Page 20 - MetalForming March 2017

Education, Re-engagement and Advocacy
“We used to bring people in and give them two full days of training before they went out to the shop floor,” says Arndt. “Then they’d work with a mentor to get started in production. Now we do it differently—we start with 4 hr. of initiation covering some basic information, with a focus on safety, then we send them into the plant to work with a mentor for one month. If they stay, then we give them another 4 hr. of on-boarding training, followed
by another month in the plant. They wrap up on-boarding training with another 4 hr. session, followed by one more month in the plant. Then, after 90 days and if they still like us and we like them, they become full-time employees. The procedure seems to be working—the overall retention rate rose to 63 percent in 2016.”
Safety also has been a focus for Pentaflex, a 2014 winner of PMA’s Award of Excellence for safety, but
which saw its lost-day total increase following its hiring spurt. Its renewed efforts to raise safety awareness in 2016 led to a dramatic improvement in its safety performance.
Safety, and other topics critical to PMA’s future under Arndt and other chairmen to come, takes a front seat as PMA looks to invest in e-learning technology. The association has iden- tified several training programs and additional educational material that
A Diverse, Deep and Broad Background Serves Dave Arndt Well
The list of companies where Dave Arndt has worked couldn’t be much more impressive—it includes General Motors, Ford, Creative Industries, Oxford Automotive, Faurecia and AG Simpson. And, he’s managed small to mid-sized metalforming companies—Eclipse Manufacturing and, currently, Pentaflex. He’s worked on the production floor and has held middle- and top-management jobs, all of which have fueled his passion for manufacturing and stoked his competitive fire.
A graduate of General Motors Institute, Arndt went to work on the production floor of Chevy Detroit Gear and Axle, then moved over to Ford Engineering and progressed into middle management (earning a patent along the way related to brake engineering). From there Arndt entered the prototyping world, first at Creative Industries and then with his startup company, Advanced Vehicle Concepts. Career milestones include working on concept vehicles for
GM, composite-tooling work for the black-box” B2 bomber, and development of aerodynamic class-8 truck hoods.
Over his diverse career, Arndt has cherished the opportunity to learn from some of the automotive industry’s top managers, and held positions including engineering manager, vice president of sales, vice president of engineering, vice president of operations, president and now CEO. Working with larger companies exposed Arndt to manufacturing on a global basis, with hands-on metal-stamping experience in far-away places like Brazil, Thailand and Venezuela. Such a diverse background, he believes, allows him to bring a unique skill set to Pentaflex.
“Pentaflex is a family-owned business,” he says, “and they’re dedicated to driving the company forward using innovative management techniques and by investing in technology. We’ve invested $10 million since 2014 to upgrade the plant, including two new automated assembly cells and two new servo presses, and we refurbished a 1600-ton stamping press and built a 26,000-sq.-ft. plant addition.
“Since we have a small management team,” Arndt continues, “I am able to leverage my vast experience and get involved in new programs and support our engineering efforts, and work in product development, even marketing.”
Arndt’s been at the Pentaflex helm since 2012, and since that time the company has won five PMA Awards of Excellence, including awards for safety and product development. The firm manufactures heavy-gauge deep-drawn parts for the heavy- truck market, and has new initiatives (using its new servo presses) to move into lighter-gauge stamping. And, it’s added new CNC machining centers in the last year or so to develop machining as a core competency.
“I spend a lot of time thinking about the future,” Arndt says, when asked to
share what he’s brought to Pentaflex. “And one thing I’ve learned along my journey
in this industry is to always let everyone at the company know what’s coming. I am
careful to communicate weekly with all employees about what’s happening in the
industry (insights often gained from attending PMA events), and how it all
impacts them and the company. I want everyone to understand what’s happening around us, and PMA is a critical resource in that regard.”
18 MetalForming/March 2017
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