This regular column from MetalForming magazine provides an inside look at the management styles and techniques of metal forming and fabricating company executives. We’ll share some of their philosophies, their daily challenges and how they face them, and offer additional insights. We hope that you find these interviews useful and can take away some ideas to use at your own company.
Want to be interviewed for this column? E-mail editorial director Brad Kuvin. |
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| Perspectives on Business Management with Hani Malek, Group President, Kapco Metal Stamping |
Hani
Malek is group president at Kapco Metal Stamping, home to more than 600
employees working across eight facilities in and around Grafton and
Osceola, WI. A contract manufacturer, the firm performs an array of
operations including stamping (more than 50 presses, capped at 1000
tons), laser cutting, press brake bending, tool and die build and
maintenance, machining, and welding.
“You must have vulnerability-based trust before you can have healthy conflict, and then commitment, accountability and results,” Malek tells me. “My style is to not claim that I know everything and not act like I know everything, and so I'm very open and receptive. I also work to share a lot of information, so that people view themselves as partners with me, and not employees.”
Here’s the rest of our interview with Hani Malek. |
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| Creating a Business Roadmap with a Stress Test |
The latest Harbour IQ Manufacturing Pulse Study, which looks at data across all manufacturing processes, finds that, on average, manufacturers’ capacity utilization dropped from Q3 2022 to Q1 2023.
“Yet, a majority of companies are optimistic,” Laurie writes here, “that the back half of 2023 will bring improved business performance, but we are not as confident.”
This love letter from Laurie explains that, as a business leader, you need to prepare for an uncertain future, beginning with conducting a “stress test” for both positive and negative scenarios. |
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| What Successful ERP Partnerships Need |
| We surveyed global technology decision-makers who shared their ERP purchase journey. Their answers shed light on what business leaders need and want most in today’s swiftly evolving business world. Download now to reveal how ERP solution advancements have compared to changing market needs. |
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| What Does a Tool and Die Maker Do? |
Does
your company struggle to find qualified candidates for apprenticeship
programs? Part of the problem: a lack of interest, or more likely a lack
of awareness by high school and vocational school students of
apprenticeship opportunities in manufacturing.
In MetalForming magazine’s latest Tooling by Design column by PMA technical director Pete Ulintz, he says:
“Those seeking apprenticeships often choose construction trades instead, leaving many manufacturing apprenticeships vacant. This proves particularly true with tool and die apprenticeships because most people have no idea what a tool and die maker does. Our inability to describe to young people the roles, responsibilities and opportunities available to tool and die makers contributes to the lack of interest in this field. If you struggle to explain the complexities of this trade, here’s some help.” |
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| Looking to Diversify into New Areas of Stamping, Such as EV Parts, High-Speed Stamping, or Forging? |
Stamtec builds presses specifically for these market segments, as well as traditional markets for stamping presses:
- Mechanical and servo presses from 35 tons to 3,300 tons.
- Built by our own employees in our own factories
- 72,000 sq. ft. facility in Manchester, TN (near Nashville)
- Complete press-line integration and project management
- Competitive pricing, quick delivery with over 60 machines in stock.
Contact us today at 931-393-5050, stamtecpresses@stamtec.com, or visit www.stamtec.com. |
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| The Missing Component in Workplace Safety Programs: An Ownership Culture |
Workplace
safety statistics have essentially flatlined for the past 25 years,
even in the midst of remarkable advancements in technology, say safety
experts Ken Chapman and Tony Orlowski, in their new book, Safety Beyond the Numbers: A Path to Principled Leadership. What will it take to push industry safety past the plateau?
“It’s quite common for organizations to place a great deal of focus on technology and compliance—what I refer to as systems that are aimed at ‘watch, catch and punish,’” Chapman says. “What you realize very quickly is that it’s just not enough. …it disengages people from a sense of their own ownership or responsibility for their own safety.”
Safety Beyond the Numbers provides a clear path toward
implementing ownership principles for leaders who see safety as more
than a mandated priority. It is for leaders who view the well-being of
their people as critical to the business, a prerequisite of doing
business and a moral obligation. |
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| Maximize Uptime and Improve Productivity |
| AMSOIL
Industrial lubricants maximize uptime while our Certified Lubrication
Specialists (CLS) help you eliminate inefficiencies and develop
solutions that save you money. Learn more about how AMSOIL Industrial is
the choice for your Metal Stamping operation. |
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| Automated Employee-Scheduling Software |
| Here’s new employee-scheduling software technology that reportedly enables manufacturers to maximize scheduling efficiency with tailor-fit automation, thus creating more coverage possibilities with limited labor resources. And, the software may help companies attract and retain workers by creating flexible, fair and transparent schedules. |
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| Premier Reroll Mill of Precision Metal Coil and Strip |
| Eagle
Metals, a premier reroll mill of precision metal coil and strip,
continues to see growth in stainless steel applications, and has added a
5th rolling mill to support that side of their business. Historically a
predominantly copper-based supplier, Eagle has further increased its
capacity to serve our customers. Eagle Metals, Roll with us. |
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| NIMS Issues New Suite of Standards for “Smart” Job Roles |
| NIMS has developed a suite of Smart Standards for job roles under the disciplines of Industry 4.0, Industrial Maintenance Technology, Dimensional Measurements, Additive Manufacturing, Machining, and Metalforming. The standards are part of NIMS’ Smart Training Solutions, a framework for modernizing training to keep up with the pace of emerging technologies. |
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| Five Steps Toward Fixing Manufacturing’s Image Problem |
In a recent Forbes article, Richard Tester, president of QAD Redzone, shares practical and thoughtful tips on how manufacturers can help address the manufacturing industry’s “reputation problem.” The five tips he delves into here: - Hire employees for their minds not just their hands, and make use of their knowledge.
- Give team members a voice and an identity, and ensure that senior leaders provide the necessary support.
- Use technology to support—not replace—human talent.
- Showcase, and reward, employee successes.
- Ensure that productivity gains trickle down to employee paychecks.
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