Visionary Leadership

Webster’s defines a “visionary” as someone “thinking about or planning the future with imagination or wisdom.” I was reminded of how organizations demand visionary leadership when speaking recently with incoming 2024 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Chairman of the Board Gregg Boucher, along with PMA president David Klotz.

For more than 20 yr. I’ve had the pleasure, every spring, of introducing the readers of MetalForming magazine to the incoming PMA chair. These industry leaders—Boucher included—bring their own unique vision to PMA, and over the years have led to a host of initiatives. Among them: 

• Diligent work in Washington, D.C. (by partnering with the National Tooling and Manufacturing Association to create the One Voice advocacy group) to ensure that small to midsized metalworking companies have a seat at the legislative table.
• Development of a continuing education “academy” (called the Management Development Academy) to help metal formers train their middle managers.
• Creation of an online training platform (METALFORM EDU), loaded with hundreds of courses on dozens of topics.

This issue, my interview of Boucher (beginning on page 42), group operating officer of Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals, seems somewhat different from those that came before. Rather than bring a “theme” intended to guide PMA’s staff for only his 1-yr. term, he instead proposes a “mission” that he and Klotz expect will guide PMA and its future board chairs for several xyears.

That mission:

“Enhancing Value to Achieve Metal Forming Excellence!”

When I asked how he sees PMA acting on that mission and what it means to the future of the association and the industry, Boucher says: “I worry that many company leaders have lost that entrepreneurial spirit. Successful metal forming companies must enhance and invest in their IT tools,” including Industry 4.0 tenets. “Managers need immediate access to data and must communicate—at an accelerated pace—both internally and externally. All of this hugely impacts the type of workforce required and their skillsets. Position responsibilities will continue to expand as we all continue to evolve from manufacturers into technology-driven companies.