Page 35 - MetalForming February 2013

Pioneer Metalformers
Invest in Workforce Development
Case Study:
Marlin Steel Wire Products LLC
Baltimore, MD
BY LOUIS A. KREN
Contributing Editor, MetalForming magazine, a publication of the Precision Metalforming Association
The bagel business wasn’t cut- ting it. That simple realization more than a decade ago unleashed a chain of events that has culminated in Marlin Steel Wire Prod- ucts LLC, Baltimore, MD, earning a Hitachi Foundation Pioneer Award. The award recognizes Marlin’s efforts in workforce development, allowing its 32 employees, two-thirds of them involved in production, to learn new skills and boost productivity. The company exhibits innovation in devel- oping and fostering skills and pro- ductivity programs that put money directly into employee pockets.
Marlin’s Skills Matrix identifies each employee’s proficiencies, with new training—at the employee’s or company’s request—earning wage bumps of as much as $1/hr, or five to 10 percent of the hourly pay rate. Weekly and biweekly production goals—by cell or by project group— tie front-office, engineering, main- tenance, purchasing, logistics and shop-floor workers to reach job tar- gets. Successfully reaching goals, which are posted in a common area for all to see, earn a percentage bonus for each project team member, deliv-
ered in the following paycheck. Serious investment in capital equipment—in the past year, Marlin has added a Trumpf punching machine, bending machine and laser as well as a Haas vertical boring mill—keeps the fabrication job shop at the tip of the technology spear.
Along with technology investment, stringent quality controls, including ISO certi- fication and housekeeping ini- tiatives, ensure that customers get the products they need when they need them. Marlin also invests in its human cap- ital, earmarking an industry- tops percentage of employee labor costs to training, thus developing a cross-trained staff backed by a strong engi- neering and sales force.
No Dough in Bagels
Where do bagels fit into the Marlin equation?
When Drew Greenblatt bought the company in 1998, then located in Brooklyn, NY, it focused solely on supplying bagel-holding trays to bak-
“When a Japanese automotive company wants us to export $100,000 of laser-cut parts, that hap- pens because of our value-added engineering,” says Marlin Steel president Drew Greenblatt. “It is worth it for a company located halfway around the world to buy from an East Coast manufac- turer because we have moved the efficiency and productivity needle, which is driving our record growth over the past four years.”
eriesandbagelshops.Thebagelmar- ket brought the company success dating to its founding in 1968. With only a few employees operating a
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