Material
suppliers often talk only to the fabricator and receive information
second hand. At MTI the end user story, problem, success and failure
all get told directly without intermediates. This allows discussion
and the possibility of finding better solutions.
Value of Membership
Case Study #2 — Wah Chang
Case Study #1 | Case Study #2 | Case Study #3 | Case Study #4 | Case Study #5
Benchmarking MTI for Business Success
Andrea Van, Business Development Manager with Wah Chang, recently participated in an MTI meeting and shared her perspective on the strategic value of participation in the organization for member companies, like her company and chemical manufacturers alike. Wah Chang, the Oregon based division of Allegheny Technologies, Inc., is a supplier of reactive and refractory alloys and mill products, and has been an active MTI member for many years. Andreaís insights offer deep-seated reasons why it makes good business sense to belong to the consortium.
The Forum — Objective and Enlightening
A key component of every MTI meeting is the forum, a prolonged session whose informality belies the quality of technical knowledge shared and discussed in depth. Answers and opinions are traded frankly, without compromising proprietary information. There is a high level of experience at every MTI meeting, and the advice leans towards the practical rather than theoretical. It essentially allows the membership an on call consulting staff.
The forum begins with questions submitted to the online Technical Forum where members may contribute their experience to resolve pressing technical problems. These questions and responses provide the structure for further discussion at the meetings. This has proved to be a unique area where MTI members can take advantage of the benefits of MTI membership.Forum discussions are collected in a searchable database containing some 4000 pressing, often recurring problems that plague productivity of manufacturing plants. It can be accessed from the MTI web site where it is updated after every meeting or from a CD updated and sent to Member Representatives once a year. Some member companies have made this database available on their internal networks, allowing much greater access to a fount of knowledge unique within the industry.
The Technology Roadmap — An Opportunity to Define Critical Needs
An alliance created with the Department of Energy has allowed MTI to leverage government money for materials research and development programs. Currently, $12 million dollars is being spent in co-funded projects, and the figure is expected to rise as calls for proposals are made in the future.
The heart of the effort was in the Technology Roadmap that the MTI membership developed in conjunction with the Government. The Roadmap identifies the most needed technologies required to push operating envelopes and create improved manufacturing facilities. Member companies use the roadmap to benchmark their internal needs and thus develop proposals for multimillion-dollar research projects that will benefit their profitability. It is a smart way to leverage research costs that may not be approved with shrinking budgets.
Renewal of the Technical Competency — A Challenge for All Organizations.
All companies face a technical crunch as their workforce ages. MTI is actively involved in development of the professionals. An example is how the consortium worked with DuPont Dow Elastomers LLC (a member by virtue of its two parent organizations) to sponsor development of what is the best training tool for elastomers know-how in the industry. The objective was to increase technical knowledge and improve the basis for specifying elastomers in critical parts such as o-rings, mechanical seals and gaskets used in reactors, pumps, etc.
A one-day session that provides permanent high quality course materials is the result. Member company involvement in the program ensured the program was in no way proprietary, increasing its value as a generic tool. ìGraduatesî from the course now number in the hundreds and contribute daily to improved plant reliability within their organizations.
Today, successful companies justify membership of MTI, many through rigorous return on investment calculations. But the typical quantified return does not even come close to capturing the qualitative benefits of MTI in terms of creating highly motivated, better performing employees.