R&D Debur Department Manager Earns High Honor
Bill Fender’s career changed forever one fateful morning.
After taking a year off from work, Bill saw a job advertisement at R&D Machine while reading his daily newspaper. Bill called the company almost immediately and started working in the R&D debur department shortly thereafter.
Now 13 years later, Bill runs the department. After more than a decade of achievements, R&D Machine’s parent company, Compass Precision, has named Bill its employee of the month for February 2025.
”Bill Fender is just one of those guys you never have to worry about,” said Justin Kovscek, R&D’s VP & General Manager. ”His strong and steady performance sets the tone for everyone in deburr. His work ethic creates a good example for all of us.”
Bill is the 59th recipient of the Compass Employee of the Month award. He is also the sixth R&D employee to receive the honor. The most recent Compass Employee of the Month at R&D was Richard Scouten in August 2024.
Bill became the R&D Debur Department Manager in 2020 under previous ownership. Compass purchased R&D in April 2022.
As leader of the debur department, Bill manages a team of five people. He sets up each person in his department with proper jobs and the tooling they need to be successful.
Bill enjoys working at R&D Machine because of the unique demands customers make with their orders.
“It’s a challenge. It’s a task. There’s always more things to learn about the job,” Bill said. “I do a lot of multi-task jobs, where there’s a lot of deburring to do. Busy parts that have a lot of things to it. I like doing that kind of stuff.”
Bill began deburring in the early 1980s for Airway Manufacturing in Indiana. With that company, which manufactured hydraulic fittings, he quickly rose to Tool Room Manager, where he worked for 15 years.
Just prior to starting his tenure at R&D Machine, Bill worked seven years as a production manager at a decorative concrete company. He eventually landed at R&D a year after the concrete company eliminated his position.
Compass Precision is all the better for it. Bill is part of an R&D team that set a record in shipments during 2024. He said the goal for 2025 is to set another record.
“We had a really good 2024. But topping it is the next goal. Move forward and keep up with the work and everything,” Bill said. “Hopefully my crew in the debur department sticks with us so we can have an even better year.”
“We’ve got a really good crew here. Great working here. I enjoy it.”
Bill was born in Hollywood, FL but moved to Indiana when he was five years old. He moved back to Florida in 2002 to escape midwest winters.
In his free time, Bill enjoys fishing and going for walks in the nice weather the Sunshine State has to offer. He also likes hanging out on the beach.
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