When selecting talent for manufacturing roles, grades don’t matter nearly as much as hard work and talent. A’s and B’s are all very well, but a willingness to learn and the hunger to improve daily can’t be taught. Becoming a great engineer isn’t about knowing everything right out of the gate, it’s about figuring it out.
In this episode, we’re joined by Cody Myers, Jon Rauner, and Mick Yrkoski of Behlen Mfg. Co. Join us as we discuss Behlen’s approach to hiring, their relationship with the wider community in Columbus, Nebraska, and their “pay-it-forward” mentality. Behlen’s approach to development, which includes tiered meetings, profit-sharing initiatives, and partnering with local colleges, has helped them continue to grow and progress since their inception almost ninety years ago.
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3 Quick Things from this Episode
- The importance of culture at manufacturing firms is often overlooked. The key to culture is the people – they are the number one asset.
- Regardless of level at the company, receptiveness to all ideas is vital.
- Behlen value sustainable decisions over immediate profits.
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Tweetable Quotes
- “We still view metal as an art.” – Cody Myers
- “One of our global values is continuous learning.” – Cody Myers
- “I would take a technician anytime that has drive and aspires to be better over somebody that knows the answer and doesn’t have to do the research.” – Mick Yrkoski
Please Scroll Down for Recommended Resources from this Episode
Do you want to connect with other leaders that are moving the needle in manufacturing everyday? Then make sure to join us in the Manufacturing Happy Hour Industry Community on LinkedIn.
This episode is part of the MADE HERE City Series, created in partnership with ISN, the Industrial Solutions Network. In these episodes, we’re exploring what makes a city’s manufacturing community so special. This series not only features full podcast interviews with manufacturing leaders, but behind-the-scenes tours of some of the region’s most iconic and important industrial operations. Check out our latest mini-series in Nebraska today.
A fragmented operational environment makes designing, sourcing and producing parts slower, more costly and more error prone than it needs to be. CADDi connects manufacturing data across your entire operational ecosystem so your team can put it to use. By analyzing drawings to extract data, you create a link to every PO, CAM file or spec sheet that design has ever been associated with. This lets your team start to leverage hidden commonalities across your parts catalog to optimize production and reduce cost.
Fortinet secures the world’s largest enterprises, service providers, and government organizations along their digital transformation journey. The Fortinet Security Fabric platform delivers broad, integrated, and automated protections across the entire digital attack surface. They secure critical devices, data, applications, and connections from the production floor, to the data center, and to the cloud.
What We Discuss with Cody, Jon, and Mick
- Why metal-forming and manufacturing is still an art
- Behlen’s personal connection to the community and culture of Nebraska – they value their employees as names rather than numbers
- How, at Behlen, the focus is on balancing today’s tasks with long-term success, valuing sustainable decisions over immediate profits
- Behlen values hard work and drive over great grades and talent
- A pay-it-forward mentality is vital for nurturing the next generation of talent, especially with apprenticeship programs and partnerships with local colleges
- Maintenance teams are the ‘rockstars’ of the manufacturing world
- Three-tiered meetings allow an organization to foster alignment across different levels of the company and enhance decision-making
- The overlooked importance of culture at manufacturing firms and why people are the key
- There is a lot of different opportunities in manufacturing that people don’t talk about or don’t see – whether that’s opportunities in HR, IT, or accountancy
Recommended Resources
- Behlen Manufacturing, a steel fabrication company
- Industrial Solutions Network, a network of manufacturing technology companies providing the collective information, technology, tools and services to manufacturing communities
- Central Community College, a multi-campus community college serving a 25-county area in central Nebraska
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