After working in the Atlanta area for the past 30 years, I have something to say about trying to establish a manufacturing, service or logistics operation in this area. As part of ISO9001 consulting near Atlanta, I have a few observations that I can give you about Internal and External issues, the determination of which are requirements of the standard.
Urbanization
Here is the first thing. Atlanta is unique among modern cities of the Southern US in that the state did not invest in infrastructure to build exurban highway rings around the city in the way that Houston, Dallas, and Jacksonville have done. There is one ring highway that surrounds the city which was laid out in the 1960’s and has long ago become congested. There is a ring of “older suburbs” that are around the ring highway (I-285), and farther away from the city itself is an increasingly sprawling ring of more prosperous suburbs.
Most of the newer businesses (warehouses, automotive industry, and auto supply chain) are sprawled out even farther out from the city center. Examples: Giant automotive facilities near LaGrange, which is 75 miles from the city center, Lavonia (75 miles from the city center), Covington (50 miles from the city center) and Kennesaw and Marietta (30 miles from the city center). This has the following effects on the way these businesses need to run.
Transportation
Because of high real estate prices in the urbanized downtown, and high real estate prices in the ring of prosperous suburbs, it’s practically impossible for a 25 year old entry level technician in manufacturing or logistics to live close to where they work. Therefore, your labor force will need to own cars, and with cars being expensive, it’s practically impossible for a $20 per hour employee to maintain a living working in a place outside the city, living somewhere nearby, and working for you.
The result of that on family formation, becoming established in the job and community, and employee engagement should be obvious. Employee transportation is an important issue
The result of that, in turn, is that near Atlanta, you can expect many employees to be discouraged. I have a little video on this topic, as a matter of fact. What that means is that you can expect high turnover, workers showing up sleep deprived, and as a result of that, in turn, quality and safety issues.
Immigration
Atlanta, being as it is a melting pot, you can also expect some of these workers to be immigrants. I am not going to take a side on this important issue. I will say that I have worked in several places in this area, doing ISO auditing near Atlanta. Language is very often an issue. Example: In one facility I audited, there were over 20 languages spoken by the production employees. In addition to Spanish, there was French along with other African languages. You will encounter, several Asian languages, and many different Eastern European languages.
So here’s your challenge. Someone who is setting up an ISO9001 system near Atlanta has a problem. How do you communicate with this workforce? A lot of your workers aren’t literate in English, and if your job is technically complex, you’re going to have problems. There are issues with basic work instructions. There are issues with cultural barriers. It is likely that one of these will be between someone from a different culture and your management.
Education and Culture
I should throw this in because it is important: Because entry level labor is relatively scarce, there is constant turnover in some of these manufacturing and warehousing places near Atlanta.
As someone who has audited and done ISO consulting near Atlanta for 20 years, it is not uncommon for there to be as high as 75% annual turnover, depending on the nature of the work.
So you have a restless population, wage competition for a certain type of worker. You will experience, high levels of employee disengagement and communication issues. Add to that, the local school systems are not considered good. It is quite possible that a new hiree, at the entry level, will lack a basic employment skill set. You will need to train extensively to make someone able to function adequately in their job. In my experience in ISO9001 consulting near Atlanta, this is an important issue.
Overlapping Jurisdictions
One nuance of the Southeast US, is that there is an issue of overlapping jurisdictions. In any given area it is common for a company to encounter county, state, city, and Federal rules. There are regulations that might apply to your business. The lines for a lot of this were drawn in the Horse and Buggy days. It is quite likely that if you built a new warehouse in some area around the city, you might be in for some surprises.
One important aspect of these is building inspection. Some of the exurban areas in this place have government/city and county inspection programs that are nowhere near adequate. I talked to one of my customers recently who said that they need to expand their facility but can’t because there is literally a six-month backlog in the local jurisdiction issuing building permits, because the county administration is understaffed.
The Bottom Line
I am not complaining about any of this. I am just pointing out that if you need ISO9001 consulting near Atlanta there are some specific things you’re going to have to be aware of, as you set up your quality system. Here is a link to my services (Link).
That being the case, it is useful to have someone on your side. I can help you navigate these issues. Click my info at www.jimshell.com, and by all means, look for my YouTube site . I have over 500 videos about various aspects of the QMS, along with a bookstore, and training resources.
James A. Shell Consulting ISO9001 Consulting Georgia and Atlanta
