Features Manufacturing

A stack of metal discs sat on a workbench inside DCM Tech’s Winona, Minnesota, production facility, each polished to a finish most people would never notice. To Jen Rutz, the parts represented more than tolerances or production schedules. They represented a family company built over five decades, a team of employees (intentionally referred to as […]

For Tarra Enoch, CEO of Tom Smith Industries, the role was never a matter of if—it was always when. She doesn’t just lead a company; she carries a legacy. “I was born into it,” she says. “If you cut me open, plastic pellets would fall out.” That may sound like a punchline, but it’s an […]

As recently as five years ago, Draxton depended upon more than 6,000 suppliers to sustain its manufacturing of sophisticated automotive components. The new North American supply chain director, Luis Zertuche, determined that there’s not necessarily strength in such numbers, so he’s pruned the supply chain to fewer than 1,000. The main processes of two Mexican […]

For the past 84 years, Mingledorff’s of Peachtree Corners, Georgia, has provided equipment, parts and services to heating, ventilation and air conditioning dealers and contractors throughout the Southeast. In 2022, it pulled in over $800 million in revenue. Yet, leadership and executives have their sights set much higher with the plans of reaching a billion […]

In 2020, when companies across the world were shutting down or downsizing, Inline Plastics was ramping up operations. As a manufacturing company in the food packaging industry, it was considered an essential business, so its plants in Connecticut, Utah and Georgia never hit the off switch. Inline Plastics provides plastic containers to a variety of […]

There being a nine-hour difference in the time zones of Mexico and Qatar, it made for inconvenient viewing for some of the most avid followers of the recent FIFA World Cup. During other years, many of the workers at British American Tobacco’s operations in Mexico would have gathered in cantinas or private homes to watch […]

His work in finance has taken him around the globe for some of the world’s biggest companies. Now, Carlos Aritzmendi is moving again, this time back to Europe, where he’ll be the managing director for BIC’s global business center in Bulgaria. “I have always been open to new opportunities, and I’m a person who seeks […]

Daniel Malpica was inclined to study civil engineering in college. Beer changed his mind. On a school trip before college, he visited a brewery and was so intrigued by the supply chain that he decided to study industrial engineering at Universidad La Salle in Mexico City. That set the foundation for a 20-year career guiding […]

When tap water comes out murky or has a strange taste, people are often afraid of what’s in it. Some of the most dangerous contaminants can’t be seen, smelled or tasted, though. That’s why Culligan International products are certified for invisible toxins, such as lead and arsenic. “Fortunately, the U.S. has standards, but it is […]

He completed an internship with NASA the summer after his junior year of college. Within a month of graduating—the first in his family to do so—he landed as an engineer at Ford Motor Company. Three years later, at the age of 24, he was overseeing all exterior, interior and chassis warranty claims at the company’s […]