Performance management and incentive design for Fastener Manufacturers: rewarding clean lots and setter skill
In a fastener plant, pay by weight or count can push speed over care. Incentive design should reward clean lots, stable machines and the setter knowledge that keeps both.
Not sure what you need? Tell us about your business in six short steps and we will come to the first meeting prepared.
Share your requirementsWhy performance management and incentive design matters in fastener manufacturers
Sorting and packing are often paid by weight or count, so a fast sorter earns well and a careful one earns less. Mixed or damaged parts pass through, and the customer finds them. Machine operators are judged on output, so a drifting die runs a little longer than it should. Setters, who decide whether a machine earns or loses, may have no goal at all beyond keeping the machine running.
Good design pairs quantity with quality. Sorters are paid for volume, with a sample check by a second person and a share of the reward held back for clean lots. Operators have simple goals for first-piece checks and early reports of die wear. Setters have goals for changeover time and for writing die cards. Feedback is monthly, in plain words, and the rules are the same for all shifts.
How to set it up
1. List the pay and incentive methods now in use
For each section, note how people are paid, what is measured and what is ignored. Sorting by weight, operators by count, setters by fixed pay. Ask people what they think the plant rewards.
2. Pick two or three goals per section
Sorters: clean lots and sample checks passed. Operators: first-piece check and early report of die wear. Setters: changeover time and die cards kept. Fewer goals are remembered and followed.
3. Add a quality check to the volume reward
A second person samples each lot. A lot that fails the check reduces the incentive for that batch. Explain the rule before it starts, with examples from last month.
4. Reward the early report of a drifting die
Praise and recognise operators who stop a machine when sizes change. This is cheaper than a rejected lot. See performance management and incentive design for how we set this up.
5. Review monthly and adjust
Compare incentive paid with rejections, by section and shift. If the incentive rises while rejections rise, change the rule. Share results with the crew and invite their view.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Compare last month's sorting pay with the customer rejections that traced to sorting.
- Ask two sorters what happens to their pay if a lot fails a sample check.
- Check whether setters have any goal besides keeping machines running.
- Look at whether the three shifts are measured the same way.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach performance management and incentive design in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Not necessarily, but on its own it rewards speed. Adding a sample check and holding back part of the reward for clean lots keeps the benefit of volume pay and protects quality.
Changeover time, die cards kept up to date, scrap in trial runs and training a junior. Keep to a few goals, and discuss them with the setter, since he knows what can be changed.
Use the same goals, with attention to when to stop and call. Night crews often work with less cover, so a clear stop rule and a morning review of the night log matter more than separate targets.