designation could provide that foundation. “The management system is the foundation they’re going to launch from,” Gadacz says. “They’ll get the structure, get the plan in place to then propel themselves forward. That was the starting point.” Gadacz’s assessment showed the company how an ISO certification will ensure that, when every part of the machine is working together properly, peak efficiency emerges. He mapped out a plan for Minnesota Tool & Die Works to secure an ISO 9001 certification, and the company wisely chose to follow Gadacz’s map. Minnesota Tool & Die’s path to certification took a detour about halfway through its ISO project. In addition to problems brought on by the pandemic, Sherer’s brother, Pat, died unexpectedly just a few months ago. He was the driving force behind working with Enterprise Minnesota on the ISO project. When he passed, and with COVID-19 making everything a little more difficult, the company briefly put the ISO project on pause. But Sherer agreed with his late brother’s vision to pursue the ISO project and vowed to finish what his brother started. Minnesota Tool & Die Works is now roughly halfway through its ISO project. “Obviously, growth was attractive to us,” Sherer says, “as well as being able to manage the business at a better level. It’s helping us organize better with record keeping, and everything that we need to do here on our end. It’s a learning experience here for the company and my team. With the assistance of Enterprise Minnesota, it’s coming to fruition.” Gadacz says language constructed within the ISO platform empowers businesses. Instead of providing a laundry list of things to do in order to secure certification, the language encourages buy-in to a system that doesn’t exist to merely satisfy an OEM request; it’s there to improve every aspect of a company for the company. “They’re in control of their own destiny. And the ‘a-ha’ came when they realized ISO is not telling me what to do. It’s describing a vision. And we get to make it match our business the most effective way possible,” Gadacz says. “And now they are absorbing what a better day can feel like because they’ve defined what a better process will look like.”
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www.EnterpriseMinnesota.org SPRING 2021 ENTERPRISE MINNESOTA /
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