every fairway mower goes through the same process.
When a mower goes down the line, and the hydraulic lines are added, they’re marked, and then torqued. At each station following, those lines are checked again. Each station not only checks their work, but the work done previously. There is no, “That’s not my job”.
The principles behind this are driven by continuous improvement, zero defects, and improved customer satisfaction. We can call these philosophies, but they can be measured and treated as a science in that they can be measured and results can be verified.
What I saw gave me a new perspective on the equipment we use. I always thought it was pretty much hand made. It is, but it was great to see that the people who were making it were as interested in what they were doing, as I am in my shop.
What impressed me the most was the extent that this was a team effort that went from upper management to the people on the shop floor. Their philosophy of operation isn’t for the faint at heart. It demands everyone be on their game at all times.
This was quite different from my impression of Jacobsen. Most of my perception of the company was taken from comments on our bulletin board. Most were about techs not being able to get parts for their equipment. While a good portion of that can be traced to their move from Racine to Charlotte, one couldn’t help but form a fairly negative opinion. That is NOT the same Jacobsen I saw in December.
Taking off my reporters hat, and putting on my shop cap, I can say I was impressed enough to call our distributor when I got back and request some demos.
Visit themilitantmechanic.com the great blog by Eric to get your fix of the militant mechanic.
