Coming off the longest economic expansion in US history, American businesses were thrown into disarray as the pandemic hit and state after state implemented stay-at-home orders and the global supply chain was put on hold. Many businesses shuttered their doors completely, others cut any and all expenses they could think of, including their labor force, even with the support of loans from the federal government. But there were also a few who refused to be beaten down, seeking out unprecedented ways to keep their businesses afloat, and miraculously, even grow them.
We sat down with a few of these magic makers to share their secrets to success. How did they manage to grow their businesses in the face of the most challenging economic downturn we’ve seen in our lifetime? Read on to find out.
Pivoting a 50-Year Manufacturing Plan
At the beginning of the pandemic, Spartech’s Paulding, Ohio manufacturing plant, like many others across the country, furloughed most of its employees, reducing the workforce by almost 65%. But Senior Plant Manager, Gary Buckland, came up with a creative way to get everyone back to work and grow the team by modifying the entire manufacturing process to meet demand for pandemic safety equipment. It took a lot of teamwork and time to make the adjustments, but now Spartech’s Paulding plant is on the path to having a 40% growth in employment.
Gary’s biggest piece of advice? “Change everybody’s mindset. If I told our team earlier this spring that we would be making clear plastics, they would have said it cannot happen. To survive and thrive in a crisis, sometimes you have to think outside the box.” For 50 years the Paulding plant had been producing various colored thermoplastic polymer and high impact polystyrene materials. So to alter the entire process and production line to produce the high-demand clear plexiglass shields that every other consumer-facing business in America needed, they had a lot to learn. “The team knew this was a big opportunity for us, so everyone pulled together to make it happen,” said Buckland.
“It wasn’t easy. It took a lot of long days and long nights, and we had to make a lot of modifications to our current process. It took us the first few days to sit down and think of the changes we had to make. Then I had to get with corporate, bring up the capital requirements and investments we had to make.” Thanks to the skillset of their existing maintenance and production teams, the Spartech plant was able to build, convert, and modify their current equipment in just under 2 weeks to get the first line up and running.
While altering the entire production process was a huge lift, Gary and team weren’t in the clear just yet.
The New Normal of the Production Floor
There were so many details to consider to ensure the factory was not only ready to produce an entirely new product, but to make it safe and reasonable for every employee. While the team readily adapted to temperature checks, masks quickly became a big problem. “Working in a hot factory all-day wearing masks, your glasses steam up, so how do you work around that?” One thing creates another issue which creates another.” Social distancing required a complete remapping of the factory floor, complete with yellow tape to show people exactly where they could and could not stand. They ordered everyone anti-fog safety glasses to make wearing a mask more comfortable, and got everyone a radio so they could avoid face-to-face communication. But there were dozens of other issues around social distancing and constant sanitization that added complexity to every day that seemed near impossible to tackle, but Gary had more ideas up his sleeve.
Creative Ways to Support a Masked Workforce in the Heat
While the anti-fog glasses helped with some of the discomfort of wearing a mask in a hot factory, it didn’t completely solve the problem. While everyone in America is adjusting to this new normal discomfort, Gary knew his teams would need some extra support when facing long shifts in a factory that typically measures 15-20 degrees hotter than the outside temperature.
“Everyone understood [the need for masks], and there was very little complaining, but again it just adds to the complexity. We built cold rooms, so if people start getting too hot, they can walk in and cool off. We also supply our people with free water and fresh fruit, and we increased break frequencies.”
Shift managers now walk up and down the line to check everyone’s progress and to check in on how they’re doing. These changes have not only made the transition to working safely in a pandemic more tolerable, Gary says, “It has really helped with the teamwork aspect too.”
Compliance and Comfort with COVID Success Cards
With all the new procedures and safety equipment, the Paulding plant had to completely reinvent their daily routines. To capitalize on the teamwork energy, Gary implemented “COVID Success Cards” to track the new requirements and give employees a way to feel connected to their safety contributions.
“A lot of what we did for the disinfecting and cleaning process, we developed success cards. Every position has their own COVID success card. It’s a checklist of different things they have to clean every day or every shift. It even includes the radios, before you do a shift transfer you have to disinfect your radios. All those little things we tried to build into our process, that way when the people came back they had instructions to follow.”
Try Something New
“Don’t be afraid to try things. When I first went to my team and I mentioned this clear acrylic to my managers—many of whom have been here over 45 years—they said, “We’ve never done that. We can’t do that.” Sometimes, in desperation, it makes us think about things differently, so don’t be afraid to try things you haven’t tried before. Push yourselves, and challenge each other, but again, do it as a team.”
Break It Down
- Employee Mindset: When making any big shift at your company, or just adding new processes due to a pandemic, you need to be communicative with your team. The fastest way to get everyone on board and working together is by getting the entire team involved.
- Be Prepared: Think about the changes and challenges your employees may face, and adjust your production or process accordingly. Spartech saw that with heat production and social distancing rules, they would need to set up their plant differently. Caring about your employee’s safety makes them work better knowing they’re being taken care of.
- Teamwork: Nothing is more important than teamwork. To get through any situation successfully, it’s important to get as many minds together as you can. People have different ideas, and together you can come up with the best solution. As a team, people can make things happen at a faster rate too.
- Try Something New: Just because you have been doing something for many years, or because you are scared to change what is already working, doesn’t mean that there isn’t a better or more efficient way to be doing things. Don’t be afraid to try something new, you might find more success.
Spartech’s Paulding, Ohio plant has done an amazing job converting their production to something new. Unlike most companies, they didn’t get stuck and instead used their team to help pivot their production, turning 2020 from their possible worst year to the company’s best (so far). If you’d like to hear more directly from Gary himself, check out his full podcast interview with Janet Eastman: BUSINESS BOOMERANG. From Furloughed to FULL ON! – One Plant’s COVID Pivot.
