R&D Machine VP & GM Reaches Individual Milestone
Reflecting on the beginning of his tenure at R&D Machine, Justin Kovscek described his decision to take the job as a leap of faith. He quickly discovered there was far more to the business than he initially realized.
He even committed to the job without walking through the R&D Machine shop floor.
Justin trusted the management team of Compass Precision, R&D’s parent company. Ultimately, it proved to be an excellent challenge that Justin expressed he couldn’t be happier that he accepted.
On May 11, Justin celebrated his three-year anniversary at the Compass operating company. Over the last three years, Justin has led a team creating significant growth and providing a bright future at R&D Machine.
Like any substantial development, it didn’t happen overnight. First, Justin had to establish a culture after Compass’ acquisition of the company. To do that, he conducted a deep analysis of what R&D already had to offer on its staff when he started.
“Coming in, I had to learn a brand new business,” Justin said. “But more importantly, I tried to understand the people already there, trying to understand their strengths and weaknesses and figure out how I could help all of those people and develop them in the proper way.”
Justin said that helped him begin to understand what was missing. Then, he started making staff additions.
The first major addition was operations manager Katlin Pennison. Justin brought her in from Nemak’s Sylacauga, where the two used to work together in Alabama.
Over the last three years, lathe setup machinist Corey Kunkle and quality manager Abigail Marino joined R&D Machine. Toby Russell was promoted to night shift supervisor, and Lynetta Muske accepted the office manager role.
That infusion of new talent has successfully blended with R&D Machine’s longtime employees, including Thom Amend, Tim Carter, Tony Cattery and others, which has created a dynamic mix of experience and fresh energy. It’s a combination reminiscent of the local Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup-winning teams of 2020 and 2021, and their finals run in 2022.
“A lot of tenure and a lot of new, so a mix of tribal knowledge and outside influence,” Justin said. “It really makes for a dynamic team that can do things differently in the best way possible.”
Oftentimes, R&D Machine does things in the best and fastest way possible.
The operating company has achieved a lot over the last three years. When asked to name one of his favorite accomplishments, Justin identified last September when a customer needed 100 assemblies by the end of the year.
Initially, Justin considered the request nearly impossible. The typical lead time for 10 of the assemblies was about 12 weeks.
But the R&D team found a way to exponentially decrease the lead time on the assembly. That turned an impossible task into a realistic goal that the Compass operating company achieved.
It’s one of many examples over the past three years of R&D Machine rising to meet customer needs.
For Justin, strengthening those customer relationships remains a top priority. That’s also key to one of his other goals – retaining top talent.
“People, in general, they stay when there’s an opportunity to learn,” Justin said. “If they feel like they can grow and they can learn, then they stay. It’s when things get stagnant, people start to get antsy and leave.
“So, I think it’s kind of a key contributor, and it’s going to keep people busy and engaged for quite a while.”
One of the top ways R&D Machine will achieve that goal in 2025 is by adding a new 9-axis, multi-tasking machine with a robot loader.
Readers may call it Compass’ anniversary gift to Justin if they’d like. But the timing of the purchase is merely coincidence, and the addition really speaks to the growth of R&D Machine overall.
”Compass loves to invest in new equipment, but we don’t do it unless a solid business justification exists,” explained CEO Gary Holcomb. “Justin and his team at R&D have grown their business to the point where all machines are fully utilized two shifts per day. Can’t wait to see them load up this new mill/turn unit, too.”
R&D Machine is adding the state-of-the-art machine to continue meeting growing customer demands. Justin said he hopes it becomes one of many new machines the company will be able to add in the years to come.
Maybe R&D will make it a habit of celebrating major employee anniversaries with new machinery.