Page 32 - MetalForming December 2011

Workforce Development\E.J. Ajax and Sons
Metalforming Career Paths at E.J. Ajax
Title
Avg. Wage
Class C (entry level) apprentice
$12-$13/hr.
Class B (two year) apprentice
$14- $17/hr.
Class A fully credentialed journey person
$17-$$29/hr.
floor. That’s our reward as managers for the investment made in their pro- fessional development.”
It should come as no surprise that CI suggestions involving safety take top priority, but productivity and lean, as previously mentioned, have been top of mind for the last few years. In fact, the firm earned the 2008 SKD Automotive Group Productivity Award from the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) for a frontline- worker-initiated CI project to elimi- nate nonvalue-added time between a particular customer’s orders and the required delivery dates. Long cycle times in production meant that the customer had to keep expensive inventory on hand. Now, E.J. Ajax doesn’t start to make the product until it receives the order, so that the cus- tomer’s overall costs are less and cash flow is not tied up in storing finished goods. The team worked through a total productive maintenance plan for the process and, as a result, uptime of a continuous-flow production cell exceeds 99.8 percent and the supply chain has been reduced from six weeks to four hours.
Recognition Comes Often
The transition made by E.J. Ajax & Sons from the dirty, dangerous days of metalforming in the early ‘80s to becoming a beacon of safe and pro-
ductive manufacturing has not gone without notice throughout the man- ufacturing world. Recognition, including the productivity award noted above, has come early and often for the company.
Most recently, Minnesota’s Man- ufacturing Alliance (MA) named E.J. Ajax & Sons Manufacturer of the Year 2011. The award recognizes manu- facturers who “exhibit openness in sharing their experiences and infor- mation to strengthen fellow manu- facturers,” said MA president Art Sneen. Activities earning the com- pany such recognition included host- ing a series of programs on “Building a Safe and Lean Culture in the Work- place,” attended by numerous Min- nesota companies.
In addition, the U.S. Chamber honored E.J. Ajax and Sons in 2011 with its Blue Ribbon Small Business Award. “Winners of the Blue Ribbon Small Business Award represent the country’s finest business success sto- ries,” says U.S. Chamber president and CEO Tom Donahue. “It is their dedication to strong business prin- ciples that will enable us to rebuild our nation’s economy.”
E.J. Ajax & Sons also received, in 2010, PMA’s Pitcher Insurance Agency Safety Award, recognizing (at the time) its more than 20 years without a lost-time injury, and more than seven years without an OSHA-record- able incident.
“The safety culture is strictly enforced,” the PMA safety committee wrote when presenting the award. “One violation within a 12-month period warrants a verbal warning, the second is put in writing and the third results in a one-day paid deci- sion-making leave, when the employ- ee is sent home to decide whether
he/she can follow safety policies... The enforcement of safety policies includes random drug testing for all employees, including office employ- ees and officers...Safety training is continuous, with an average of 10 hr. /employee annually.”
The investment Erick Ajax and his management team make in the work- force allows the company “to cap- ture the hearts and minds of its employees,” says Ajax, “and truly want to work safely, as opposed to us telling them to work safely. They understand that professional metal- formers don’t get hurt on the job— that’s the difference between a safe- ty program and a safety culture.”
PMA also awarded, in 2007, its A.R. Hedberg Training and Educa- tion Award to E.J. Ajax & Sons, noting at the time that the company had “distinguished itself as a leader in training by becoming one of the first metalforming companies in the country to incorporate full National Institute for Metalworking Skills cre- dentialing into all of its apprentice- ship programs and career lad- ders...Every employee of the company,” the award committee found, “from top management to entry-level employees, is required to devote at least 100 hours to training each year. In addition, E.J. Ajax pays 100 percent of tuition for a range of courses that contribute to the cul- ture and esprit de corps of the com- pany, such as team building and cul- tural diversity classes...Through its agreement with the MNDOLI, E.J. Ajax compensates its employees as they achieve credentials at higher levels...Many participants in the journey worker training program can nearly double their entry-level wages in 5 yr.” MF
Company co-owner Kent Djubek signed on in 1990 as a temporary punch press operator earning $6.50/hr. Promoted to fabrication team leader in 1993, first shift supervisor in 1996 and plant manager in 2001, Djubek’s earnings grew five-fold. In 2005 he became president and in 2007 became the first non-family stock holder.
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