Bracalente Manufacturing Group

By: Lindsay Nemeth, Bridget Casey, Alyssa Davies, Jenna Bowman

 Milestone
P Organizational Profile & 1
Leadership
October 9th
 Constant Evolution
FOUNDED 1950 40 YEARS OF
BY SILVENE GROWTH AS A SINGLE AND MULTI
1950 to 1990 BRACALENTE SUCCESSFUL
REGIONAL
SPINDLE SCREW
MACHINES
SUPPLIER

ERP SYSTEM LEAN JOURNEY

FAMILY BEGINS
1990 to 2005 MANAGEMENT
ISO
CERTIFICATION CONTINUOUS
TRANSFER MULTI FACETED IMPROVEMENT
CNC MACHINING CULTURE

BGL-GLOBAL STRATEGIC
2005 to Present SUPPLY CHAIN BMP CHINA
FACTORY OPENED
PLANNING
ENTERPRISE
STARTED TRANSFORMATION

1950 to Today
Organizational Description
● Family owned and operated contract
manufacturing solutions provider
● Traditions:
○ Craftsmanship

○ Family values with love and appreciation for

manufacturing

○ The art of design and pride of producing quality part

Organizational Environment
● Product offerings: Aerospace, Agricultural, Automotive, Recreational,
Electronics, Green Energy, Industrial, Medical, and Oil and Gas
● Mission: Strive to be the national leader in the precision machined parts
industry. BMG supports customers with an uncompromising sensitivity to
their needs and motivates their workforce in the efforts to maintain a
mastery in their trade.
○ Values: Maintaining a family culture for employees, customers, and suppliers by:
■ Treating others with the highest degree of dignity, equality, trust, and respect
● Workforce Profile: Job Hub (sales, customer service, global/production
planning), Engineering, Front office, Executives, and Machinist
Organizational Environment Continued
● Assets:
o Bracalente US plant located in Pennsylvania and Plant
located in Suzhu China.
o Tool Design and making
o Robotics and Automation

● Regulatory Requirements:
○ Certified: ISO 90001- 2008 and AS9100C
○ Compliant: ISO-TS 16949- 2009
○ Registrations: ITAR
o 1998 - Implemented Vantage ERP at BMC

o 2000’s - Upgraded BMC, added BGL to Vantage

o 2010 - Added BMP-China to Vantage

o 2016 - Implemented Epicor ERP 10.0 at BMP-China

o 2017 - Upgrading BMC & BGL to E10.1

o 2018 - Upgrade BMP-China to 10.1

7
 Organization Relationships
● Organizational Structure: Ron
Bracalente
○ Management/Supervisor Responsibilities: President
▪ Make available sound equipment, safety tools, and Scott Keaton Jack Tang Dave Borish
VP
necessary protective equipment to maintain a very VP of Finance GM BMP
Operations
safe working environment
Paul Nevells Brenda Jeff Dan Rich Nast
▪ Employees safety is one of the primary Business
Diehl HR
Latham Ardente Manufact.
Developmen Quality Production Manager
responsibilities t
Manager
Manager Manager

○ Suppliers and Partners: It is important to maintain a

very good relationship with suppliers and partners
because they play a big role in keeping BMG’s
business successful
Organizational Situation
● Competitive Environment
○ Competitive Positioning- BMG differentiates themselves by being involved in many
different industries.
○ Competitiveness Changes- Establishing a supply chain in India
● Strategic Context:
○ Strategic element that can improve is the sales area.
■ BMG has potential to lose a quote if they don't take time to add value to the
relationship
● Performance Improvement System
○ Key challenge: lack of clear, concise shop metrics
■ BMG is in the process of implementing shop metrics around the floor to be
able to get the most out of their employees.
 Leadership (Senior Leadership)
Vision and Values:
● BMC believes that the work conditions, wages, and benefits offered to its employees
are competitive with those offered by other employers in this area and this industry. If
employees have concerns about work conditions or compensation, they are strongly
encouraged to voice these concerns openly and directly to their supervisor or manager.

Setting Vision and Values

BMG’s goal is to maintain a comfortable working environment for everybody. BMG does this
in several ways:
● By treating each employee as an individual and encouraging each employee to develop
to their fullest potential;
● By recognizing that each employee is essential to the success and growth of BMG; and
● By maintaining direct communication with all of their employees and ensuring that
each and every employee can speak directly and openly with the management team
 Leadership (Senior Leadership)
Promoting Legal and Ethical Behavior:
○ Illustrating by operating upon principles of fair dealings
and ethical conduct
○ Promote by discussing in company handbook
● Communication
○ Town hall meeting is held every month
■ ALL Bracalente employees (every shift) attend
■ BMG go over financial goals, new customers, new
parts, and upcoming events
■ Employee of the month is revealed
Leadership (Senior Leadership)
● Mission and Organizational Performance
○ Creating an Environment for Success
■ “Get the right people on the bus and the right people in the right seats”
■ Management's job is to understand and implement what drives them to become most
successful
■ All applicants must complete the Predictive index (personality characteristics)
○ Creating a Focus on Action
■ Bottom up management method
■ Progress reports are made every four months to account for employees work
■ If progress report is above and beyond a bonus/raise is given
Leadership (Governance and Societal Responsibilities)

Organizational Governance
● Governance system
○ Ron Bracalente (CEO) put together a succession plan:
■ CFO, VPO, and VP
■ Meet twice a year
● Performance Evaluation
○ BMC is committed to a participatory process of continuous improvemnet
○ Performance evaluations are given on an annual basis within a month of
employees anniverary or review period
Leadership (Governance and Societal Responsibilities)

Legal and Ethical Behavior

● Legal and regulatory compliance
○ Performs under ISO qualification
● Ethical Behavior
○ built upon the principles of fair dealing and ethical conduct. BMG’s reputation for
integrity and excellences requires careful observance of the spirit and letter of all
applicable laws and regulations, as well as a scrupulous regard for the highest standards of
conduct and personal integrity.
○ comply with all applicable laws and regulations and expect its directors, officers, and
employees to conduct business in accordance with the letter, spirit, and intent of all
relevant laws and to refrain from any illegal, dishonest, or unethical conduct.
Leadership (Social Responsibilites)
Societal Well Being
● Safety and Health Policy—Safety is one of the most vital aspects of BMG’s operations.
○ No operation at Bracalente Manufacturing is so important that it has to be done in an
unsafe or unhealthy manner.
○ BMG policy is designed to keep the workplace at the highest level of safety and
accidents at the lowest possible level.
○ The ultimate goal is for zero accidents and injuries to occur in the workplace
● Community Support
○ BMG’s key community is local.
○ BMG participates in local bank committees as well as town meetings. A big act of
involvement includes supporting the locals by donating to causes and involving
employees in events.
○ BMG raises money to give to local technical schools for the students studying
machining. Bracalente holds a manufacturing day where 200 students come to tour the
plant.
 Milestone
2 Strategy 3 Customers
4 Measurement
Strategy Development
Incorporating Innovation within the Strategy
● Updating a very outdated ERP system
● Use of new technologies to enhance productivity and profit
● Keeping up with competitors and not allowing machines to get too outdated
● Innovating the workforce to be more well-rounded and learn new technologies
within the machining industry

* The machining industry must continuously innovate

*Wasted time is wasted cost

Collecting and Analyzing Data within the Strategy
● Data is collected through efficiency and parts per machine hours
○ Employees should be utilizing their time effectively and should be running as multiple machines at
once
● Bracalente is undergoing major changes within their ERP system to have a
centralized database which will allow them to collect and analyze data more
efficiently and effectively
○ Example:
■ The old system process consisted of many tasks being done outside the system, making it
very hard to retrieve data in a efficient way
● (Reports and data was documented outside the system in programs like excel).
■ The new system will allow data to be retrieved very easy and also allow analytics to be
measured and studied for future strategies within the organization
Key Processes Done by Workforce Vs. External
● External (Customer) Provides:
○ Product molding sketch
○ All quality regulations for the parts
○ If BMC is product testing- detailed directions on how the testing should work is done
○ Customer also Tests
● BMC Processes:
○ Manufacturer the parts- 3 parts must be sent back to the customer for a visual quality check before
mass manufacturing is done
○ Testing (If customer does not test)
○ Shipping
○ Stay connected with customers throughout the entire process to eliminate errors

*Easy product process are done overseas in China: Engineers are more knowledgeable in the U.S and can take
on the more complex tasks
Key Strategic Objectives
● Customer satisfaction
● Financial growth
● Employee focus
● Innovation within the company
● Continuous company growth
Action Plan: Key Short-term and Long-term Plans
● Short-term: Launch the ERP system by the end of 2017 efficiently and effectively
so customers and employees can utilize the system once it is launched
● Long-term: Continuous improvement of the system so that it is up to date and
maintained to keep up with future strategies
Action Plan: How Bracalente Deploys Their
Action Plan
● Brings their plans to effective action by creating time oriented goals for each
strategic objective.
○ For example: The new ERP system has a set launch date and within that end date had many other
goal oriented dates to ensure that the implementation process is on schedule.
● All employees are aware of the plan of the new ERP system and all necessary
employees are working close with the system implementation to understand the
process.
● Suppliers and partners are also aware of the new changes being made and are
working with Bracalente to ensure that everything runs smoothly once the system
is launched
Action Plan: Ensure that Financial and Other
Resources are Available
● A budget has been strategically made for the new implementation of the ERP
system.
● ROI: Success of the ERP system will outweigh its costs long term.
○ No money has been put into the the old system for many years, therefore this was a well thought
out strategic plan that included the fundings that would be necessary to achieve such a huge plan
● Other resources: employees, analytical information, customers
Modifications to Strategic Action Plan
● Harley Davidson
○ Required files will not be ready for initial launch date
● Launch Date
○ Delayed for better efficiency assurance and to allow more time for minimal errors at the start date
Voice of the Customer-- Customer Listening
Current Customers

● Sift through the noise

● Customers in different markets have different drivers

Potential Customers

● Listen with an inquisitive ear

● Risk assessment
Product Offerings and Customer Support
(1) Product Offerings
● Build business cases for capital investment
● Actually selling the service of making a company’s product
● Establish the need of the customer

(2) Customer Support

● Lines up customer contacts by personalities and customer needs

● Correspondence through e-mail and phone

(3) Customer Segmentation

● Large variety of products

● Many different industries involved
● Different drivers for each market
Relationship Management
 Milestone 4
Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge
Management
Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge
Management
● Inhouse
○ Self auditing
○ KPI’S
○ Daily updated reports on shop floor
○ Created Quality metrics, operational metrics, risk and gap metrics
● Outsourced
○ PMPA: Precision Machined Products Association
■ Economic report
■ Industry Trend Report
● Best feedback comes from customer rejecting a part
● GAINsharing is an incentive system that involves all BMG employees in the
improvement of organizational performance. It measures the level of improvement
and shares the financial value of the “GAIN” with participants.
PMPA Report
Performance Measures
● The main areas they track are weekly management goals, daily KPI’s, Economic
reports, and daily shop metrics.
● BMC keeps track of weekly management goals in an excel sheet that produces a
weekly report.
● Has ROCKS which are what stand in the way and need to be moved to have
improvement
Customer Data/Customer Voice
● Uses customer satisfaction reports and keeps track of the data.
○ Tracked customer feedback from quality, delivery, packaging and responsiveness.
○ conducts phone calls, surveys, request forecasts, and EDI 'S
● They set a goal and then created a visual graph to achieve that goal.
● BMC attends trade shows, aerospace shows, gun shows (shot show) to keep up to
date on industries.
● References PMPA (website) to research industry trends.
● BMC uses their website to track traffic on the website.
○ HubSport which is a software that fuels growth and builds deeper relationships.
■ an inbound marketing and sales platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert them
into leads, and essentially close the customer
Performance Analysis and Review
● Senior leaders use:
○ PMPA (precision Machined Products Association) to produce a yearly report on business trends
and Economic Report.
■ The Business trends report goes over sales outlook, lead times, employment, profitability, and
the average length of first shift hours (OT).
■ Compare to competitors in the same industry and see where they rank.
○ BMC has reviews monthly, quarterly and yearly.
○ The upper management meetings that are conducted filter downwards to top management,
supervisors and town hall meetings. BMC highlights that if your employees don't know marks, how
will they meet them?
● At the end of the quarter, BMC reviews ROCKS (in the excel sheet mentioned
earlier)
○ ROCKS are the problems that are in the way and assigned people to come up with a plan. The
review period is to see if the problem was solved or what needs to happen to stay on track.
Information and Knowledge Management
● Quality
○ BMC verify and ensures the quality of organizational data and information by abiding by
procedures and guidelines that were put in place by upper management to protect information.
■ Accuracy and validity: Audits, Back up from the cloud and on site, matching history
■ Integrity: Hardware and software upgrades
■ Reliability: Cloud storage, restore next day
■ Currency: Monthly, Quarterly, and yearly data review

● Availability
○ Ensures the availability of organizational data and information by providing various platforms to
share the information.
■ Electronic, written, and meetings.
■ Employee’s receive information through the town hall meetings. In addition, there is
company objectives board that shares graphs and goals of the company.
 Milestone
5 Workforce & 6 Operations
Workforce Environment
● Assessing Workforce Capability and Capacity Needs:
○ As new innovations and technologies emerge in the machinery industry, it is important to asses the
capabilities of the workforce and ensure that each employee is capable of keeping up with the
innovations.
○ Capacity should be at the maximum, but also efficient. Evaluating where changes can be made in
processes is crucial to keep machines running to its maximum capacity
● Recruiting/Hiring:
○ Willing to learn more than one job (Bracalente emphasizes a diverse employee)
○ Passionate about the machining industry
○ Willing to learn new technologies
● Preparing for changes in the workforce
○ Very open door community
○ All employees are updated on changes taking place within the organization
○ Additional training if needed
Workforce Climate
Environment Benefits

● Safety is the most vital aspect of operations ● Medical insurance

● Safer environment = more efficient and ● Life insurance
profitable ● 401 (k)
● Goal: zero accidents and injuries in the ● Short-term disability
workplace ● Holiday pay
● Managers provide: ● PTO
○ Sound equipment ● Tuition reimbursement
○ Safe tools ● Workers compensation
○ Personal protective equipment
● Social Security
● Employees expected to:
● Unemployment compensation
○ Participate in safety meetings
○ Follow safety rules
○ Contribute to a safe and healthy workplace
Workforce Engagement
● Employees have the ability to access all data and
information online and through interaction like meetings.
● Data sharing also happens through email systems.
● Most important strategy to build and share organizational
knowledge is at the town hall meetings.
○ Top management, supervisors and employees discuss best practices at
their town hall meetings.
○ By sharing and discussing best practices BMC can help implement
this into other plants.
● Company objectives board that shares graphs and goals of
the company.
● Encourages a culture that not only is engaged in the
company, but also in the community (one big family)
Product Design
● High Volume
● Machine Parts
● Can be machined on a CNC, Swiss, Mori, Hydromat.
● No more than 10 operations
● Can align with our Global Supply Chain
Key Processes
● Production processes
● Assembles
● Cutting Bar stock
● All machining operations

Quality Processes

● DMR’s
● Nonconformance
● First Article procedures

Office transactions

● Buying Global Parts

● Contract Review
Process Design & Requirements
1. Purpose

2. Scope

3. Procedure

4. Safety depended on what process

Improvements
“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” - W. Edwards Deming

Getting unstuck out of our old ways

Assigning a lead of each work area to optimize each process from Making a PO to
Machining a part

Example: Moving all inventory into one company so that MRP can plan for us and
take away the process of looking into two companies to find the Inventory.
3-D Printing
Making our quality process run more accurately and efficiently

Risk- Capital, time to program it

Reward- having products are that meet measurements

Supplier Selection
1. Do they have the right equipment?
2. Are they setup to inspect finished parts?
3. What is there capacity?
4. Lead time?
5. Sustainability?
6. Work Culture?
Supplier Measurement
● Quality

● Delivery

● Price

● Service

● Process Control

● Planning
Supplier Feedback
Supplier report card with measurements 1-5

Make quarterly to yearly visits depending on location

Back charge if service is unacceptable

Go on site to help understand and fix

Innovation
Has to be needed

Clear entrance

Clean Exit

Funded by ROI

Increase of Productivity

Clear goal: Beat out Competition