CREATING THE DIGITAL THREAD TO CONNECT OEMS, END USERS

STEPHANIE NEIL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

We’ve been asking readers what they’d like to see in the pages of OEM Magazine, and much of the feedback points to more profi les on machine builders. Readers simply want to know how their OEM confreres are dealing with similar issues around lead times, technology adoption, the workforce, etc. It’s not to gain proprietary competitive knowledge, but rather it’s a natural curiosity around how machine builders conduct business—especially when a company has innovated and prospered through many decades. Or, how about a century?

In this issue, you can read about Milwaukee-based Felins (page 18), an equipment provider of banding, tying, strapping (and more), which this year celebrates its centennial anniversary. It takes innovation and determination to survive 100 years, but the Felins team is quick to point out that culture is the cornerstone of the company’s success. “Oftentimes companies say employees are the most important asset, but they don’t treat them like that,” Felins CEO Andrew Barrieau told me.

To support that mindset, we’ve explored how OEMs can best look after their most important asset—humans (page 31). Then fi nd out how robots fi t into corporate culture as we share results from Automation World’s robotics adoption survey (page 37).

Is your company ready for the spotlight in an OEM profi le? Drop me an e-mail and tell me all about it!

Stephanie Neil is the Editor-in-Chief of OEM Magazine. Reach her at sneil@oemmagazine.org or linkedin.com/in/stephaniesneil.

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NATALIE CRAIG SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR

Over the past two years, our world and industry have changed quite a bit. Manufacturers have had to adjust and adapt in many ways, one of which being how they approach recruiting, retaining, and training their workforce. In one of our cover stories on page 31, we talk more about how OEMs are handling workforce development as the pandemic unfolds. Luckily, many OEMs have been able to stay busy with increased demand as COVID-19 plays out. But this also means that they have had to grow and expand while much of their workforce is working remotely. We spoke with OEMs like Intralox about how they developed remote onboarding processes for employees during extreme growth. We also interviewed organizations and OEMs like Pearson Packaging Solutions about their efforts to create a culture that is more realistic, balanced, and flexible. The pandemic, along with many other world events have caused company cultures to shift—not only with remote work policies, but also by sparking conversations around diversity and inclusion. And among all the OEMs, manufacturers, and organizations we interviewed, one thing is clear: the culture needs to be shifted in order to accurately reflect the world around us. Having spoken with and profiled many OEMs over the past six years, I know how important culture is to you all. And I also know how hard it can be to change or adapt any kind of company policy or tradition—especially during such a volatile time. So, we have included resources to help guide your company’s transformation and inform you on all things culture, worker safety, and development in this story.

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Natalie Craig is the Senior Managing Editor of OEM Magazine. She may be reached at ncraig@pmmimediagroup.com or at www.linkedin.com/in/nataliedcraig.

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