The concept is not a new idea. It evolved from previous definitions and practices of systems engineering. The use of IPD in commercial industry has resulted in successful and efficient product development. Bosma was chosen for its experience and publicized success in IPD, as well as for its understanding of the problems of implementing IPD. Bosma is a small machine shop company that generates some $6 million in annual revenues. Marinus Bosma, a Dutch immigrant, started the business in 1973 in a barn behind his home. He wanted to fabricate machine bases, frames, weldments, and other specialty products. It was a typical job shop, and Mr. Bosma was the sole manager over twelve employees. The company grew rapidly to about

seventy employees today, and is now run by President and Chief Executive Officer Lee Bosma and Vice President of Engineering Ben Bosma, both sons of Marinus. Marinus Bosma now works as a consultant in company research and development.

IPD IN BOSMA

The principles of IPD, with its concept of teaming, represent a general framework that may be tailored to the specific needs of an organization. It may be helpful to draw an analogy to manufacturing a car. AU cars have the same basic purpose-to provide transportation. They share several common features, such as wheels, doors, seats, and an engine. Each car manufacturer

takes the basic idea of "car" and determines design, performance, features, and color. In the same way, Bosma Corporation used the basic principles of IPD to implement a teaming approach to product development. Within Bosma, the teams are referred to as self-directed work teams (SDWTs). A self-directed work team integrates personnel from all areas involved in manufacturing a product to address problems, work together, and exchange ideas. SDWTs also empower employees to take on more responsibility and make decisions in areas previously reserved for management, such as subcontractor qualification, inventory management, and customer relations. This study focused on Bosma's M- 1 tank ammunition door SDWT which manufactures 300-pound steel doors for the Army's M-1 tank. Interviewees were divided into upper management and team members. Upper management consisted of the vice president for engineering, the chief executive officer, the plant manager, and the team leader. Team members included two computer numerical control (CNC) operators, two edge work machine and mill operators, and two coating specialists

Work environment

The M- 1 tank ammunition door project was Bosma's first venture into a long term production contract. Previously, the company operated mainly as a small-volume job shop. At first, Bosma assigned a program manager to the M- 1 tank ammunition door contract. As the project evolved, upper management found that the existing organizational structure had become unproductive.

The program manager was soon overwhelmed by the level of detail associated with the project, including government requirements for schedule, cost, and assembly detail. Foremen were running machines while supervising other employees. A marked morale problem developed, employee turnover and absenteeism increased, and a general air of apathy settled on the employees. Management decided that a change was needed. Upper management learned about

SDWTs from a consultant and conducted further research by visiting other companies. Management wanted to concentrate on improving job satisfaction as well as productivity. It concluded that a production contract lent itself to a teaming environment and decided to try SDWTs. The transition to SDWTs was not easy. Team members reported a major barrier to SDW was accepting the idea of making decisions without prior management approval. The

team members were not certain that they were fully empowered to make decisions which impacted the project, and only through encouragement from management were team members finally convinced that they were empowered. Another major barrier reported by team members was lack of connumeration within the team. Team members were initially hesitant to voice their

opinions for fear of retaliation. Some team members tended to dominate the early team meetings, while others were withdrawn. Team members solved this problem by encouraging individual input in an atmosphere of non-attribution. A third barrier involved willingness to change the process. Team members were accustomed to following specific procedures from a foreman, and consequently were not motivated to improve the process. SDWTs instilled ownership of the process within the team members, who concentrated on improving, rather than simply repeating, established procedures. Management found the transition no easier than the team. Upper management reported a major barrier to SDWTs was releasing traditional management control over the workers. Under SDWTs, management no longer dictated procedures to workers. Management's lack of detailed knowledge of team member activities was difficult to accept at first. As productivity and processes improved, however, management gained confidence in the abilities of team members to manage themselves. Another barrier was convincing team members they were truly empowered. Management overcame this barrier by encouraging team members to take responsibility and by supporting team decisions. Both team members and upper management reported the problem of foremen's roles during team initiation. Team members were unsure of who supervised them, the team leader or shop foreman. In addition, shop foremen believed they still controlled team members. To tackle this problem, management defined clearly the roles of both team members and non-members within the new framework.

Team organization

To set up the team, management identified all steps in manufacturing the ammunition doors and identified those workers qualified to accomplish each step. ~ embers were chosen both for technical expertise and ability to work with others, with an emphasis on the latter. At the first team meeting, management presented the SDWT framework and information on project schedule and cost to the team members. Members were then asked for inputs to management's ideas. The team members decided whether any features of the existing manufacturing process needed improvement. Management and team members then collaborated to establish the team focus and set quality and productivity goals.

1. The Bosma Machine and Tool Corporation experienced a number of barriers during the transition to self-directed work teams (SDWTs) from its previous organization. What were some of those barriers?