Advanced Machining’s ‘Mr. Unattended’ Becomes Compass Precision Employee of the Month
When asked to describe the perfect employee, a CNC machining company president might describe the cyborg from The Terminator or Optimus Prime from The Transformers. In some ways, Advanced Machining & Tooling, LLC has that flawless worker.
Advanced Machining President Keith Felts possesses plenty of exceptional workers who are ordinary, boring humans on his staff as well, one of which he nominated for the Compass Precision Employee of the Month. But when that staff member declined the honor, he kiddingly suggested that his fictitious automated co-worker should receive the award instead.
“A suggestion was made, jokingly, that we make ‘Mr. Unattended’ our Employee of the Month,” said Felts. “Of course, I kind of laughed at that suggestion, but then the more I thought about it, the more I thought it might have some merit — an opportunity to promote and discuss our automation and unattended machining capabilities.”
To celebrate that potential, Compass Precision has named the mythical Advanced Machining worker, “Mr. Unattended,” employee of the month in August.
Through an ERP system, all employees at Advanced Machining scan their names to receive credit for the work they perform. When the company acquired their first 5-axis machine in 2006, Advanced Machining needed to conceive a way to credit the work performed through automation and lights-out manufacturing after normal business hours. Therefore, the company created “Mr. Unattended.”
More than 14 years later, “Mr. Unattended,” who is Advanced Machining’s second-longest tenured worker among both make-believe and real employees, continues to be a valuable asset to the team-centric culture at the Compass Precision operating company. Today, Advanced Machining possesses 10 machine centers with significant unattended machining capabilities and about 35 percent of the company’s business comes from parts produced after hours.
“We place so much emphasis on unattended machining whereas some companies might try to focus on maximum productivity from 8-5,” said Felts. “We’re really focused on how productive we’re going to be after 5 pm. (With) a lot of our efforts during the day, our entire team is engaged in the planning, the programming, getting all the automation set up so we can succeed when no one is here.”
All 15 of Advanced Machining’s employees work together to ensure maximum capacity after hours, which is a benefit to both the company and its customers. Unattended manufacturing produces lower costs and reduces part turnaround.
“The concept of Mr. Unattended wonderfully symbolizes the emphasis that Advanced places upon total shop output, not just the results of any one individual’s efforts,” explained Gary Holcomb, CEO of parent company Compass Precision. “And while I was initially dumbfounded that a great employee would decline individual recognition, now I get it. Keith and his Operations Manager Patrick Reynolds have fostered a terrific environment of teamwork. No one should be surprised when a top performer prefers to have the entire organization be recognized, which we have done by naming ‘Mr. Unattended’ August employee of the month.
In the 21st century, many humans feel threatened by automation. Machined workers like “Mr. Unattended” are the perfect employees. As The Terminator taught audiences, they never stop — not even for lunch.
But at Advanced Machining, “Mr. Unattended” harvests a team-first atmosphere and allows all the company’s employees to work at a place that reaches its fullest potential.