Poughkeepsie Company Turns to
HVTDC for Help with Hiring, Training
"Bob came in and
identified our needs, and he devised solutions to them. Our experience
with HVTDC has been tremendous."
Jim Faulkner
Controller
MPI, Inc
Highly skilled employees are the basic building block of technological companies, and a company's success depends on finding the right people for the right job. In mid-2000, MPI, Inc., of Poughkeepsie, NY, needed to fill six crucial positions to meet its business needs and remain competitive. The company, which has 45 employees and records annual sales of $7.5 million, makes wax injection equipment used by investment casting companies throughout the world. Investment casting companies in turn manufacture integral metal parts for myriad manufacturers.
MPI needed to fill the job openings fast. But screening and interviewing skilled people takes time and resources away from the business of the company, so MPI turned to the Hudson Valley Technology Development Center (HVTDC) for help. Bob Winrow of HVTDC immediately put MPI in touch with Cornell Career Center. Says Jim Faulkner, the company's controller, "Cornell did the screening for us and presented us with a choice of applicants. They saved us a considerable amount of time, and I am convinced that with their expertise in human resources they were better able to identify successful candidates than we would have been. We are quite happy with the people we hired with their help."
But the involvement of HVTDC did not end there. "Winrow studied
MPI's
operations and got to know our company very well. A key need was identified
to reduce our product cycle time.
"Then he designed a six-week, cross-discipline training program
to get all of our employees to operate as efficiently as possible. But
we needed money to do that, so Bob took responsibility for that, too.
By working with Dutchess
Community College, he helped us get a $4,800 grant for the program. The
class generated a whole bunch of questions from our employees, and in
general helped every one to take a fresh look at every job and how they
fit together.
"The training resulted in a better understanding of our bill of material structure and how each department needed to use the BOM and the need to structure it so only one was required. This change improved our operations so our products moved from sales to engineering to the manufacturing floor with a shorter cycle time.
"The net result? An increase in efficiency in everything we do. It's impossible to quantify it at this time, but I do know that we are more effective now than we were before."
Winrow also made MPI's management aware of the Manufacturers Mall (www.mfrmall.com), a web-based market on which virtually every needed tool and supply is available, thereby saving the company additional money.
"Bob came in and identified our needs, and he devised solutions
to them," says Faulkner. "Our experience with HVTDC has been
tremendous."