Getting That First Engagement in the Books

As many have read, heard or are just finding out… I just completed my first engagement with  SteveBellNow, LLC. Maybe completed is a bit strong. There is more to do, but that will come in due time, later. I feel pretty proud of myself for pushing on my dream of consulting my experiences and talents to help out other people.

This engagement was definitely something that I needed. I was able to do some basic traveling to Austin, Texas. Got to work in an industry that I had never worked in before, medical devices. I was able to draw on my many years of manufacturing, quality and reliability, information technology and leadership experiences. Summed up my 28 years of experience in a two week engagement.

• Got to do some process redesign…
• Developed and implemented a few break-through systems for the line…
• Facilitated working session for all groups that worked on the line
• Trained some basic management techniques to a few folks…
• Reviewed (and wrote scope of work) for some ERP system changes…
• Gathered information for further productivity improvements…
• Tighten up some of the people glue that sometimes needs to be available in a small business…

I got much out of this as well.

• Got to meet some incredible people…
• Working in medical devices is pretty cool. There is an area that just frustrated me some. The regulations in this area are still back in the 80’s. When you can not use digital signatures for the work that is completed, it just raised a flag to me. Why? One area that I thought I was able to really do some good, would have been in paperwork reduction (cost, productivity and overall cleanliness) or elimination. Which is not going to happen…
• Reality new industry has some of the same start up issues that some older industries have witnessed and conquered. It just takes time and a willingness to change. Keep charging hard…

I really got into this engagement 150%. The people and their product just sucked me in completely. I still want to hear from the folks to see how things are going, almost everyday.

Here is a big thank you to all of the folks that I was able to talk with and work with over at Inova Labs!

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