Page 22 - MetalForming November 2011

Illuminating Mid-Level Management
recently attended the 2011 ICOSPA Congress, September 18-21 in Aachen, Germany.
“My involvement in ICOSPA began in 2005 when I attended the Congress in Japan, and really escalated in 2007 as PMA prepared to host the 2008 ICOSPA Congress in Grand Rapids,” says Thompson. As an ICOSPA 2008 sub- committee member, Thompson helped arrange the event’s plant tours and speakers, and lined up event sponsors. “I made a lot of great contacts,” he says, “and was able to continue to develop those relationships in Aachen. I view this as critical to continuing to position Trans-Matic globally. We have a bigger pond in which to fish, and we’re more stable as a company because of it.”
Back in 2007, when deeply involved in planning the ICOSPA 2008 events, Thompson spoke with MetalForming:
“As Congress attendees share ideas and discuss mutual concerns about our industry, conversations focus on
critical issues we all share, such as the global supply chain for steel, and tool- ing. Networking opportunities also allow metalformers to benchmark each other in areas such as press technolo- gy and tooling concepts. Conversations inevitably turn toward the fact that our customers are multinational, with assembly plants all over the world. So we as suppliers must be multinational.”
There’s More
In addition to gaining a global per- spective through PMA involvement, which has proven critical to Trans- Matic’s growth and prosperity, Thomp- son notes several additional benefits of association membership and partici- pation. Locally, he has served terms as director of the PMA West Michigan dis- trict, and notes that the CEO roundta- bles arranged by the district have always proven beneficial.
“There’s so much to be learned (and applied) by networking with your peers,” Thompson says. Another focus
has been getting the industry’s con- cerns and needs in front of local and national legislators. “Through the PMA district,” Thompson shares, “we’ve been able to host members of congress in our plants. And, on a national level, I’ve attended several PMA-sponsored lobbying events in Washington, D.C.”
Noting that PMA membership is for an entire company, not just the indi- vidual, Thompson inspires others at Trans-Matic to take advantage of the networking and educational opportu- nities afforded by the association. For example, he notes that the company has benefitted greatly by actively par- ticipating in the PMA Human Resources roundtables and listserve; company CFO Randy Utting’s partici- pation in PMA’s executive roundta- bles; and vice president of sales and marketing Mark Southwell’s partici- pation in PMA’s marketing and sales conferences.
“In particular, Randy Utting uses the PMA benchmarking reports to help our management team set some spe- cific operational goals,” says Thomp- son. “Recently, we’ve focused on the benchmark of setup time, and have embarked on an aggressive campaign to improve production efficiency by reducing our setup times, as well as increase our run rates where we can.”
Thompson views PMA membership as an investment—in time and money—and insists there be a return on that investment. “And there is defi- nitely an obvious ROI,” he says. “I rec- ognize three clear contributors to that ROI: networking and benchmarking; education and training; and advocacy. Trans-Matic has benefitted hugely in all three of these areas, and I expect will continue to do so for a long time to come.
“I learned the industry ins and outs from PMA and its members,” Thomp- son adds. “My peers have taught me how to compete, day in and day out, to declare every day as a win or lose opportunity, and to focus on what allows us to win. I belong to PMA because I want my company to be competitive. Period.” MF
20 MetalForming/November 2011
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