Disassembling challenges and building excellence at Cummins

As a child, Rob loved taking things apart. This passion followed him through college, where he majored in mechanical engineering and was drawn to the test and measurement space. Today, after 16 years at Cummins Inc., Rob takes apart products and processes for a living as the Operational Excellence Lead for Technical Operations.

“Engineers come up with fantastic ideas, and we devise fantastic ways to break them,” Rob says. “Engineers will say, ‘You can’t break this,’ and we’ll say, ‘Are you sure about that?’”

Rob and his team figure out how and why things happen the way they do with Cummins products. They try to recreate outcomes —then do it faster. After testing, they determine how to institutionalize processes so anyone can replicate them and deliver value efficiently.

“We use value stream mapping to review processes, like how Cummins delivers customer data,” he says. “We ask, ‘Where are we slow? Where are there waste problems?’ We’re slowly helping sites understand where they are in that journey, and we hope to move the needle.”

One of the ways Rob does this is by teaching people how to stay balanced at work by saying no to the right things.

“Often, we have the misconception that we can’t say no at work, even to those things that don’t add value,” he says. “But sometimes saying no — or not now — to tasks of lesser value gives you the time for what’s important. You also might need to say no to good things sometimes, too. And that’s OK.”

Rob coaches projects, teaches problem-solving approaches that lead to growth in important measures, and helps lead on-site. He also hosts worldwide virtual forums with spaces to collaborate and share information. Rob's advice and coaching carry weight as someone who played a significant role in developing five of the first seven ISO17025-accredited sites.

“We just delivered our first regional virtual workshop, assembling 200 slides for three days worth of content,” he says. “It’s been fun creating content, working with other departments, building a structured agenda, and developing interactive breaks like polls to keep people engaged.”

Ultimately, all the content, workshops, and process enhancements aim to move people and departments toward operational excellence. Rob loves this work, so it’s no surprise he finds ways to incorporate it into his volunteer efforts off the clock.

Every Employee, Every Community (EEEC) is a Cummins Corporate Responsibility initiative that encourages at least four hours of community involvement from every employee. However, most people far exceed that number. Rob is no exception.

He participates in a backpack drive that provides school supplies and meals for local elementary students, but he also started a program with the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) in Cookeville, Tennessee, where he lives. The program supports families below the poverty line — many single-parent households — and helps the parent(s) professionally identify a path forward.

“We remove barriers and help them move through the requirements to get from Point A to Point B to break whatever cycle they may be in,” he says. This, one might say, is his specialty.

Rob — who considers himself tenacious but not ambitious — hopes to continue to grow in the technical space, filling in where Cummins needs him most as they improve processes and quality to meet shifting needs in power. More importantly, he hopes to also lead others to do it well.
“I want to continue to grow in that capacity and help others do their jobs better because that has a broader impact. I can do five projects. But if I can help five people do their projects well, that’s a multiplying factor.”