Alabama Operations Management Institute

    Productivity Center consultant and UA Ph.D. candidate Ben Neve was one of the fifteen students in the first AOMI class held at Eberspacher.  Ben and other class participants worked with Eberspacher team members and staff on using “just-in-time” inventory and finding the savings potential in that process.  Ben stated “One of the best things about the program is that the class is held at a host company.  The students come to a facility, look at its operations and think ‘that’s the way we do it—what’s wrong with that?’ Then they learn what’s wrong, and see how easy it can be to make changes that save both money and aggravation, and start thinking about how to apply that in their own business.”

  Therr Nowlin, melting/casting manager of Nucor Steel, agreed. “A production system is a tool, not a task. It won’t work in a company that’s resistant to change. You have to open up, and improve at every step. This training has great value—the core of this system applies to any business: respect and growth together. I’m confident I can take these tools back to my group to apply in ways that can be used and appreciated.”

   The power of the consistent use of the principles underlying the Mercedes Production System to improve both a company’s morale and its bottom line makes the Alabama Operations Management Institute an engine for economic development in yet another way. Bruce Anderson, assistant director of the Alabama Development Office, completed the program and sees it as a valuable industry recruitment and sustainment tool.  “This kind of training can provide a unique addition to the state's incentive portfolio for businesses considering an Alabama operation.  Businesses can come to Alabama and grow as a result of using it.  Also, this training will be tremendously valuable to manufacturers already operating in the state.”