Any organization, whether it’s a retail business, school, manufacturing company or government agency needs leaders to help guide the way. Strong Leadership provides direction and vision, motivating and inspiring others through trust and purpose, so that everyone within the organization is working towards a common goal. Leadership at all levels within an organization has always been important, but in today’s society it is more critical than ever to have strong leaders throughout. Yet, companies around the world are facing a Leadership crises. What drives this new challenge and what can be done about it?

Strong leadership is crucial at this time due to the significant change in the manufacturing environment in the last century, both technically and culturally. It’s no secret that technology is a critical component of success for modern businesses. These technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), are opening the doors to the digitization of individual processes and data aggregation. In fact, 70 percent of US industry leaders believe that AI will have a transformative impact on their business. These technological advances continue to reshape traditional management practices at a rapid pace. Managers need to lead the integration of this technology, deal with the rapid change, and transition the technical and interpersonal workforce skills to adjust.

Besides technical, and just as crucial, is the shift needed in organizational culture. Culture is consistent, observable patterns of behavior in organizations. Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do.” This view elevates repeated behavior or habits as the core of culture and influences how employees feel, think, or believe. Fostering a culture that can deal with, or even thrive in, rapid change is paramount for a modern successful business. This is an area where many organizations are struggling as reflected in surveys and reports in recent studies. 

Companies around the world are facing a leadership crisis, according to the new quarterly report of the 2021 Global Leadership Forecast that was released Wednesday. Only 11% of surveyed organizations reported they have a “strong” or “very strong” leadership bench, the lowest it has been rated in the past 10 years. The crisis can be traced to a failure by companies to provide leadership development and transition training for newly hired and current executives, according to Development Dimensions International (DDI), which conducts the annual survey. According to an article in Forbes organization business that want to survive or even succeed must invest in their people and not technology alone. Important statics for the above survey reveal the following:

·     77% of businesses report that leadership is lacking.

·     Only 33% of employees report feeling engaged.

·     79% of employees will quit due to a lack of appreciation

·     While 83% of organizations believe it’s important to develop leaders at every level of the company, only 5% of businesses have implemented leadership development at all levels.

·     69% of millennials feel a lack of leadership development. Millennials will represent 75% of the global workforce by 2025.

Given this leadership crises and the statistics, a company can combat this situation through leadership development classes. Classes that focus on teaching new leaders, setting the appropriate culture, engaging people and showing genuine appreciation will help smooth the transition. New studies show companies that do not invest in leadership development effectively cut their profits by 7% or more annually. It’s clear that effective leadership is important to companies in many different regards, from retaining good employees to seeing employees put forth harder efforts and improving profits.

Technological and cultural changes are driving the need for stronger leadership in a time where businesses are experiencing a leadership crises. Companies that invest in leadership programs to build better leaders who understand and can respond to their ever-changing workforce are increasing their bottom line, their profits.

The Leadership & Management Development team at ATN offers courses in 2-hour sessions that can be delivered on-site. The classes are interactive with activities and assessments that help supervisors and managers understand their strengths and possible areas of improvement and to help employees gain a sense of personal leadership. The interactive learning is key to understanding not only your own management skills but also those of your teammates and coworkers.For more info about Leadership training that ATN can assist with, click below.

The Continual Improvement team offers training and assistance in the areas of lean and quality. The primary focus of this team is maximizing efficiency and product quality through processes improvement. This team offers training in using tools and management systems to bring about positive change, as well as assistance or facilitation with implementing the various lean and quality tools or management systems at client companies.

Contact us at citeam@atn.org.

With the new year here, both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) have recently increased maximum monetary civil penalties for 2024. These increases come annually to reflect current inflation rates.

The EPA, as of December 27, 2023, have published the following new maximum penalty rates:

Major US EPA Programs Previous Penalty New Penalty

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) $87,855 $90,702

Clean Air Act (CAA)  $117,468 $121,275

Clean Water Act (CWA) $64,618 $66,712

Superfund and Right-to-Know (CERCLA/EPCRA) $67,544 $69,733

Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) $67,544 $69,733

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)  $46,989 $48,512

Insecticides, Fungicides, and Rodenticides (FIFRA) $23,494 $24,255

In addition to these, there is also a difference in an initial CERCLA violation, which is $69,733, as listed above, and a subsequent CERCLA violation, which is $209,202.

Under the DOT’s 49 CFR Hazmat Shipping and Transportation regulation, penalty amounts for 2024 have also increased, as follows:

Hazardous Materials Violation          $99,756 per day, per violation (maximum penalty)

Violations resulting in death,

serious illness, severe injury, or

substantial property damage            $232,762 per day/violation (maximum penalty)

Hazmat Training Violation                 $601 per day, per employee (minimum penalty)

                                                     $99,756 per day, per employee (maximum penalty)

At ATN we have EHS Solutions that can help you avoid these penalties and citations, whether your need is classroom training, technical assistance, or a combination or training and technical assistance. If we can support you with any of your needs please don’t hesitate to contact our EHS Team.

Contact us at ehsteam@atn.org.

The Food Industry group, within the Continual Improvement team, will bring a holistic approach to food safety and quality assurance (FSQA) solutions to support the food industry. ATN's Food Industry expert brings to the table both academic and extensive industry experience in USDA and FDA manufacturing, risk-based supply chain management, product traceability, recall management, distribution, and transportation. A variety of solutions are under development and will be available for regional location delivery or custom, on-site delivery.

Contact us at foodsafety@atn.org.

Siemens TIA Portal with HMI 

COURSE DESCRIPTION 

Introduces the Siemens SIMATIC S7-300 controller and explains the different components of the system. This course includes basic ladder logic instructions and how they are used and programmed. It shows how to configure the PG/PC Interface. It also teaches how to use programming software to obtain information from the process and from the PLC itself. It gives general guidelines on troubleshooting and maintaining a PLC system. It also shows how to edit an existing HMI system. The course emphasizes hands-on laboratory exercises using Siemens SIMATIC S7-300 controller, Siemens HMI, and the TIA Portal Software. 

COURSE OBJECTIVES 

At the end of this course, the student should be able to: 

1. SIMATIC S7-300 system and its components 

2. Identify a SIMATIC S7-300 system and its components 

3. Configure the PG/PC Interface 

4. Use the programming software to monitor input and output devices 

5. Understand the diagnostics information provided by the programming software 

6. Perform general practices for maintaining and troubleshooting a PLC system 

7. Make modifications to an HMI system

Contact us at imtteam@atn.org.

Leadership & Management Development courses are modular 2-hour sessions that can be delivered on-site. The classes are interactive with activities and assessments that help supervisors and managers understand their strengths and possible areas of improvement and to help employees gain a sense of personal leadership. The interactive learning is key to understanding not only your own management skills but also those of your teammates and coworkers.

Contact us at lmdteam@atn.org.