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Episode 24: How We Will Build the Future
18 Plays10 days ago
Welcome to Episode 24 and our first episode of 2025 (try keeping that straight!).
In this episode, I discuss some recent thoughts, some of the topics reviewed at our recent leadership offsite meeting and preview the year ahead and what we can expect to see at HFW.
We are building the foundational elements that will foster tremendous growth at HFW, and we look forward to building a bright future with everyone.
As always, your questions, comments and ideas are most welcome!
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Transcript
Introduction and 2025 Podcast Goals
00:00:01
HFW Industries
a
00:00:10
HFW Industries
All right, welcome back to the Shop Talk podcast. This is episode 24, the first episode of 2025. It's January 30th and I'm just starting to ah finally get the date right and actually put 25 instead of 24. And I told myself i my my internal goal is is to do a podcast a month, roughly. um And so here we are in the second last day of the month and I am getting it in.
00:00:40
HFW Industries
And actually, it's a good time to do this podcast too.
2024 Year in Review and Company Reflections
00:00:43
HFW Industries
um There are a couple things that have been on my mind lately and that I wanted to review and kind of use this episode as a, um I guess, ah a review of the past year.
00:00:56
HFW Industries
um just looking at how things went in 2024 and then previewing 2025 and what we really want to attack and what our goals are as a company and some of the things you may you may start to notice as we get further into the new year. So I posted this video on my Instagram page which is jack underscore watson underscore hfw subtle plug on January 1st, New Year's Day. um Just kind of of or a reflection while I was on a hike. and There were some things I was frustrated with and um you know as best as I ah can, I try to turn the frustrations into opportunities and and things that I can personally get better at and things that um we can do as a business to get better.
Challenges and Strategies for 2025
00:01:47
HFW Industries
And so the you know the basic
00:01:49
HFW Industries
premise of it that I want to expand on on this podcast was you know there were things there were and there were things and there were goals that we had set in 2024 that, to be quite frank, we we ah came up short of. And um you know I think that's natural. There are a lot of different reasons, and I'm going to get into some of that. um But I wanted to to to get into a discussion and and conversation about that.
00:02:17
HFW Industries
um Because one of the things I'm really trying to do is is foster communication and improve communication and let people know what's going on in the company and some of what's happening behind the scenes that you may not be seeing day to day but is happening and um I want everyone to be a part of that and ah be on the same page.
00:02:37
HFW Industries
And so that reflection also coincided with our annual offsite that our leadership team holds every year. This is a two day um offsite review. We hold it at in a conference room in downtown Buffalo.
00:02:55
HFW Industries
And the point of being off site is to um get the leadership team away from the day to day issues that are are being solved um on the shop floor and in the office here at HFW.
00:03:10
HFW Industries
and allow them to think about the the future of the business, ah brainstorm and and problem solve um and think more deeply about some of the bigger challenges that we're facing um instead of you know a quick fix that I think may be the the typical reaction on ah on the shop floor when you're just trying to get things so running. um And so we had a really good two days and I wanted to, I think that both of these, all of these thoughts coincide and I wanted to um give everyone a little bit of an overview of that and what we discussed, ah which also leads into what I had wanted to talk about here today.
00:03:47
HFW Industries
So to get into, I guess just to review the offsite. So we do it on Thursday and Friday. And the Thursday was primarily spent on looking at the past year, 2024.
00:04:01
HFW Industries
And as I mentioned, um we fell short of some of our goals. So we didn't quite hit our sales target. um We were pretty consistent with last year of 2023, which as my my dad, who was our president,
00:04:15
HFW Industries
um says ah isn't you know there There are some good things in that because ah we saw some of our markets, especially toward the end of the the year, um become very slow.
00:04:28
HFW Industries
ah they um with There's a lot of volatility with inflation and um interest rate hikes and then cuts. and Of course, the the biggest elephant in the room being the presidential election, there's a lot of volatility. and there's If there's one thing that a lot of our customers, being larger manufacturers,
00:04:47
HFW Industries
don't like it and tried to um smooth out its volatility. And so we saw some of that impact. um And I think that impacted why ah we didn't grow as much as we would have liked to on the sales front. Now, that being said, ah we have been working on and are just putting the finishing touches on now our sales plan for 2025. But then also it kind of maps out some of the strategic initiatives over the next couple years.
00:05:17
HFW Industries
And I think we're on a better target to hitting some of those goals for this year. um So we' we're starting to put in place a better structure um with more follow up. We're really targeting um certain accounts.
00:05:32
HFW Industries
um And we're also hiring salespeople, too. ah So ah Mark Sherman, who's been with us for, I believe it's 13 years now, ah Mark is and planning on retiring in the next two years or so. So in one sense, we have to find someone to replace Mark. And then we're also looking at ah building, I guess, account manager types or um basically industry leaders um that ah can lead different segments and in different markets that we are in. So ah the primary ones right now being PowerGen,
00:06:11
HFW Industries
Uh, chemical processing. Um, and then, you know, we're exploring a couple of different industrial or other industrial, um, industries as well. And so that's kind of the, the view on the and the sales front. Uh, and then operationally, um.
Improving Internal Processes and Culture
00:06:29
HFW Industries
We had hoped to improve and and work on our our ah talent development um to reduce our internal rework by more than we did. It was still ah much too high for our liking. And so just to clarify, um internal rework being things that we needed to do again ah because of a mistake or an oversight ah that happens somewhere in the company, whether that was in engineering, whether it was on the shop floor,
00:06:56
HFW Industries
um And again, to clarify, our quality going out the door to our customers is still incredibly high. That's what we're known for. um You know, we have, a we accredit a lot of that to our our tremendous focus on quality and our tremendous quality team.
00:07:16
HFW Industries
um and as well as each each of the individual ah men and women that are um putting their hard work into the equipment. ah So the quality going out the door is, you know, is is fine for the vast majority of it. It's very, very rare that ah something goes out the door with ah a blemish or a defect. um What we're trying to solve and what we we didn't make as much progress on in 2024 that we wanted to ah was solving some of the internal rework.
00:07:47
HFW Industries
um And, you know, one thing that Peter, our plant manager brought up at our offsite um that i've I've really been thinking on over the last week or so since since we had our meetings was this idea that he He wants to get away from, you know, in our corrective action process and um reviewing when we review what went wrong. This is not the point of that review in the corrective action process is not to point fingers or assign blame. And that can kind of be the tendency, not just in our our business, but whenever there's, you know, and an accident or something goes wrong.
00:08:28
HFW Industries
um All of us, and I certainly would put myself in in that as well. I think we all have a tendency to want to ah explain how it wasn't our fault, it was someone else's fault. That's not the point of what we're trying to do, and I want i want everyone to know that as we're trying to get better here, and as we are trying to improve, we're not the point of this is not to assign blame. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter whose fault it was. Now, it it is helpful to see, you know,
00:09:00
HFW Industries
The reason, you know, so ah reworks will be attributed to one person or a couple people is really so to help determine a cause. You know, was that person inexperienced? Should that person have had better supervision? um Was that an experienced person? Was it an equipment issue? um That helps us look at trends, but it's not, um it's very rare. Now it does happen, but it's it's rare that a mistake is just because someone was either intentionally making a mistake or, um you know, trump was trying to do a bad job or um even wasn't paying attention. Those are those things are relatively few and far between. Again, they do happen, but it's not um the norm. And so with that in mind, what we're really trying to do with the corrective action process is assess
00:09:55
HFW Industries
the system because most mistakes are a result of systems, right? If um you have an inexperienced operator on a complex part and something goes wrong. You know, mit yeah maybe the the maybe there's maybe the the inexperienced operator should have spoken up if they didn't feel comfortable doing something. But we also know, one, when you're brand new, it's it's it's more intimidating to ask for help. ah And you want to do a good job. You want to um be independent. um you know I've been in those shoes. I still am in those shoes frequently. right you You want to prove that you can do the job and you don't want to feel like you're and constantly in need of assistance. ah But two,
00:10:37
HFW Industries
you know, that's really more of a system challenge. and And that's what we've seen, you know, the the our level of rework is is directly coinciding with or directly correlating with um this transition in generational talent that we've seen. So for years and years and years,
00:10:57
HFW Industries
We've had an extremely experienced workforce and we still do, but as anyone in the industrial space has seen, and we're seeing a mass exodus as people retire um and filling that void or The people coming in are young kids that have a ton of potential and are very smart and want to try things and take things in a new direction.
Talent Development and Workforce Challenges
00:11:24
HFW Industries
um But like myself, are just the only downside really is the is the inexperience.
00:11:31
HFW Industries
And so we know where it's coming from. And the goal for us is to build systems around this and and work on our training and development. And I wanted to discuss this a little bit because I think it's important to understand that, again, yes, someone's name may be on the form, but this is not meant to be a punishment or um you know point the finger. And I think that can be our tendency at times. And we're trying to, um led by Peter, ah get away from that.
00:12:00
HFW Industries
and and really look for the root cause and how we can get better as opposed to saying, well, it you know wasn't me and washing our hands of that. right um We want this to be a collaborative process where everyone's input is is used to improve the way we do things. That's the ultimate goal. right ah We're not trying to you know point the finger and say, well, that person is just an idiot. So that you know that was the reason for that problem. you know The amount of times that that's truly the the root cause of the issue is like 1 in 100. It normally comes back to systems. It normally comes back to ah how a job was reviewed, how a job was set up, how a job was supervised, um and then how a job was evaluated.
00:12:45
HFW Industries
And then how in how the job was written in engineering before it even hits the shop floor. So these are all things that we're talking about and we're thinking through. And I thought it was important to discuss that. um Because again, to close this section, we want to focus on getting better and the collaboration aspect, not so much on the um pointing finger and assigning blame.
00:13:08
HFW Industries
It doesn't matter who caused it or or or you know whose name ultimately goes on. We just want to get better so it doesn't happen again. That's the ultimate goal. um And so when we're doing this and when you're seeing this, yes, we can give you a a you know, a list of, okay, here's the number of reworks that um were triggered um that you were working on. But we also understand there are environmental factors. There are other things in consideration. So I wanted to help change the perspective or the view of these um reworks because it's a team effort. It's not um one person's ultimate fault. um There's always something that we can all do, whether it's in engineering, whether it's in
00:13:50
HFW Industries
um the shop, whether it's up in the the leadership offices um to get better. And we want to focus on this as a team because we'll all benefit if we can improve that.
00:14:02
HFW Industries
So with that in mind, what are we going to do in 2025 as we aim to ah improve and in um hit the the metrics that we're setting as a business? um So I've already talked about the sales piece, um but on our operations and our productivity and our training and development, I wanted to touch on that and what you can expect and what we're we're working toward ah in the new year.
00:14:29
HFW Industries
Talking so fast, I'm losing my breath. So the first thing is um focusing on the expectations and the accountability. And this is something that's very near and dear to me. I'm really trying to help us as a business improve our communication, improve um the level of discussion regarding expectations and accountability.
00:14:52
HFW Industries
um but I think to to set the set the scene a little bit. um We have a tremendous amount of opportunity in this business, the markets were serving, um whether it's um power generation, or um the traditional industrials or even some of the newer sectors.
00:15:11
HFW Industries
ah that are are are popping up as we see this re-industrialization in America, there's an incredible amount of opportunity. um But as with all of our work, it's very complex and it requires the best skill. And so in saying all of that, ah we need to set a high standard for our ourselves. And I don't expect that standard to be set without proper communication and without um training and development to help each person get there.
00:15:40
HFW Industries
um But we also we want to set the standard for what's acceptable. And so, ah you know, we are making changes and we are communicating and and saying, you know, hey, we got to be here 40 hours a week um as much as possible. Right. We know emergencies happen and that's that's one thing. ah But we want to set a a performance culture ah where the very best players want to be.
00:16:04
HFW Industries
And ah when it comes to this, I like to think of the the bills, um which I talked a little bit about in the video on Instagram if you want to go check that out. um But I really think of the job that Sean McDermott has done.
00:16:16
HFW Industries
Now, I'm recording this podcast the week after the bills, um unfortunately lost the Kansas City Chiefs yet again, which was a disappointing loss to be sure. um But I think that also points to where the bills have gotten in and how they have turned this around. And it wasn't an overnight process, right? We're eight years into Sean McDermott's tenure. But I really think of what what he has done and what his team has done. um And what I mean by that is, you know, before Sean McDermott,
00:16:47
HFW Industries
no football player and really no athlete wanted to come to Buffalo, right? Buffalo, you know, it's a small town, i kind of a Midwestern Great Lakes feel. ah The winters are long. It's cold. You know, there's not, um you don't have the level of things you can do that you would have in a big city like New York or LA or Chicago. It really wasn't a destination for players, right? People didn't want to come here.
00:17:13
HFW Industries
And he's completely changed that, right? Players want to come here now. um And a big piece of that was he set the standard. i remember remember i could speak here I remember back in one of the first things he did was remove the video games from the locker room. Now, I believe he kept the ping pong table because he said it was good for hand-eye coordination and for teamwork and um bonding. But you know he got rid of the um lack of seriousness and establish that performance standard ah and talked about trusting the process and building that process which I'll get into just a few minutes. um And so by setting that standard and setting a and this accountability, he built a system
00:17:59
HFW Industries
that has ultimately turned the bills into a perennial contender. Now, of course, we need them to take that next step. But they are at the top of the NFL. And a big part of that is because the standard was set. um And there's this it's it's a flywheel where the best players want to be where the other best players are. And they also understand they're coming in. They're going to be the best versions of themselves.
00:18:21
HFW Industries
um So when you have this and you can attract the best talent, it just becomes ah a this self-fulfilling prophecy. So the best talent wants to be where the other best talent is. um They push themselves to an extremely high level and they get ah incredible things done. And that's, I think, what you see with the bills. Again, you know, they need to get over the hump and beat the Chiefs and win the ultimate title of a Super Bowl.
00:18:45
HFW Industries
But they're essentially one step short of that. And that's coming from you know almost two decades of mediocrity and um being the laughingstock of the NFL. And so I think we're here on a good path because we're not starting where the bills are starting. We're starting at a very high level already.
00:19:03
HFW Industries
um But we want we want to change things up and and you know make sure that we're we're establishing that performance standard, that performance culture, um where the best players can be very successful.
00:19:16
HFW Industries
And I say the best players because, as I've talked about before, um the work we're doing is very complex. We need the A players. We need the Josh Allen's of machining and welding, thermal spraying, grinding, and engineering. And um you know I'll stop there, but I could keep going. We need the top talent. um We want to foster an environment where that top talent wants to be. And so part of that is making sure that we have a strong performance culture and a performance standard. And so you're going to see some of that over the next year. And we're already in the process of implementing.
00:19:47
HFW Industries
And again, this is not meant to be punitive. This is not meant to be, oh, you know you didn't do this, so you know there's expunishment. No, it's really meant, again, to be collaborative and belt it and build an environment where the top performers can succeed and in and perform at a high level. That's the ultimate goal. There's no hidden agenda to this. um We just want to be extremely successful as a company. And when we do that, I can promise you,
00:20:13
HFW Industries
um We will plow that back into the company, into our into our benefits, and ah making sure HFW is the absolute best place to work for top industrial talent.
00:20:24
HFW Industries
And so last piece to that as we look to 2025 is really establishing the systems.
Systematic Improvements and Inspirations
00:20:32
HFW Industries
So we really want to systematize as much as we can in this business um to ensure that the routine things stay routine and that we set ourselves up for the best chance of success.
00:20:44
HFW Industries
so i mean systems I think should surround everything. So everything from our our onboarding, how we recruit, how we interview, how we hire, um to then coming into the company, how we build a job in the engineering office, um the process for it to be reviewed by um Scott, our engineering and and manufacturing manager, by Peter, our plant manager, and then by the individual supervisors as they're reviewing a job um with the operator um to then perform the operation.
00:21:14
HFW Industries
We want to build systems around all of this stuff, again, to make sure that the ah the routine things stay routine. And this is all kind of inspired by a book called The Checklist Manifesto, which um I will buy anyone a copy ah that wants it in this in in our business. right So if you ah work for HFW and you want to copy this book, um I will get it for you. Just come up and ask me.
00:21:43
HFW Industries
um And I say that because, one, it's an easy read. My uncle, who um works for a or is in the union as an electrician, ah he read it. He's a foreman. um He said it was ah just a quick, simple read. um So I went and read it.
00:21:59
HFW Industries
and It explains a lot of what we're trying to do with systems. And so um to give you a quick synopsis of the book, and then, you know, if you want the full story, obviously, you're going to have to have to read it. um This book was written by a surgeon, and he's covering he covers how do we reduce the rate of ah mistakes and injuries and death in surgery because surgery even in our advanced society is still incredibly dangerous and there are still it's still very risky and most I don't know about most but many of the issues that happen in surgery could have been prevented.
00:22:40
HFW Industries
um had little things been checked. And so it's very interesting because he covers um how a checklist can be used ah to reduce um reduce mistakes and improve the success rate of surgery. And then he also goes and explores different realms as well. So building a skyscraper, flying a plane,
00:22:58
HFW Industries
um And what he he kind of ties it all together by saying What do these have in common and the big thing is that the level of complexity whether you're performing? Open-heart surgery whether you're building a skyscraper ah or a highway ah whether you're landing or or taking off um a big Boeing 747 The level of complexity in these is these ah huge endeavors is so complex and so immense ah that it it exceeds the human capability um to be able to monitor each and everything that you need for that operation to go right.
00:23:41
HFW Industries
and so In order to combat that, his proposal is basically putting together checklists and utilizing checklists that are very basic. They they take you know no more than usually five minutes to review and go through, um and they have produced some incredible results. So you know when you look at um commercial flying, flying is the safest way to travel. ah At least in the United States, building collapses are incredibly rare. Building collapses from um structural deficiencies in engineering and construction failures are incredibly rare.
00:24:18
HFW Industries
um And surgery, when these checklists are implemented, is much safer. And so that, to go back to and relate it back to what we're talking about here with systems, the ah you know we want to make and give ourselves the best possible chance for everything to go right and have a very successful job.
Communication, Accountability, and Future Focus
00:24:37
HFW Industries
uh... in our line of work you know there is so much uncertainty and complexity involved that we understand that uh... things are going to go sideways sometimes and it's not again to go back to where we started it's not when something does go wrong it's not to point the finger or blame someone it's okay what happened in our system uh... is there a way that we can improve the system without adding additional complexity uh... that can um reduce the opportunity for air and make the opportunity for success higher. So I know this is all very sounds you know high level and theory based, but it's actionable. you know we're goingnna You're going to be seeing checklists and just little things and making sure that everything is is done in a uniform way um as much as possible. So we're going to be starting soon with like the job review, ah making sure that all the critical features of that operation are
00:25:34
HFW Industries
discussed and reviewed, any channel any um expected challenges are discussed. If there are questions, those come up. Just little things, these you know, guys, these really aren't um ah revolutionary things or or things that are incredibly difficult. It's the basic stuff that you're used to and um if you're not, you know, you may not even realize some of this is happening, um but it's just building checks and balances to, again, give us the best possible chance to succeed on the job.
00:26:04
HFW Industries
So that is the big um priority for 2025, is focusing on um making sure we have strong communication, accountability, and structure, making sure that we are focused on our our training and development, um and building an incredible team where ah the best performers want to be.
00:26:25
HFW Industries
and so you know I know we already have many of those people on our our team and of course we're looking for a few more as well ah to be able to perform at a high level and um do some great work for our customers.
00:26:38
HFW Industries
and so That's all I had today. Again, I wanted to use this as a time to reflect on the past year, um discuss some of what we've been discussing and in the the leadership meetings, and then kind of give you an outlook for what we're trying to focus on in 2025 and how we can get better.
00:26:59
HFW Industries
So I'm going to ah put this out hopefully today or tomorrow. And then you know i what i'm again, what I'm really trying to help improve communication. So you know if you have thoughts on this or or ideas, um I want to make it as easy as possible to talk with myself or with Peter or with Scott or with my dad or whoever. um The point of this is not just to ah put out a 30-minute podcast me talking because you know I'm sorry, I and don't mean to subject anyone to that. It is really to help us communicate and explain some of the reasoning behind some of these initiatives um and what we want to do to be an even more successful company so that we can all um benefit from that.
00:27:45
HFW Industries
So I think that's enough for now. I think I've thrown enough at you. um Again, you know I'm very interested in in making this company the best possible company. I work as hard as I possibly can to do that. I want this to be a tremendous company to work for, ah the very best. I want us to be a tremendous vendor for our customers, and then I want us to be a a stud in the community um where people um come to when they're looking for opportunity and they want to be extremely successful.
Closing Thoughts and Invitation for Feedback
00:28:19
HFW Industries
So I hope that was useful. Again, I welcome your feedback and your comments, um whether you see me in person or if you ah want to email me or text me. um I appreciate you listening and I will see you on the next one. Thank you.