Committee Connection

©iStockphoto.com/Studio-Pro Committee Connection

SMI Membership Remains Important, and Even More So During a Pandemic

By Gary McCoy

As a trade association for the precision mechanical spring industry, SMI was formed in 1933 with 40 member companies. As an SMI charter member, the leaders of The Yost Superior Company in Springfield, Ohio understood early on the value of membership in an organization that promotes the interests of North American springmakers.

Dave Deerwester has carried on that tradition, as the current president and owner of Yost Superior and as a member of the SMI board of directors. In that role, he serves as the chairman of the SMI membership committee.

“We have seen the value of connecting with other SMI members and the value has definitely increased over the past year,” explained Deerwester. While he says the value of these connections has always been part of why people belong to SMI, Deerwester believes it

Dave Deerwester “The amount of collaboration where people work together to help each other is just incredible. I don’t know how often [it is], compared to other industries, that you have competitors willing to help each other out as you do among SMI members. It’s amazing that competitors will help each other buy and sell wire so they can get a job done.”

was heightened during 2020 and 2021 because of COVID and the material and supply issue challenge.

“The amount of collaboration where people work together to help each other is just incredible,” related Deerwester. “I don’t know how often [it is], compared to other industries, that you have competitors willing to help each other out as you do among SMI members. It’s amazing that competitors will help each other buy and sell wire so they can get a job done.”

Deerwester says there is also great value in being able to pick up the phone and talk to other SMI members about common problems they are experiencing and how they worked toward a solution.

Tangible Savings and Technology Solutions

He says the value of SMI membership includes the new pooled employer 401(k) plan that SMI recently introduced. “It will be great to see how the program is received,” he said. “It appears that it’s a program that is going to save SMI member companies, both large and small, a lot of money in the benefits they offer to their employees.”

Deerwester says SMI also provides great value in the area of technology with the number of spring design classes available through the association and the ASD7 spring design software. “Springmakers are very hungry for technical resources, and SMI has made them available through its technical committee and its consultants Rick Gordon, Gary Van Buren and Dan Sebastian.”

He says the spring design classes have filled a need for many springmakers, “and at our company, we’ve already taken several of our employees through the training and each of them found the training to be very helpful.”

Deerwester also mentioned safety audits and training offered by SMI. “Every other year, we bring SMI’s regulatory compliance consultant, Laura Helmrich-Rhodes, to our plant to make sure we are keeping our employees safe. She provides our management team with suggestions for improvement, but more importantly she provides great value in

“We are always looking for ways to reach out to those companies who don’t know about SMI, especially those who have never been a member. We need to help them understand the value of membership.”

Leaders In Double Disc Technology

Jack and Jeff Shoemaker, second and third generations continuing the tradition at Anchor Abrasives. Certified to ISO 9001 since 1994.

At Anchor Abrasives we specialize in the design and manufacture of resin, epoxy and oxychloride bonded nut inserted discs and cylinders...plus centerless and rollwheels.

Today, in our modern manufacturing facility, we are ready to continue our tradition of innovative quality products and unmatched customer service. For more information contact Anchor Abrasives Company, 7651 West 185th Street, Tinley Park, IL 60477 U.S.A. Phone: 708-444-4300; Fax: 708-444-1300.

www.anchorabrasives.com conducting safety training that has been well received by our employees.”

The Value of Benchmarking

He says one of the hidden benefits of SMI membership are the great surveys and benchmarking reports. “We enjoy and find the results helpful,” Deerwester explained. “We try to participate in as many of those as we can. We especially appreciate the benchmarking studies and seeing how we are doing compared to the rest of the industry.”

He says sometimes companies are reluctant to participate due to concerns about the integrity of the information they share. “SMI uses a third-party company to compile this information, and we’ve never had a problem with preserving the confidentiality of each member’s information.”

Calling All Volunteers

Deerwester says the number of springmakers is down due to mergers and acquisitions. “And, in light of COVID, we thought we might see a larger drop in members. We are grateful that we have been able to hold our own and not suffer any significant losses.

“We are always looking for ways to reach out to those companies who don’t know about SMI, especially those who have never been a member. We need to help them understand the value of membership.”

Deerwester says membership has traditionally been a small committee within SMI. “So, we could certainly use more people to join our cause and help us generate new ideas.”

He encourages younger springmakers to join the membership cause, especially those who are adept at using social media. “We are doing some social media outreach for the SMI eXpo, but we could use more help to get the word out through the various social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.”

To join SMI, contact SMI executive director Lynne Carr at lynne@smihq.org. To join the SMI membership committee, contact Deerwester at dave@yostsuperior.com. n

159573_ANCHR_Spring 2021_SPRINGS Mag Ad_HalfPgIsland.indd 1 3/30/21 11:44 AM