b'JIM SCHWEIGERT PRESIDENT, GRO ALLIANCE @jim_schweigert jim.schweigert@groalliance.comGroAlliance.comSASIKUMAR (KUMAR) DEVARAJANIs Hourly Pay theMANUFACTURING ENGINEERING MANAGER, OLIVER MANUFACTURINGEnemy of Efficiency? Kumar.Devarajan@olivermanufacturing.comolivermanufacturing.comMOTIVATING EMPLOYEESis hard! One area where this is especially difficult is the tug-of-war between company efficiency and hourly wage earners.The peaks and valleys of activities during a typical season in the seed business presentSize Matters: Precision and Accuracyone of the most complicated labor manage-ment challenges of any industry. Seed com-panies need employees that are competentJUST AS FARMERSlook toaverage of all the thickness measure-in diverse activities from field production todeploy precision planting practicesments is close to the true value. Its running high-tech conditioning and packagingthis spring, seed companies expectabout precision and accuracy.equipment. Employees who fit this profile canprecision during the sorting andMost companies are able to preci-be hard to find and retain. sizing process that happens post- sion size seed, but the average seed Most businesses with cyclical activity levelsharvest. Precision during the seedsize is not accurate enough to hit the tend to prefer to pay on an hourly basis. Workerssizing process plays a vital role intrue value of seed thickness or width. get rewarded for the hours in the busy periods,agriculture, as research has shownFor truly proper sizing, we need both and the company gets a cost benefit during thethat the germination rate is better foraccurate and precise grading cylinders, slower times. While this approach makes sense,flat kernels compared to that of largewhich grade seed thickness to the it can also put the employee and company atand small kernels. Additionally, seedclosest measurement of the true value. odds when it comes to driving efficiency. size impacts gravity separation andAt Oliver Manufacturing, we engi-Employees see the benefit of extra hours atseed treatments. neer the accuracy and precision of the end of each pay period, so they are moti- For instance, large flat kernelseach sizing orifice and its correspond-vated to work the hours needed. The com- require less air for fluidization com- ing kernel presentation. This starts with pany, however, is usually searching for ways topared to large round kernels, andtooling that is designed and custom reduce overtime through driving efficiency.during the seed treatment process,made based on our specifications for The challenge becomes motivating hourlythe application rate varies to properlyeach unique sizing requirement. Every employees to get more work done in less timecover flat seed versus round seed andorifice is punched and formed inde-while knowing that the increase in efficiencyits surface area. pendently to ensure repeatable quality will mean they miss out on overtime pay. ThisToday, we mostly sort corn intofor your application. is further complicated if hourly employeesfive sizes (large round, mediumDuring each step of our Size Right have come to rely on the overtime hours.round, small round, large flat andcylinder manufacturing process, we My suggestion is to pay key field leads andmedium flat). Improvements to equip- measure and validate the cylinders key operators on a salaried basis. This will helpment and technological advance- orifices to meet a 95 percent con-match the employee goals to the companyments allow for both precise andfidence levelone of the tightest goals. When converting hourly employees toaccurate gradingyes, there is atolerances available in the market. salaried, make sure to take the historical earn- difference. Accuracy is how closeCombine this with our statistically ings including overtime into consideration. Thisthe measurement conforms to thecontrolled processes to measure and change wont automatically drive efficiency,correct value, while precision is howvalidate the cylinder orifices and we but it will at least ensure that both the com- much variation exists within a set ofprovide the most precise and accu-pany and employee benefit with results.values. For example, if you have a setrate sizing cylinder.As for how this may create new challengesmeasurement for flat corn, the flatPrecision and accuracy shouldnt when salaried employees are required to workcorn set is precisely sized if all thejust be left to plant breeders and extra overtime, I will cover that in a futurethickness measurements are closefarmers; it should be evident through-article! to each other (millimeters), while theout the value chain, including the flat corn set is accurately sized if theseed sizing process.38/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2019'