5 tips, trends and predictions for industry: A conversation with Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame inductee

The business has also pivoted over the last five years to focus on continuous improvement. “Each of our manufacturing locations, whether it be through Kaizen events, whether it be through reflection or Gemba, each of our plants has a plan and has been working through those plans,” Franzen says. “We have a very strong reliability program at each of our plants.”

Franzen calls continuous improvement a “game changer” for USG. “You don’t know where your issues are until you start to highlight them, and whether it be through waste, whether it be through unplanned downtime, all that gets highlighted through the continuous improvement process,” she adds. “You can’t get better if you don’t know where your issues are, and that process highlights it in all areas of your operation.”

For example, at USG’s Fort Dodge gypsum plant, the process identified sources of delay within the bag inserter, fill station and carton former, which was reducing production efficiency. As the plant looked into root causes of the issue, it quickly discovered some important missing components: standard work and preventive maintenance. With consistent standards as the starting point, then, the tools and the process can identify where improvements were needed. For the Fort Dodge gypsum plant, it needed to replace a worm auger, adjust the timing at the fill station, and improve carton variation coming from the vendor.

3. Maintenance and reliability: technology is changing the industrial landscape and the workforce.

Q: What maintenance and reliability best practices does USG use for engaging technicians and operators?

A: Where we have systems, we understand the importance of preventative maintenance and how do you get ahead of the issues that can arise—whether it be through operating hours on the equipment, whether it be through wear-and-tear—how do we get ahead of having unplanned downtime. Each of our plants does audits to see how we are doing and monitor KPIs around each of those types of metrics. We look at that on a monthly basis—how many work orders we are doing, how much unplanned downtime did we have, and how do we try to make those improvements through our reliability model at each of our locations.

For example, the USG Jacksonville gypsum plant avoided a major rebuild of the ball mill through predictive and preventive maintenance. Predictive maintenance software from Prometheus detected an anomaly in the ball mill drive components, showing an increase in the drive amps. The upward trend was also slowly increasing, which put it at risk for failure. Through the data, the plant discovered that the automatic lubrications system was using an oil with a viscosity that was not suitable for the pressures in the gear drive, causing excessive wear on the gears. Because the drive system can run either way, the plant reversed the ball mill to drive on the non-worn side of the gears with the correct lubrication in place.

“We used predictive maintenance at our Jacksonville plant to detect rising drive amps in the ball mill before a failure occurred. The data pointed us to a lubrication issue, so we reversed the drive, corrected the oil viscosity, and updated preventive maintenance and training. By acting on the insight, we avoided a costly rebuild, canceled more than $70,000 in parts orders, and prevented hours or days of downtime that would have affected our customers,” Franzen says.

The next step in predictive monitoring at USG is using artificial intelligence to do more predictions. AI can do data analysis quicker and more comprehensively, and it can provide a list of what might be happening on problem assets for maintenance to investigate further. “The use of AI tools is becoming more prevalent at each of our locations,” Franzen says.

AI is also becoming more a part of decision-making, where human error can muddle projects. “It’s odd to think about, but the industry is changing so rapidly that you can use AI to predict how your product is going to be manufactured,” Franzen says. AI is often thought of as replacing low-level work, but USG is also looking for ways to take more risk out of decision-making.

Advanced technologies have brought challenges too, particularly with a changing and tightening workforce. Companies must be more flexible in how they hire and how they train and develop talent, Franzen says, to meet the changing labor and skills needed.

4. Advice for young engineers: manufacturing is for the creative and innovative.

Q: How has manufacturing changed over your career?

A: When I started 30 years ago, things looked a lot different than they do today. A lot in our manufacturing plants, a lot of manual processes 30 years ago, you relied on muscle to move things, to get things done, where today we use a lot of technology. Automation has advanced and looking at how we do things in our plants has changed for the better.
USG partners with local high school, community colleges, and trade organizations to strengthen those relationships and help individuals interested in a career in manufacturing. Internally, USG is focused on training employees faster and giving them the ability to adapt to changing technologies. “It’s a different skill than it was 30 years ago,” Franzen says.

Q: What advice would you give to young engineers or technicians entering manufacturing today?

A: I would tell them to establish a career in manufacturing. I think a lot of times manufacturing gets overlooked, but if you have a desire to be creative, to be innovative, to be able to leave your mark on an industry, manufacturing is really an awesome outlet for that.

5. Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame award: step out of your comfort zone.

Franzen has taken on some challenging and difficult assignments in her career, which helped her grow and adapt. “Some of my advice to those coming up through manufacturing, is you can't be afraid to tackle new challenges, step out of your comfort zone, learn different processes, take on those harder assignments so that it really helps you learn and develop, and really grow as a person and a professional,” Franzen says.

Q: How does it feel to be recognized among such a distinguished group of industry leaders?

A: I'm completely humbled and honored with the recognition. There are ten other women that are being recognized with me and it's a national organization. To think that through my career that somewhere along the way I inspired other people or helped people develop and learn, it's really humbling, and I'm really honored to be recognized with such talent in the industry for sure.

Part of the selection criteria for the Hall of Fame emphasizes paving the way for future generations and promoting inclusive workplaces, and Franzen has been an integral part of this at USG. As a founding member of the company’s Women in Manufacturing group, she has developed connections through forums, mentor programs, and starter kits for new female engineers. 

“I’m really proud of that because our numbers have increased, and I think it’s provided support and mentorship for all of our women that are working at USG,” Franzen says.

USG Women in Manufacturing starter kits welcome new hired of all genders to the team and help foster pride and connection from day one. Each kit includes branded items and a handwritten note that introduces WiM, highlights employee resource groups, and encourages new employees to explore opportunities for engagement and support.

“This year, USG proudly opened Women in Manufacturing National Association membership to all employees. We now have 172 colleagues from diverse backgrounds, actively engaged, helping advance women in manufacturing. The initiative supports USG’s goals for industry leadership, professional development and stronger community connections,” Franzen says.