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ASSEMBLY MACHINES
In December, 2021 Morito Co., Ltd. approved a capital expenditure plan that supports MSA’s ongoing commitment to continuous improvement and operational efficiency. Included in that capital expenditure plan was the purchase of 10 new assembly machines. These machines run much more efficiently and with less down time and tool setter maintenance.
ISSUE 11 • February 2024 MORITO SCOVILL NEWSLETTER TABLE OF CONTENTS Assembly Machines • P1 Celebrating 50 Years • P2 Retirement • P2 Employee Spotlight • P3 Christmas Contests • P3 Employee Appreciation • P4 – P5 Employee Survey Results • P6 Global Partnership • P6 Scovill Fasteners Time Capsule • P6 MES System • P7 KPIs • P7 Area Happenings • P8 Sudoku • P8 Holiday Closings • P8
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS
Dave Butts has reached a milestone in his career as he celebrates 50 years at MSA. His journey began in 1973 when he worked in the factory of PCI Group, while simultaneously attending the University of Massachusetts. He worked in the factory on night shift until he graduated with his degree in Business Management. Dave started in sales in 1977. The company knew he was graduating and had a position open. He happened to be in the “right place at the right time”.
After some time, Dave worked his way up to being the VP of Sales at PCI. In 1996, Scovill acquired PCI. He stayed in Massachusetts for a year to help with the transition. He moved to Georgia in 1997 and transitioned into the position of director of industrial sales. He now works as a market manager on the DOT® side.
Dave takes pride in the industry knowledge he has acquired through the years. He discovered it was the only way to succeed and chose to make it a priority to learn the industry. He feels like the time he spent working in the factory of PCI helped him gain product knowledge through the hands-on experience. One thing he learned early on is that you learn from other people. He decided from the beginning that he would ask questions if he didn’t know something. He credits much of his application knowledge to his father who worked for PCI for 40 years as a foreman of the tool room.
“Knowledge is transferable. When you have been in an industry for so long, you expand that knowledge. You learn from experience. You learn from others. You learn through life,” says Dave.
Dave has pride in his voice when he speaks of MSA. Over the years, he has enjoyed watching the company grow and succeed and getting to be a small part of it. His favorite part has been the different people he has had the privilege to work with inside and outside the company. He enjoys the conversations he has with his customers and finding out what he can do to help. Being open and honest with his customers is very important to him. He chooses to focus on the positive instead of the negative each day.
HAPPY RETIREMENT
Phit Bouasy retired in October after 25 years with MSA! She will be greatly missed but we wish her all the best and thank her very much for her commitment and dedication over the years.
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EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT
Mike Drennan began working for MSA in 1997 when a friend introduced him to the company. He left for a short time when he moved to the other side of the state but returned in 2004 and has continued working here since. Throughout his years at MSA, he has mainly worked as an industrial engineer. However, he has spent some time working in other departments, including Quality and IT. His favorite part of working here is the different aspects of the business that he gets to deal with through participation in the whole process from start to finish. He does the cost estimates but also gets to see the finished product. He also enjoys the conversations with the people he works with from day to day.
In his spare time, he “treasure hunts.” It all started 20 years ago when he found a painting at an auction. From that, he began buying and selling rare paintings. Slowly he discovered an appreciation for the art of buying and selling unique items. For years, he would spend his weekends traveling to different auctions throughout the United States to hunt for treasures. As the world has changed, he mainly buys and sells on eBay now, with his major selling items being jewelry and antique silver. He enjoys the thrill of searching for those items with character and waiting to see what they sell for. While it can sometimes be a tedious process, he has discovered what pieces are worth it and which ones to pass over.
“The fun part is finding a needle in a haystack,” says Mike.
CHRISTMAS CONTESTS
What an awesome turnout for the MSA Christmas contests! Congratulations to our winners Zach Luke, Sayra Lara, Kendra Hendrixson, Rodney Thompson and Patricia Rodriguez.
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Mike Drennan, Industrial Engineer
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes Winners
1st Place (Day off): Zach Luke 2nd Place (Swag Buck): Sayra Lara
Jolly Jingle Prize Walk Winners
1st Place ($50 Gift Card): Sayra Lara 1st Place ($50 Gift Card): Kendra Hendrixson
Christmas Bows in a Bowl Winners
1st Place ($50 Gift Card): Rodney Thompson 2nd Place (Swag Buck): Patricia Rodriguez
Age Group 1-6 Winner: Liam Phongsavanh (Angela Savage)
Age Group 7-10 Winner: Hattie Jo Watts-Savage (Angela Savage)
Age Group 11-15 Winner: Stella Bowman (Jeff Bowman)
Age Group 16-18 Winner: Nevaeh (Tracey Sandy)
EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION
MSA’s 2023 Employee Appreciation event took place on October 18th on the front lawn.
We had a great time celebrating our amazing current and retired associates with food, giveaways and the presentation of service awards and are grateful that the President of Morito Co., Ltd, Takaki Ichitsubo, was able to join us and we thank him for sharing his inspiring speech.
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L-R: Shane McEntyre, Judy Dean, Misty Yeadon, Kim Brookshire, Michael Aylesworth, Michael Lowery
L-R: Shane McEntyre, Michael Gioiosa, Kim Brookshire, Michael Lowery
L-R: Shane McEntyre, Veo Bouasy, Kim Brookshire, Michael Lowery
L-R: Shane McEntyre, Debbie Martin, Kim Brookshire, Michael Lowery
L-R: Shane McEntyre, Dave Butts, Kim Brookshire, Michael Lowery
L-R: Shane McEntyre, Shelia Bentley, Kim Brookshire, Michael Lowery
L-R: Shane McEntyre, Robert Wildes, Kim Brookshire, Michael Lowery
L-R: Shane McEntyre, Eric Bowen, Steve Black, Kim Brookshire, Michael Lowery
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EMPLOYEE SURVEY RESULTS
The Employee Survey took place in November. The majority of associates would recommend MSA as a great place to work and feel their manager values them and their contributions. Here are a few key takeaways:
• 87% feel aligned with the organizational Mission and Values
• 47% of participants said they wanted better communication/transparency from their manager
• 39% of participants would like to see a structured training program
• 77% of participants said they have a healthy work/life balance
The overwhelming choice of preferred communication remains email or written communication. Some information shared with Associates is business sensitive and would most often not be placed in writing to protect the company.
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP
As a part of our global partnership with Morito Co., Ltd., Morito Scovill Americas products were displayed at a recent private apparel exhibition.
In conjunction with Morito Apparel, MSA’s DOT®, Duramark® and Gripper® brands were represented during the exhibition in Tokyo, Japan November 21 – 22.
SCOVILL FASTENERS
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Check out this vintage electric knife manufactured by Scovill’s Hamilton Beach division! This electric knife can be seen in the display case in the lobby, along with other unique examples of Scovill’s history.
TIME CAPSULE
MANUFACTURING EXECUTION SYSTEM
As another example of Morito Scovill Americas’ commitment to operational efficiency, the adoption of a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is currently in development. The MES is a computerized system used in manufacturing to track and document the transformation of raw materials to finished goods. This system will allow us to optimize the manufacturing process by monitoring, tracking, documenting, and controlling the entire production lifecycle. This will improve quality control and increases uptime while also reducing inventory and costs.
Onboarding and training is underway and we expect the MES to be fully functional by the end of March.
4TH QUARTER 2023 KPI’s
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AREA HAPPENINGS
Habersham County
March 23, Mountain Top Jeep Invasion, 10am – 4pm @ Habersham County Fairgrounds, Clarkesville
March 23, Easter Jam, 11am – 2pm @ Cornelia Depot, Cornelia
April 27, Old Clarkesville Market Spring Show, 9am – 4pm @ Habersham County Fairgrounds, Clarkesville
Lumpkin County
March 4-10, Dahlonega Chocolate Crawl @ Dahlonega
HOLIDAY CLOSINGS
The MSA facility will be closed for the following holidays to allow employees to spend time with their families:
Easter: March 29th
Memorial Day: May 27th
March 7, Dahlonega Scavenger Hunt Walking Tour & Game, 8am–8pm @ Historic Downtown Dahlonega
White County
March 9, The Great Cake Bake Event, 12-5pm @ Historic Gym at Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center
March 23, Natural Egg Dyeing, 10am–2pm @ Hardman Farm Historic Site, Sautee Nacoochee
May 2, 11th Annual Reverse Raffle – The Game of Life, 6:30pm-until @ Willow Creek Farm, Cleveland
SUDOKU PUZZLE
How to play:
A 9×9 square must be filled in with numbers from 1-9 with no repeated numbers in each line, horizontally or vertically.
To challenge you more, there are 3×3 squares marked out in the grid, and each of these squares can't have any repeat numbers either.
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