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Case 4 The Delta Wire Corporation

Delta Wire Corporation is a steel wire manufacturer located in Mississippi that experienced increased foreign competition and tougher industry standards in recent years. To address this, Delta focused on improving employee education and training. They partnered with local colleges to set up their own training school and teach skills like statistical process control. This led to decreased defective materials from 6% to 2% and increased weekly productivity from 70,000 to 90,000 pounds. Customers noticed the improved quality and Delta was able to maintain its market position. In 2006, Delta was acquired by Bekaert but continues operating to support market growth.

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185 views3 pages

Case 4 The Delta Wire Corporation

Delta Wire Corporation is a steel wire manufacturer located in Mississippi that experienced increased foreign competition and tougher industry standards in recent years. To address this, Delta focused on improving employee education and training. They partnered with local colleges to set up their own training school and teach skills like statistical process control. This led to decreased defective materials from 6% to 2% and increased weekly productivity from 70,000 to 90,000 pounds. Customers noticed the improved quality and Delta was able to maintain its market position. In 2006, Delta was acquired by Bekaert but continues operating to support market growth.

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Case study on The Delta Wire Corporation uses training as a weapon

The Delta Wire Corporation was founded in 1978 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The company
manufactures high-carbon specialty steel wire for global markets and at present employs
about 100 people. For the past few years, sales increased each year. A few years ago,
however, things did not look as bright for Delta Wire because it was caught in a potentially
disastrous bind. With the dollar declining in value, foreign competition was becoming a
growing threat to Delta’s market position. In addition to the growing foreign competition,
industry quality requirements were becoming tougher each year.
Delta officials realized that some conditions, such as the value of the dollar, were beyond
their control. However, one area that they could improve upon was employee education. The
company worked with training programs developed by the state of Mississippi and a local
community college to set up its own school. Delta employees were introduced to statistical
process control and other quality assurance techniques. Delta reassured its customers that the
company was working hard on improving quality and staying competitive. Customers were
invited to sit in on the educational sessions. Because of this effort, Delta has been able to
weather the storm and continues to sustain a leadership position in the highly competitive
steel wire industry. In the 1990s, Delta instituted a basic skills training program that
eventually led to a decrease in nonconforming material from 6% to 2% and a productivity
increase from 70,000 to 90,000 pounds per week. In addition, this initiative resulted in a “best
in class” award from Goodyear, its largest customer.
Although acquired by Bekaert of Belgium in January of 2006, the Delta Wire Corporation, a
major supplier of bead wire for tire reinforcement and other specialized wire products for the
North American market, continues to operate in its current capacity. Bekaert wants to support
Delta Wire’s market share growth and ensure adequate product availability to its customers.
customers can award scores as low as 0. The scores are measured across many different
industrial customers and averaged for a yearly mean customer score.

Question
Delta Wire prides itself on its efforts in the area of employee education. Employee education
can pay off in many ways. Discuss some of them. One payoff can be the renewed interest and
excitement generated toward the job and the company. Some people theorize that because of
a more positive outlook and interest in implementing things learned, the more education
received by a worker, the less likely he or she is to miss work days. Suppose the following
data represent the number of days of sick leave taken by 10 workers last year along with the
number of contact hours of employee education/training they each received in the past year.
Use the techniques to analyse the data and estimate the strength of the relationship and any
models that are developed.

Hours of Education Leave Days Hours of Education Leave Days


24 5 8 8
16 4 60 1
48 0 0 9
120 1 28 3
36 5 15 8
10 7 88 2
65 0 120 1
36 3 15 8
0 12 48 0
12 8 5 10

2. Delta Wire increased productivity from 70,000 to 90,000 pounds per week during a time
when it instituted a basic skills training program. Suppose this program was implemented
over an 18-month period and that the following data are the number of total cumulative basic
skills hours of training and the per week productivity figures taken once a month over this
time. Use techniques to analyze the data and make a brief report to Delta about the
predictability of productivity from cumulative hours of training.

Cumulative Hours Productivity (in pounds per week)


of Training
0 70,000
100 70,350
250 70,500
375 72,600
525 74,000
750 76,500
875 77,000
1,100 77,400
1,300 77,900
1,450 77,200
1,660 78,900
1,900 81,000
2,300 82,500
2,600 84,000
2,850 86,500
3,150 87,000
3,500 88,600
4,000 90,000

Source: Adapted from “Delta Wire Corporation,” Strengthening America’s Competitiveness:


Resource Management Insights for Small Business Success.
Published by Warner Books on behalf of Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company and
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in association with the Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative, 1991,
International Monetary Fund; Terri Bergman, “TRAINING: The Case for Increased
Investment,” Employment Relations Today, Winter 1994–1995, pp. 381–391, available at
http://www.ed.psu.edu/nwac/document/train/invest.html. Bekaert Web site at: http://www.
bekaert.com/corporate/press/2006/31-jan-2006.htm.

and
Ken Black, Sixth Edition, Wiley Publication

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