Tag Archives: Upgrade

How Do You Facilitate a Move to a New Space? Five Recommendations

Situation: A company has taken advantage of favorable lease rates to secure a larger space. How can they minimize work flow disruption during the move? How do you facilitate a move to a new space?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Plan the move in detail: electrical, intranet and telephone needs; office space and facilities; design or production space and facilities. If you can’t move everything over a short period of time – like a 3-day weekend – consider moving in steps, a series of discrete moves over time, each with its own requirements and timetable.
  • If you carry inventory, pre-build inventory to see you through critical steps of the move. If you have a major customer with strict delivery deadlines, try to negotiate a delivery window during which you can conduct the move. Determine if there is seasonality to order delivery that makes a particular time of year more convenient to move critical operations. Custom work will require special planning.
  • If you plan to upgrade equipment, consider purchasing, installing and operating the new equipment in the new location instead of your existing location.
  • If you will be leasing the new facilities and possibly be even if you are purchasing the facility, ask the new lessor or seller to provide cash to: (1) finance delayed shipments at a price discount and (2) cover expenses of the move and outfitting the new location to your needs.
  • Consider converting to a wireless intranet and telephone system to avoid the expense of wiring the new facility. Look at plug and go options.

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How Do You Manage Long-Term Members of the Team? Three Strategies

Situation: A company has a team that built their critical systems some time ago. The CEO is upgrading skills and adding new team members to update these systems to current technology. The challenge is that the original team members don’t see the need to update the company’s systems.  How does the CEO help them to see the benefit of upgrades? How do you manage long-term members of the team?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Given the company’s values of loyalty between company and employees, it’s not possible to just shoot these people. Given them the opportunity to remain valuable to the company. Be patient
  • If there is friction between the employees who have been with the company for a long time and the newcomers, make them work things out. Don’t try to fix it.
    • Be public about company and team objectives, expectations and timelines. Explain where and why the company is going and the potential benefit to them and to the company.
    • It will be messy at first. There is risk. However, these are mature individuals and the new people come in with a great deal of experience, so this may mitigate the risk.
    • As necessary, work one-on-one with individuals. Make it clear what is and is not acceptable behavior; for example, sniping at each other and spreading discontent.
    • Where obvious conflict occurs, have the individuals involved go talk it out over a beer. Let them know that they are expected to be able to handle and resolve their differences.
    • Don’t let individuals become destructive. If necessary, put individual long-termers in roles that are not obstructive to new initiatives.
  • Some long-termers may leave on their own and solve the problem. It will become obvious who they are.

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How Do You Respond to Demands for Process Upgrades? Five Suggestions

A company manufactures components for an important large customer. That customer now specifies that all components need to be manufactured under clean room conditions. The company can’t afford to lose this customer but is at a loss as to how they should respond. How do respond to demands for expensive process upgrades?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Start with a discussion. Ask them exactly how clean production must be, and what their concerns are. You can also offer to perform destructive testing (at the customer’s expense) to demonstrate that your current processes meet their specs.
  • Look at the overall cost of the clean room conversion versus your anticipated profits on the job. Make sure that your profits justify the conversion.
  • Increase your prices to the customer based on the new requirement, and make sure that the increased price pays for your conversion at a minimum. If they ask why your prices have increased, explain that the process that they now demand is more expensive because of the costs of operating under clean room conditions.
  • If the customer is a very large player and is doing this because of demands placed on them by their customers or regulators you may have little bargaining room other than complying and adjusting your prices accordingly.
  • Consider a prefab clean room. Especially in high tech areas like Silicon Valley you may be able to find older rooms at a bargain rate. If you don’t have space in your current location or upgrades will be very expensive consider leasing new space for this job.

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