CONNSTEP is pleased to present this quarterly column profiling leaders in the Connecticut manufacturing community - sharing their thoughts, insights and predictions.

Brian Montanari, Chief Operating Officer
Habco, Inc., Glastonbury
Adjunct Professor, Eastern Connecticut State University
 

Our country may be in a recession, but we are seeing so many opportunities for growth, particularly internationally. We've added 15 employees and our revenue jumped from $6.3 million two years ago to $10.6 million in the last fiscal year. Shipments alone grew 65% this past fiscal year.

Why? In addition to developing new products, we've been focusing on developing solutions for our customers to help them refurbish and maintain older legacy equipment rather than buy new. For us it's the right direction to be headed to support our clients in today's economy. We have also focused on crossing-over current products to new platforms and industries.

U.S. manufacturers have only scratched the surface with Lean. Most companies only focus on the shop floor, but instead we should all be focusing on company-wide culture shift and getting everyone involved to improve all aspects of the business.

I ask for one innovative and implemented idea per month from every employee-including contractors and temporary employees. This kind of ongoing improvement keeps everyone creative, thinking, and seeing potential rather than sitting back waiting for management to address issues.

We also focus our company on one ongoing large improvement to direct our collective attention to. Each quarter we select a different theme, and every functional unit looks at how it can address that goal. It's fun to watch how everyone in the company really cares about the issue and comes up with creative and impactful solutions from every vantage point.

On the first day of my first fulltime job when I was 21 years old, I was sent to one of our plants to tear down racks to improve flow. What I didn't know was that I'd be flying with the president who sat with me on the plane, knew my name, chatted with me on the plane, and worked side by side with us on the job. That day I decided that when I became a leader I would lead like him-by example, participating on the floor, and setting the culture for everyone.

Always surround yourself with people smarter than you. It's even better if you can find people philosophically aligned with yourself, yet with strength in different areas. When that happens, 1 + 1 > 2.

Brian Montanari at Habco, Inc.
photo copyright Thomas Giroir Photography

Everyone cares. I've heard many senior managers at various companies frequently say they don't think their employees care and that they're just there for the paycheck, but I have found the exact opposite. If we acknowledge and believe that everyone is working for the same reason-to make the organization better-it becomes much easier to find common ground when folks disagree with tactics.

I hate to discuss my age. Yet always having people older than me working for me has made me a better manager. I have to earn respect and never take my position for granted.

Treat people right. Do the right thing. It's simple, but makes all the difference.

When I write a book, I'm going to title it "Assion." You have to have p assion for what you do, and
 comp assion for the lives of the people you're affecting. That's key to successful management, especially when you're invoking change.

The worst job I ever had was driving a fork truck in the shipping department. I hated it at the time, but if it wasn't for those summers working in shipping, I wouldn't be where I am today. I was majoring in finance with a goal to work on Wall Street. After that first summer, I never thought I'd step foot in a factory again. But every year that organization gave me more and more opportunities and rewards-to earn more money, to learn about Lean, and to learn all aspects of the business, from the plant floor to operations to finance. I realized that it's better to affect the bottom line in manufacturing than it is to analyze it from Wall Street.

I was the lucky beneficiary of caring bosses who mentored me and took me under their wings. Now I try to do the same. Through teaching and my work at Habco, I help students find internships and jobs. It's incredibly fulfilling to see them learn and watch them grow in their careers.

Unless you want to become an engineer, it's unlikely that you'll grow up wanting to work in a factory. Academic institutions don't sell manufacturing well. That's why I got into teaching. When you're working on the 25th floor of a skyscraper, you're missing out on where the action is. In manufacturing, you can see sheet metal become a huge piece of test equipment or a helicopter. This is where it all happens.