SEPTEMBER 202119MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSthe road map and its overall strategic goals. As Suedkamp points out, "Efficiency was not part of FTC's original vocabulary. We did not have Kanban systems, Kaizen events, Gemba walks, or daily strategy sessions with metrics boards. These systems are now a permanent part of our culture." He further points out that consistency and organizational discipline are needed for any company to continue to reach its goals over time, while complacency and inconsistency can quickly impact quality and delivery performance. As part of this effort to sustain excellence over time, Ms. Poppy Carellos, Avantus Fasteners CIO/SCIOPS, ensures that the company has the systems capabilities and custom reports tailored for optimized efficiency.An Employee-First CultureA successful business culture starts with treating people with respect and investing in their personal development and success. Suedkamp's maxim is to "show respect, be caring, deliver reasonable consequences, praise in public, punish in private, but mainly, to treat people like you care." He adds that your employees ­ and customers and suppliers, for that matter ­should receive the respect they deserve. FTC's positive culture is self-evident to anyone who visits the facility; guests routinely note that senior management knows all of the employees by name and that the employees respond positively and enthusiastically to being addressed. This same people-first culture is lived and breathed throughout Avantus Aerospace, the parent company of FTC; the support from Avantus encourages FTC to maintain its focus on its people and their importance.Coming from the "The Buckeye State," Suedkamp is the last of six children, all of whom are extremely competitive. He mentions, "We played ice hockey, football, baseball, volleyball, card games, and board games. I learned strategy at a young age and how to work that into winning without alienating my family or friends. The same principle applies to business: understanding the strategic plan and how to communicate it clearly to employees and customers results in alignment and transparency at their finest."Suedkamp also coached girl's fast-pitch softball for 15 years through, taking them to two national championships. He says, "My goals centered on communication, individual player development, and achieving success while having fun. We were competitive, but there were no trophies just for participation--the players had to earn my respect, as I did theirs." He adds that this experience made him want to ensure that all women are successful in business and can take their lives to the next level, competing equally with men.The success of FTC has been a big help to Avantus Aerospace as it adds additional fastener companies to its portfolio. Most recently, Avantus acquired Fastener Innovation Technology (FIT) in Rancho Dominguez, CA, and California Screw Products in Paramount, CA. This has enabled the sharing of operational best practices across all three companies while providing the advantages of a broader market presence. The complementary capabilities of the various Avantus fastener companies provide a unique value proposition to the customer community, one that is based on both specialty fasteners and standards and that is underpinned by a genuine customer focus and commitment to excellence. Suedkamp adds, "These fastener companies are further complemented by the other Avantus C-Class component companies ­ Lamsco in Santa Clarita, CA; Bolsan in western PA, and Attewell in the UK ­ which manufacture a broad array of related detail parts and shims." With Suedkamp at the helm, FTC is currently working with its customers' engineering teams to develop the next best fastener and improve on its existing products. "We are known for our F-35 content and platforms such as F-15, F-16, F-22, C-130, Apache helicopters, and other defense systems. We have our sights on the next generation of fighter jets, military transports, and space systems, applying what we have learned to continue to define and expand our niche," he concludes. Our strong engineering team has developed many patents through FTC's history, including three in just the last two years. FTC is adept at working through the client's pain-points via design innovation, manufacturing improvement, and CAPEX investment, all of which add to our customer loyalty
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