The other, and really the faster-growing part of our business, is custom fabrication—for clients who are looking for quick-turn, high-mix, low-volume work. We’ll have a client that will send us an order with 80 different SKUs and some of them end up getting combined and packaged in the whole works. The average time a job is on our floor is 8 days.
2. What are some of the principles that guide your management approach?
Our core values are respect, accountability and initiative. They’re visible on posters around the plant; we want people to feel them and live them. We hire and discipline based on these values as well.
Respectful relationships are built. You don’t just expect to be respected. Work at being respected by being respectable and then by treating others with respect, too. You can disagree with somebody, but do so respectfully.
Likewise, for accountability. We hold ourselves accountable; then we hold our partners accountable. That could be clients who haven’t paid their bills on time. From an operating standpoint, we’re an EOS—entrepreneurial operating system. So we follow a methodology of communication up and down the organization on how, explicitly, we hold one another accountable. We have the tough conversations. We also aren’t afraid to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out and get back to you.” EOS has been really transformative. It has made a major difference in the way we operate our business.
And then, finally, initiative. We don’t just think and think and ponder. We think ahead and then we move ahead.
3. What are some of the greatest challenges you face, and how do you resolve them?
Because we don’t make the same thing every day, we’re constantly challenged with how to make sure we get paid for the work that we perform on the development side. Often, we work with early-stage businesses that are trying to figure out what they’re doing. We take the time to say, “We’re going to deliver a value here, and we need to make sure we get paid for that value.” We made a strategic change in thinking through the value proposition. To do that, you first have to recognize the value that you bring to the party. Sometimes the fit just isn’t there.
4. What concerns you most as a manufacturing leader? What keeps you up at night?
We face the same challenges that everybody faces: finding people. And, it’s more about finding the right people where the fit is right … people who want to be a part of your culture. Every single hire you make impacts your culture.
From a strategic standpoint, the more cohesive your team is, the more you can get done—sometimes by a factor of two or three.
Another concern is how AI is going to change our business. In each of my one-on-one conversations with my direct reports, I ask them, “Tell me about AI in the last week. What have you read about it? What have you heard? What have you’ve seen? Because we need to pay attention to the next industrial revolution, which will be AI-driven.
Even a little company in an out-of-the-way town that you cannot pronounce or spell in the wilds of Ohio … AI is coming for us, too.
5. Can you recommend resources that you that you have found helpful?
I’m a voracious reader. I can give you a laundry list. One book I’m currently reading is Fearless Pricing by Casey Brown—a speaker I’ve seen a number of times. Our entire sales team is reading the book at the same time. It’s not unusual for us to have sort of a book club, as we always look to learn how to do a better job from people who know more than we do.
6. PMA is headquartered in Cleveland, OH: Who is your favorite Rock and Roll Hall of Famer?
I’m of the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll. So, top of mind, I’d say Led Zeppelin. I always like to “get the led out.”
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