Related Posts

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  Scrum: The Art of How an Overtasked Engineering Department Turned Their Work from Frenzied to Feasible

  Though the practice of scrum is fairly new to Cambridge (has only been actively applied in three of our 56 year existence) it has already helped us formulate a new approach to goal setting and how we will ultimately achieve those goals. More importantly, we are using it to address safety practices and protocols within Cambridge, so that every one of our fellow employees makes it home at the end of the day. After being introduced to the scrum concept (grouping agile thinkers together that stress constant communication to achieve complicated tasks and goals) in J.J. Sutherland’s book Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, a group of Cambridge engineers volunteered to be trained in the practice by Toyota scrum expert Nigel Thurlow and apply it within the Cambridge walls, thus becoming our first four certified Scrum Masters. See their story and how their daily work has changed over the past few years. To catch a glimpse of Nigel Thurlow’s on-site scrum training at Cambridge - make sure to check out our blog on his visit!
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  Learning Scrum - The Toyota Way

  As Cambridge progresses in using the Scrum framework across different projects and teams, we are always looking for opportunities for continued learning. When the chance came to travel to Dallas, Texas, to learn Scrum - The Toyota Way, from Nigel Thurlow, the Chief of Agile of Toyota Connected, we couldn’t pass it up! Though Nigel Thurlow still stresses the importance of quality improvement and waste reduction - he is now focused on building and coaching high-performing teams and spreading the impact of Lean & Agile Leadership (reference: LinkedIn). Watch the highlight reel to feel the passion of Nigel and our fellow seminar attendees!     
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  The Power of Redefining the Employer/Employee Relationship - Cambridge Culture Unleashed

  This blog was guest-written by Meg Brown, Director of HR at Cambridge Engineering.  The goal was 10 applicants for each opening. In a tight labor market? There’s no question: this is the most difficult time to build engaged teams in a generation. There are so many interests competing for attention. From finding workers, to upskilling them -- how can we make sure we attract the right people in the first place? We’d have to be crazy to attempt it!    Then call us crazy because we have supersized our recruitment pipelines and enabled historically low turnover. Through a combination of people-centric leadership and innovative recruiting/development programs, we have redefined the employer/employee relationship.  Allow me to explain.  Cambridge doubles production in the 3rd and 4th quarter, especially on our S-Series HTHV heaters, which naturally coincide with the colder weather. For many years we have surged with seasonal employees who spend 4-6 months working for Cambridge through our busy season. A few years ago we began hiring for cultural fit over experience, believing we can provide thorough in-house training. While that helped, we were ...
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  Empowering Growth: Cambridge's Experience in the AME Emerging Leaders Program

  Navigating the dynamic landscape of professional development can be a daunting task, with the search for programs that genuinely transform individuals and organizations presenting a formidable challenge. Amid this, Cambridge's participation in the Association for Manufacturing Excellence's (AME) Emerging Leaders program has shined as a beacon of success.  This year-long commitment immerses participants in a comprehensive experience centered around professional development, networking, and leadership opportunities. During a recent interview, Becca Jenkins, Technical Training Project Manager and key player at Cambridge, shed light on the nuances of the program. "The program opens your eyes to opportunities beyond learning; it's about applying knowledge to solve real-world problems."  So, what sets this program apart? It's not just a series of meetings and training sessions; it's a transformative journey. Each participating group is tasked with addressing a problem and contributing tangible solutions to enhance AME. The culmination involves implementing these solutions, marking the participants' transition into volunteer and leadership roles within the organization. Becca’s group designed and implemented a program called STARTING PEOPLE OFF RIGHT WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO UNITE TALENT (S.P.R.O.U.T.), an initiative aimed at giving ...
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  Cambridge MFG Day 2021

  Each year, on the first Friday in October, the manufacturing community opens its doors to the public. This is known as Manufacturing Day. Manufacturers try to give insights into the problems and solutions that the modern manufacturer faces. This year Cambridge had the pleasure of hosting an event on creators wanted that provided a glimpse into manufacturing.  Cambridge believes that everyone has the ability to lead and just needs to right opportunity. We believe in growing our leaders from within using multiple avenues for this development. In the clip below our marketing ambassador, Tony Spielberg, goes into detail as to how we develop leadership across the company.  The Cambridge Air Solutions brand and our commitment to “Enriching Lives” is more than a name, an icon, or a tag line. It is our promise to our people, our customers, and to our supplies, that Cambridge desires to make an impact on the world.  Megan Solter, Jesse Hummel, and Thomas Little were panelists and provided a live Q&A segment. They go into detail on their experiences at Cambridge, and the ways in which the ...

• Mr. Shingo, a LEAN Expert, has much to share with Cambridge

  For the second time in the past year, Cambridge has had the honor of hosting Mr. Ritsuo Shingo on his tour of a few American companies who are on their Lean journey of continuous improvement. Not only did he spend time speaking to Cambridge employees and our Lean tour guests, Mr. Shingo was able to “Go and Watch” (his advice to be an engaged observer, rather than “Go and See”) several companies around the St. Louis area including World Wide Technology, Koller-Craft, Ameren and The Gund Company. Hailing from the first family of SMED (Single Minutes Exchange of Die; a literal translation), Mr.Shingo and his father, Shigeo Shingo, have literally written the book(s) on how to dramatically reduce the amount of time needed to change a die system in manufacturing. SMED is proven to lower production costs because of less down time and to increase the ability to meet customer demand. Stay tuned for a follow-up blog on how Cambridge has started to utilize this practice to reduce overall testing time on a product line! The video below ...