Plant Manager Ed Wasielewski (left) and General Manager Jerry Baskovich are helping Meaden Precision reach its goal of producing high-quality, low-cost machine products.

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In the last 10 to 15 years, more companies have been conducting significant purchasing overseas, a trend that has caused American suppliers such as Meaden Precision Machined Products Co. to try to provide faster deliveries and cheaper prices to stay competitive, President Thomas Meaden says.

“The fact is that you can now buy the same products anywhere in the world,” he says.  “That has opened up the market and significantly driven down prices.”

Meaden Precision custom manufactures plastic, steel, brass, aluminum and stainless steel products for companies in the automotive, service instruments, sensors, medical and hydraulic industries in the United States and Canada.

The company has made several changes to its operations to adapt to the market, Meaden notes. “We’re producing more complex products at smaller quantities at shorter lead times. This has forced us to be more innovative in finding ways to produce faster, better and cheaper,” he says.

Meaden has also strived to utilize the latest technology and spends approximately $1 million each year to upgrade its manufacturing processes.  “We buy new machinery almost every year,” he says. “We have almost 60 different types of machinery and equipment that can do a wide range of processes such as turning, broaching, milling and grinding.

“Purchasing the latest technology enables us to be more productive and provides our employees new opportunities to learn new skills,” Meaden adds.

Work Force
The globalization of the industry has also impacted Meaden Precision’s work force.

The company has 75 employees, nearly half as many as it used to have back in the early 1990s.  “We’re forced to replace labor with machinery and automation,” Meaden explains. “We need to run lean and efficient; we cannot afford the fat of the past.”

The company utilizes automation and the latest technology to perform tasks that were previously performed by unskilled labor. “There is a huge shortage of skilled people who want to do this work,” he says. “We don’t have demand for unskilled labor, most of that is done by machinery.”

“One of our biggest challenges now is finding and developing skilled machine operators,” he adds. “The manufacturing trades are not being promoted enough in our schools, with most not having any shop classes, and preconceived notions about the industry are the main reasons why the labor pool is so small,” he says.

“People think it’s a dirty old factory and that they would make only make minimal wages, but in fact, many of our skilled operators can make a better living as good as, if not better, than a person working a white collar job.

“We are taking the initiative in building an internal training program,” he says. “We hire trainees and put them through a rigorous training program to sort out who has the skills and passion for this business.”

Everyday Skills
The current economic climate has made it more challenging on the company, Meaden notes.    

“Many customers are nervous because they don’t know where the future is heading,” he says. “Their supply and demand varies weekly and sometimes daily.  The dollar is down; oil fuel costs are up and raw material price fluctuations have had a tremendous impact [on] inventory. We can no longer stockpile so we produce as needed and ship just in time.”

Although the economy has been rough for everyone, the internal changes Meaden has made have enabled it to survive the tough times. 

“We pride ourselves on our quality, delivery and customer service,” Meaden says.  “We also have the ability to help people engineer solutions.”