Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com January 30, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 3 Continued Cross-Industry Collaboration CT manufacturer, architecture firm trade insights to stir innovative ideas By John Stearns jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com B rent Robertson knows good ideas can come from unexpected places, which is partly why he put two clients — one in architecture, another in manufac- turing — together to learn from each other. Robertson, a part- ner in West Hartford's Fathom, which helps organizations estab- lish or reshape their identity and develop a strategy to carry that forward, says it's OK for executives not to know all the answers in today's fast-paced, rapidly changing world and to reach outside their comfort zone for new ideas. There are two parts to it: "One is getting insight and expertise from places you didn't expect and the other is an incred- ibly important abil- ity to bring human beings together to co- create," he said. R o b e r t s o n ' s unique idea was to bring together Wil- lington Nameplate of Stafford Springs and New Haven archi- tecture firm Svigals + Partners. Willington, which makes durable name- plates for the automotive, aerospace, defense and industrial sectors that instruct, inform or caution, was looking for ways to be more creative. Svigals sought insight on incorporating elements of lean manufactur- ing into its business. Both learned something. "We typically would just look to our competitors or look to somebody else in manufacturing as a way to benchmark — that's how traditionally people do that," said Jessica Mitchell, lean leader and designer at Willington Nameplate. "We decided, 'Why should we go traditional? Why couldn't we look at some other industry that on the sur- face appears really different and see if we can learn anything from them?' " As part of the collaboration, Willington learned to approach staff meetings differently to break the conversational ice and promote creative thinking through a simple, collabora- tive art exercise Svigals introduced. Willing- ton was also inspired by Svigals to put a white board in its break room where employees can ask and answer company-related questions. It's meant to promote creativity and discussion dur- ing lunch and breaks. Willington also planned to introduce a sim- ple "talk and listen" dice game, created by Svi- gals, at a strategy meeting with management. Staffers roll three die, each of which has words prompting an employ- ee to act or share something personal to relax the room and spark discus- sion. Willington was also able to examine its factory processes from a more cre- ative context while looking for areas to improve — Svigals provided insight dif- ferent than obtained on typical plant tours, Mitchell said. Processes don't have to be those typi- cally seen in books or online. They can also be developed internally to fit a com- pany's individual cul- ture, Mitchell said. "You're not look- ing like everybody else because you're getting ideas from a totally different and unexpected industry," Mitchell said. Svigals even noted Willington's scrap metal, now recycled, could be turned into sculptures produced by local art students, Mitchell said. The art could be placed in the community or the plant, the lat- ter a twist younger job recruits might not expect. "We're asking future generations that come in here, 'Hey, take a look at manufacturing, it's not as old and stuffy and traditional as it used to be — and look at what we create,' " she said. There's a recruiting element to creativ- ity, appealing to future generations, but creativity also is important for innova- tion, Mitchell said. It can help find solu- tions to important questions like: "How (Top photo) During a tour of Willington Nameplate's Stafford Springs facility, lean leader and designer Jessica Mitchell shows Svigals + Partners architect Arturo Arroyo a rolling bul- letin board used to track key performance metrics on the manufacturing floor. (Bottom left and right) Willington and Svigals employees visited each other's offices to share ideas. P H O T O S | F A T H O M From Central Connecticut's trusted business news source. It's the up-to-date information you need to do better business! Get local breaking business news daily! Sign up today at HartfordBusiness.com: Click on the 'SUBSCRIBE' button HBJToday and

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