51. From Supply Chain to Shop Owner with Mark Heston from Colinear Machine
Apr 10, 2024
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Mark Heston, President of Colinear Machine, shares the remarkable journey of boosting revenue through strategic investments and fostering team cohesion. He discusses the challenges of meeting aerospace industry demands, efficient planning, pricing strategies, and navigating organizational changes. The importance of niche expertise and core competency in the machining business is highlighted.
Implementing a robust planning and engineering process led to quicker turnaround times and higher quality parts.
Focus on upgrading company culture, empowering employees, and emphasizing core values increased accountability and efficiency.
Improving customer communication through proactive engagement and educating clients on capabilities led to increased trust and new opportunities.
Deep dives
Strong Emphasis on Planning and Engineering Processes
Implementing a robust planning and engineering process has been crucial in transforming the business. The creation of the engineering department has streamlined operations significantly, allowing for better planning of projects from cradle to grave. This comprehensive approach ensures that parts are fully programmed, engineered, and fixtured before hitting the shop floor, resulting in quicker turnaround times and higher quality parts.
Upgrading Culture and Empowering Employees
Along with the technical improvements, a focus on upgrading the company culture has been key. By making changes to standardized shifts, increasing benefits, and adjusting pay structures, the team has embraced a new level of accountability and efficiency. Empowering employees and emphasizing core values like class, courage, and will to win have inspired the team to take ownership and drive positive change in the business.
Customer Communication and Relationship Building
Improving customer communication has been a priority, with a proactive approach to keeping clients informed and engaged throughout the process. Educating customers on the full capabilities of the business has led to increased trust and new opportunities. Face-to-face interactions and detailed presentations have highlighted the expertise and quality of services offered, resulting in expanded relationships and new business ventures.
Focus on Specialization and Leveraging Strengths
Recognizing the importance of specialization and leveraging strengths, the company has seen success in honing in on its core competencies. By niching down into specific areas of expertise and focusing on what the business excels at, they have been able to maximize efficiency and quality in their operations. This strategic approach has led to significant improvements in processes and outcomes.
Continuous Improvement and Adaptation to Change
The commitment to continuous improvement and adaptability has driven the business forward. By prioritizing flexibility and staying open to change, the company has been able to enhance its operations and respond effectively to evolving market demands. Embracing new strategies, empowering employees, and fostering a culture of innovation have been instrumental in achieving growth and success.
51. From Supply Chain to Shop Owner with Mark Heston from Colinear Machine Mark Heston is the President of Colinear Machine in northern New Jersey. Colienear specializes in precision machined components and assemblies for the helicopter and aircraft landing gear industries. Mark and his partners bought the business in 2022 and have engineered huge changes and growth in the business in the past 2 years. The turnaround story is one you won’t want to miss, and includes some difficult conversations with clients on some necessary price increases, some massive changes to how they plan and engineer their jobs, and a lot of intentional work on their culture and managing change with their team. Combine that with the insights that he shares having spent years on the supply chain side of the aerospace industry, with advice for shops serving the industry, and this is an episode you don’t want to miss. About Colinear Machine: Colinear Machine & Design's mission is to utilize innovation-driven engineering and manufacturing techniques to produce high-quality products for the aerospace industry. Our team of engineers designs and programs complex, high-precision parts utilizing top-of-the-line manufacturing equipment. AS9100 and ISO9001 certified, they are committed to maintaining the highest quality standards in the aerospace industry. Follow Mark and Colinear Machine on social media: Mark's LI: /mark-heston Company LI: /colinear
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