General Questions for Start of Project

SMA INTERVIEW CHECKLIST Manufacturer:

Section 1: Checklist for New Manufacturer or Contract

Date of Review: Covered Additional Information () Review: CEO/GM Awareness of this work Economic Impact Reporting Requirement Review Grant Process and Invoicing SBDC Center and Contact name, phone, email Review Michelle’s roll for contracts & schedule if Manufacturer’s Edge work Manufacturer’s Edge Contract Conditions EFRC has been reviewed and signed Manager Kick-Off Each Session Management Attend Report-Outs Logistics: Location of Training Facilities Point of contact for the training Normal Start Time for Training Projector availability Training room setup Arrange for lunch for whole day classes Preferred Parking for ME/SBDC staff Certificates at end of each session Get list of employee names

Manufacturer’s Edge © Proprietary Information SMA INTERVIEW CHECKLIST

Section 2: General Information

Names of President/CEO/GM (Contract Signer) and senior staff/team with positions. Logistics Contact: Website: Revenue for Location: Employees Floor/Office: Employees at Location: Public/Private: / Parent Company: Industries Served: Product Areas: NAICS: D&B #: ISO/AS Certified: % Non-English Speaking: Primary Languages: Union? Shifts: Manufacturer’s Connect: Entered/updated? (Open cell) Industry/Products: Company Experience Example (delete): Senior Team is very experienced within this industry with Level with Industry, half of the team having over 15 yrs at this company. They have Change, Lean/OpEx, implemented an ERP in the last 5 years twice – the first was a failure – working with Consultants, much better change management second time around. They don’t know etc.: much about Lean except for two staff members – Quality Manger and Manufacturing Engineer – say they know what to do but haven’t had time to do it. General culture of the business. Leadership and Management style. Employee engagement/involvement. Turnover issues? Succession Planning issues?: Maturity of Business: Please mark or type where you think they are on the growth curve Please mark where you think they are on the Maturity curve.

Manufacturer’s Edge © Proprietary Information List any Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities or Threats to be aware of, Strategic Direction, Business Objectives, Opportunities to exploit, Desired Improvement, and Desired Outcomes:

Manufacturer’s Edge © Proprietary Information SMA INTERVIEW CHECKLIST Section 3: Metrics tracked by the Manufacturer or us (select from list or add new):

Chec Metric Value of the Metric: k Date 1 Date 2 Date 3 Date 4 Date 5 Date 6 ones used Sales Revenue (per mo, per year) Number of FTE’s Number of Temps Hours and dollars of overtime/month Fixed Costs/Overhead $$ of Inventory and turns Delivery to customers Customer Satisfaction Defects/Scrap # new products per year Website visits, SEO ratings Capital formation /Investment made Jobs created Jobs retained/saved Increased or Retained Sales Reduction of Costs

Manufacturer’s Edge © Proprietary Information Examples of Business Maturity Models

SMA Questions to Consider These are questions to consider when meeting a Manufacturer for the first time. MEdge Regional Directors and SBDC Directors should be at this initial meeting together, at the Manufacturer’s location.

What is the primary reason you applied for assistance through this program?

What are your biggest challenges? What keeps you up at night?

Could you tell us more about that?

Manufacturer’s Edge © Proprietary Information What is it costing you?

What have you tried already to fix it? How did that work?

What do you think is the biggest barrier to fixing it?

Is this the only thing you really want to try to fix? Repeat questions.

Other Questions Company Structure and Legal Issues How is your business structured? What is the ownership? Do you have any investors?

Mission, Vision, Values in place What would you say is your company’s purpose? What values are important for you and your employees?

Company Culture How would you describe your leadership style? What three words describe your company culture? What would your employees say about your leadership style, and culture?

Goals and Strategies What is your current revenue? At what rate have you been growing? Projected revenue? What do you want your company to aim for? Do you have a process for identifying gaps in achieving your goals and addressing them? What have you tried to reach your goals?

Leadership Capabilities (including SBDC “temperament”) What would you say is the best way to work with/lead your team? What aspects of leadership and management do you think your team needs to work on? Are your supervisors effective at measuring their processes and working with their teams to improve performance?

Finances and Accounting practices How do you feel about how you are tracking costs, estimating potential jobs, managing cash flow?

Infrastructure/Information Technology Do you believe you have enough computing resources? How do you feel about the security of your network and your data?

Human Resources, Compliance How comfortable are you with your practices and policies around things like hiring, firing, wages and compensation, workman’s compensation? Do you have a plan for developing your people to fill the required skills you need to be successful?

Markets and Marketing How do you let potential customers know about you and your products? How do you find them? What are your most successful marketing tools? How satisfied are you that your website is performing to bring you sales? How do you launch new products?

Manufacturer’s Edge © Proprietary Information Customers, Sales Approach, and Customer Focus Who are your best customers? What does your sales approach look like? What are customers asking for that you want to improve on?

Products, Product Development, Product Release, IP/Patent issues How do you determine which products to develop? How smooth is it when you release them to production? (If they have an engineering function), how does the product development process work?

Manufacturing - Processes and Technology How organized do you think your production floor is? How efficient do you think your processes are? How do you feel about your product quality? How confident are you in your quality system?

New Technology and Intellectual Property Are there any specific technologies that strongly impact your business? How important is technology to your company’s competitive advantage? Are there any technology areas where you feel your company is not well positioned? Are you having any issues with your manufacturing process that might be solved by adopting new technology? Have you considered offering a new product but lack a specific capability required to produce it? Do you use or hold any patents in making your products?

Business Processes How smoothly do your administrative processes work such as order taking and release, invoicing and AR, purchasing and AP?

Materials Management, Supply Chain Do believe you have enough inventory? Too much? Do you believe you have good control over your inventory? Do you know your inventory turns? How easy is it to find suppliers who can serve you the way you need? Do you have any sources that, if they went away would make it hard or impossible to make your product?

Management/Supervisory skills, Performance Metrics, Visual Daily Management, Leader Standard Work/Time Management How do you measure the performance of your operations? Do you use data to track and solve problems and improve your systems and processes?