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Category: Uncategorized

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Departments Working Together

The Power of Teamwork

Do you ever find yourself wondering how other departments and their jobs within fit in the grand scheme of things at your organization? Internal and external customer requests and demands are featured prominently in daily work. It is easy to focus solely on current priorities and not think about the overall impact that your work has on other parts of your organization. Additionally, if you focus exclusively on your own priorities, you tend not to notice what your fellow employees are working on and how it helps the company as a whole.

At Douglas, we strive to appreciate the work done by other departments. There are several benefits to this behavior, such as:


  • Sharing of ideas: When other departments share how they do their work, you have the opportunity to look at the way you do your work through your colleagues’ “fresh set of eyes.” There are often opportunities for improvements that are brought to light when fellow employee owners ask questions about your department. Perhaps they don’t see why a task is done in a particular way. Be careful not to answer immediately with a “we have always done it that way” response before seriously considering the question. There may be a great opportunity to improve your processes that may be highlighted by the question.

  • Instill a sense of camaraderie: When you work with other departments and learn each other’s motivations and how it relates to the entire company, you often gain a feeling of “we are in this together” with your fellow employee owners. You may also gain a greater sense of the challenges that other departments face on a daily basis. This increased understanding will often lead to empathy and a willingness to help other departments meet and exceed their goals, along with your own.

  • When we understand more about other departments in our company, there are often opportunities to eliminate waste that come to light. These opportunities include eliminating unnecessary steps, adjusting of schedules to match requirements more closely, adjusting order quantities to optimize efficiencies, etc.

You may also personally benefit when you make decisions while considering other department’s needs. Developing your personal skillsets when working with other departments can increase your value to the company. Analyzing the impact of decisions on how they affect all areas in the company is a critical skill. Having this wider perspective is often valued highly when considering who will be assigned future leadership positions.

Employee owners of Douglas Finishing took time to recognize some specific fellow employee owners that helped with projects that span departments:


  • Joe in Quality Control is always willing to help me get to the root cause of something and always has a great attitude. He also takes the time to teach me how to navigate through our online data system so I can look for answers in the future independently. He is a true example of the Douglas Values.

  • Julie in the Accounting group provides monthly reports. Previously we took the data she provided, manipulated it so it was more usable for us and evaluated our performance in each area. When I was explaining to Julie the way that I modified her report so our team could better utilize the data, she enthusiastically offered to change the way she provides the data with the modifications we needed already in place. It was a bit of extra work for her to set it up at first, but for over a year now, I no longer have to go in and change the reports before we can use them internally. This change has saved Douglas Finishing many hours of work to modify the reports. It has also allowed the reports to be sent right to the areas that need the reports immediately, instead of waiting for me to modify the reports before sending them to our teams.

  • Joe, Powered Truck Subject Matter Expert (SME), said that going back to October of 2017, we made 23 (or 1.24/month) non-preventative maintenance (PM) requests to vendors. Since March 2019, we have only contacted vendors two times for non-PM issues. To accomplish these improvements, Douglas Finishing took over scheduling of all PMs for the four powered trucks we lease, reviewed and modified the PM increments, and put a Critical Process Tracker process in place for both requesting and tracking PM/Non-PM’s. Now Douglas Finishing is communicating when PM’s can be done, leading to less down time. The Douglas Finishing Powered Truck Maintenance Coordinator now regularly reviews performance with the Douglas Powered Truck SME. This collaboration has reduced the communication required between Douglas Finishing and the vendor by the Douglas Powered Truck SME. This change has led to the following improvements:
    • More of a focus on improvement versus just maintaining
    • Identified additional issues and improvements at Douglas Finishing
    • Better control and reduction of maintenance costs at Douglas Finishing
    • Powered Truck vendor providing better maintenance. Due to our building layout, shifts, the volume of exterior storage, and how forklifts are used, the vendor now supports Douglas Finishing per our specific needs
    • The process also has eliminated confusion uncertainty between the three groups due to more direct communication
    • Better safety and less downtime around the Powered Trucks, including safety by the vendor when performing maintenance

We have seen many more benefits of working on projects that involve multiple departments and look forward to taking on even more of these challenges in the upcoming year to better serve and support our internal and external customers.

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The Impact of COVID-19 on Packaging

Douglas’ Response & Readiness

What we’re experiencing together is unprecedented. As information and guidelines evolve, Douglas employee owners are adapting and taking steps to protect the continued safety and well-being of our employees, customers and suppliers.

As a supplier to food manufacturing companies, Douglas is deemed to be a critical business within the meaning of the federal guidance on COVID-19 and those states that have issued executive “stay-at-home” orders. As such, in compliance with the applicable federal guidelines and state issue directives, Douglas is continuing to operate and perform its critical and essential services; and our employees are permitted under U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency’s guidance to travel to and from their assigned work locations with exemption from state or local restrictions including closure orders, curfews, shelter-in-place orders and other mobility restrictions.

Employees & Visitors

In an ongoing effort to maintain the health of our employees, customers, vendors, business and our community, Douglas has implemented the practices outlined below. These practices are informed by guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the White House Task Force and the Minnesota Department of Health.

Hygiene and etiquette

Good hand hygiene and cough/sneeze etiquette are recognized as key practical measures in the fight against further spread of COVID-19. Douglas is actively reminding its employee-owners to be mindful of these practices.

​Social distancing

Employees and visitors need to maintain at least 6 feet of distance between one another.

​Meetings and gatherings​

​Douglas is discontinuing in-person meetings of 10 or more individuals. For meetings under 10 people, participants are expected to practice smart hand hygiene and safe social distancing. Where possible, web conferencing tools are encouraged in lieu of face-to-face meetings.​​

Facility

Douglas maintenance and cleaning personnel have enacted a disinfecting routine where chairs, desks, railings, door knobs, tables, microwaves, refrigerators and common areas are sanitized daily. All common areas and shared work spaces have been stocked with disinfectant wipes.

​Work-from-home

To maximize social distancing and minimize potential for exposure and transmission, staggered work-from-home schedules have been established for employees who are able to meet work-from-home criteria.

​High risk individuals

For individuals identified as high risk by the CDC, a number of options have been created that are designed to create social distancing and minimize chances for exposure.

​Visitors

All visitors are pre-screened prior to arrival and/or entry of a Douglas facility. This screening requires that visitors provide satisfactory responses to key risk-assessment questions. Inbound deliveries are subject to a specific screening protocol that mitigates risk while enabling the successful execution of all deliveries.

​Factory Acceptance Tests

While our preference has always been to encourage in-person Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) for our equipment, current events suggest this may become increasingly difficult and unsafe. With this in mind, we encourage all customers with machines in process to consider a Remote-FAT (R-FAT). We believe this is our best opportunity to limit unnecessary travel, maintain recommended social distancing guidelines, and ensure timely project completion. The employee owners of Douglas are committed to maintaining your project’s schedule, and we are well positioned to follow through on that commitment. In support of safety and schedule integrity, we have implemented, tested, and successfully executed R-FATs. R-FATs are structured into four phases:

  • Pre R-FAT alignment and execution of FAT protocols; protocols can be based on Douglas standards, or your process as agreed upon.
  • Real-time R-FAT engagement utilizing live Zoom web conferencing technology to perform machine walk-through and test runs.
  • Multi-angle high-definition video documentation demonstrating runs of all sizes at contractually agreed upon rates.
  • Post R-FAT Zoom meetings to review documentation and installation, and to address remaining open items.

​Travel

If air travel is deemed essential, employees are subject to the same screening protocol enacted for visitors prior to returning to the Douglas facilities.

Supply Chain

Daily briefings

Our Director of Contracts & Materials Management is holding daily briefings with his team to continually assess the strength and resiliency of our supply chain.

Current status

At this time, our ongoing evaluation indicates little to no impact on our ability to procure and/or manufacture parts for new machines and replacement orders.

Mitigating measures

To mitigate anticipated disruptions, Douglas has developed and is executing contingency plans in cooperation with its supply chain partners. This is in addition to our already strong position as a vertically integrated company with a full-service, precision machine shop operating across three shifts to ensure our customers continue to get the parts they need, when they need them.

Our commitment

We value the trust you place in Douglas and understand the concerns this pandemic creates. We will remain diligent in our effort to monitor this situation, and we are committed to swift communication as new information becomes available. We intend to remain transparent and accessible as you conduct your own risk assessments. With that in mind, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have additional questions or comments regarding the impact of COVID-19 on Douglas’ supply chain.

Services

Douglas has seven service regions in the United States as well as coverage for Canada and Mexico. All regions are supported by an experienced and talented team of remote and factory-based service technicians. Despite the potential for further travel restrictions, we will do all we can to continue to support any service need you may have within the U.S.

Need to contact Douglas service personnel? Main Service Line: 320.763.5507

​​Current status

We are following the US State Department’s level 4 travel advisory which dictates that our Service Technicians remain in the United States. However, we are working on an as-needed basis with members of our Sales team to support customers outside the United States.

​Risk mitigation

We are actively discussing these risk scenarios and working through mitigating alternatives. We will update with progress as it becomes available. In the meantime, we encourage customers to communicate proactively with our Service team.

Sales

New Projects

Our experienced sales team consisting of Regional and Beverage Sales Managers, Sales Engineers, Application Engineers, Field Modification Application Engineers and Replacement Parts Specialists all stand ready to support you on any new or in-process applications.

​If you have an existing contact within any of our sales teams, don’t hesitate to reach out to them for information and/or support.

​Commitment

Now more than ever, we remember and appreciate that the work we do helps innumerable food, beverage and other CPG companies feed and supply our world. This is such important work in normal circumstances, but even more so in these uncertain times. Rest assured that all of us here at Douglas are both committed and proud to stand with you as we navigate this challenge together.

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Robotics in Packaging

Douglas Machine SCARA Robotics

 

Wikipedia defines the SCARA acronym as a “Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm.” Around Douglas, we just refer to it as a SCARA robot arm. Wikipedia goes on to say, “By virtue of the SCARA’s parallel axis joint layout, the arm is ‘compliant’ in the XY direction but rigid in the Z direction, hence the term: Selective Compliant.”

 

How did Douglas arrive at utilizing SCARA robotics? A few years ago we developed a “variable pitch” solution for accumulating pouches and loading them into top load cases. This variable pitch technology enabled us to easily adjust the collation system to allow for pouches of various thicknesses and pack patterns. Servo technology has given us variable pitch benefits; however, the ability to have both variable pitch and variable path was even more desirable as it would provide for enhanced flexibility.

 

Third party robot manufacturers, by nature of their design (having multiple servo controlled joints), offer a variable pitch and variable path solution. The Douglas Research & Development (R&D) team brought in a commercially supplied 6-axis robot to test. They were able to collate pouches and present them to a top load case successfully; however, were not able to realize the desired footprint, cost target, speed and payload capability by incorporating a third party supplied robot.

 

This finding led the R&D team to develop their own solution. Ultimately the TriVex SL product line that collates and top loads corrugated cases at high speeds within a compact layout, was born. Developing our own robotic solution provided multiple benefits. Higher payloads are achieved via a direct interface to the partner-supplied Rockwell controller and eliminates an additional third party controller that would require more space and cost.

 

Additional advantages to our SCARA robot solution, include:

  • Modularity and standardization of the arm
  • Fewer parts and reduced labor
  • Highly accurate life cycle calculations
  • Virtually no maintenance
   

Currently, SCARA robot technology is being utilized in multiple areas within Douglas. You can find this technology in the TriVex SL platform, CpONE case packer platform, 60-Series and 80/105-Series Contour Shrink Wrappers and INSITE Case Erectors. Douglas really appreciates customers who possess an early technology adoption mindset and who recognize the value this technology provides.

 

As we are sure you can imagine, developing our own SCARA robotic solution has been challenging! Have you heard the phrases hard/easy and easy/hard? Essentially, if you tackle the hard things first, it should make it easier down the road compared to vice a versa. As time passes, we will make incremental improvements and gain more knowledge and application skills. This process will make us more efficient in providing solutions encompassing this technology to our customers. As it stands now, we are conducting hard development work on the technical side, but as history has proven with other developments, it will get easier and provide great value!

 

Contact us today to learn more about our SCARA robot technology and the advantages it can bring to your secondary packaging applications!

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Getting Onboard with an Updated Onboard User Manual

Douglas Onboard User Manuals

Change is hard. Let’s say you decide one day that your kitchen needs a fresh coat of paint – a nice, bright yellow rather than the heavy burgundy of years past. Easy, right? All you have to do is pick out the color, grab a brush, and voila! A few hours’ work and you can relax with a latte. Except the yellow didn’t cover the burgundy like you were hoping. So several days and twelve coats later, you and your well-used paintbrush finally persevere. Your yellow kitchen gleams. Your friends and family ooh and aah, and, by the way, the value of your house just went up a notch.

While the Corporate Training Services department of Douglas hasn’t been flinging paint around (though that would be fun), they have been wrestling with the Douglas Onboard User Manual; converting it into a new template to improve its look and function. Easy, right? Well …

Let’s back up a bit. An Onboard User Manual is a machine’s Service Manual converted into an on-screen format that can be viewed and navigated through the machine’s HMI touch screen. The process to convert the file, called Distilling, took an average of 50-75 minutes. During that time, you didn’t touch your computer. You didn’t breathe near your keyboard. If you did more than that, your computer would crash and you would have to start the process again. They didn’t know why. It had just always been that way. You might, if desperate, glance sideways at the sloth-like status bar to see how much time was left before you could resume using your computer. The only upside was that it gave us time to proof manuals, sort through OEM buckets and do other tasks that did not require the use of our computer. The downside was, it wasn’t always at the most convenient time.

The rollout of the new Douglas logo at the end of 2018 provided the perfect opportunity for the team to dig in, investigate the long conversion time, and spruce up the Onboard User Manual to a nice, bright yellow (or a clean, modern look incorporating the new logo). They planned for this process to take about a week.

Five months, help from one Adobe FrameMaker script writer in New York, and several nervous tics later, the new Onboard User Manual was ready for launch. Time to relax with a latte!

 

But here’s the super fun part. With all the updates and improvements to the template, instead of distilling for 50-75 minutes, we’re down to an average of two minutes. You read that right … two minutes! By rearranging how the text and graphics are presented, the team also reduced a significant number of pages from the Onboard User Manual—which brings the file size down and provides a better experience for our customers, always our number one priority. This change definitely brought value to the customer up a couple of notches!

The easy route would have been plugging the new Douglas logo into the old template and continue working with the excessive amount of time it took to distill a file. That route would not have served our customers, our team, or our company well. It was time to get onboard and make the change. It took teamwork, perseverance and a lot of patience on everybody’s part, but we chose the difficult, yet ultimately more rewarding route: working toward a positive change.

We look forward to help you make the changes you need to positively impact your packaging processes. Contact us today to learn more about the value-add services we offer, our secondary packaging equipment and our commitment to customer value.

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Supporting Education and Experience Beyond the Classroom

Experience Beyond the Classroom

Douglas Finishing is all about the machines of today, but is also excited to support the mechanical enthusiasts of the future. As part of promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Douglas Finishing donated anodizing and powder coating services to two high school robotics teams. The two teams visited Douglas in May of 2019 to demonstrate their robots and wow employees with their accumulated mechatronics skills. With all these elements together in one place, our largest conference room at Douglas was buzzing with the sound of moving robotic machines and the chatter of excited onlookers. The robots picked up balls and discs and placed them in target receptacles. Each robot was directed with the help of an operator through a video feed.

Mike Eye, Director of Douglas Finishing, explained how Douglas Finishing helped the teams out. “Douglas Finishing has donated finishing services to the robotics teams for the last couple of years. We invited the two teams to come and show us their robots in action. When looking at the finish on the robots, the blue parts are blue-anodized and the black and yellow ones are powder coat on aluminum.”

A technology instructor at one of the schools described the effort behind the sport. “The kids start with a working problem: The question they ask is what are we going to do to solve in this problem? They think through the whole engineering cycle and work their way back. The kids will then go through the process to build the robot – fabrication, automation, drafting. It takes weeks to build a prototype. The kids test it, break it, and then go and compete. It’s a costly process, so fundraising is a must for us.”

Preparing for competitions takes a good portion of the year. “You register for a competition in the fall. There will be about 63-65 teams at these local competitions. You learn the game by the end of January and you have six weeks to design, build, program and test the robot.” After six weeks when the machine is ready, it is mothballed until competition time, without access to tinker any further. “There are nine different weeks of competitions. You compete with all teams in a round-robin format. You randomly get paired with teams and you play three robots versus two robots. There are eight to eleven qualifying rounds. The top eight ranked team captains choose two robots to be on your team. The number one captain gets to pick a robot. This continues to the eight captain, then the eighth captain picks again and descends to the first captain. It’s single elimination, best two out of three.”

The instructor emphasized the reason for reaching out to local communities and businesses goes further than the double-digit costs associated with the competitions; it is about the future of the participants. He said, “Getting closer to businesses is a great benefit to the kids. Having Douglas Finishing and Douglas Machine be so gracious to say ‘Come on up – we’ll support your robot’ is fantastic. Bringing the kids here to tour their facilities would be my goal. Educating our kids is what this is about.”

That is something Eye agreed with. Douglas Finishing is proud to be a partner in the two robotics teams’ endeavors. “It’s a great group and we’re just happy to help them out any way we can.”

Even though competition results are not guaranteed, the instructor said people do take note of the excellence of the robots. “At many competitions, we’ve received the Quality Award for the appearance and the quality of our robot machines. That’s due to Douglas Finishing completing the look with their finishing services for us. It really helps us to stand out among the crowd.” Overall, the teams have done well over the years. “We have been involved in competitions since 2013 and every year we have made it to the state championship. There are over 200 teams in the state. The top 36 teams make it to the state championship and we have always been in the top 20.” This year was no different. One of the teams went on to win the Minnesota State Robotics Championship! It is their second consecutive title. Douglas Finishing and Douglas Machine are extremely proud of the team!