Wisconsin manufacturers can learn about working with Spanish speaking employees. The Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership is expanding the services it offers to help Wisconsin manufacturers bridge language and cultural gaps with Hispanic-speaking workers. Luis E. Lopez, a bilingual English-Spanish manufacturing leader hired by WMEP , says a key challenge is to persuade workers from other cultures that the management is interested in their input, which is a central component of the lean manufactturing philosophy. Lopez says the state is seeing a growing number of Hispanic manufacturing workers, particularly in southeastern Wisconsin.
