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Millennials in Manufacturing: Tom Scales—Manufacturing from an IT Perspective
This week, our featured millennial is IT Manager Tom Scales. Tom has been with Saline Lectronics for about two and a half years, and he describes the daily challenges as the most rewarding part of the job:
"As a contract manufacturer, there are always unique problems given the diverse range of products that we make. This affects me directly in IT, supporting changes to an ever-growing set of complex systems integrations and data analysis requirements."
Getting to grips with a manufacturing mindset when it comes to IT support has been a big challenge, especially in relation to cost mitigation.
"Providing the best service my department can, but at a low a cost as possible. That has been a balancing act because the solution that fits us best as a company isn’t always the cheapest option. Working on making a business case and proving ROI based on figures as well as technical reasons is very different when you are trying to sell the idea to people who are not experts in your field and do not see the immediate benefit."
Steep Learning Curve
"When applying for this job, my aspirations were to get some IT industry experience under my belt and then use that to establish my career in IT. My expectations were surpassed at Saline Lectronics both by the variety of IT-related work on offer and a promotion to IT manager," said Tom.
One of the other major challenges Tom experienced has been moving from a communications field to a manufacturing support field. Becoming familiarized with the proprietary hardware and software that the company runs, as well as the overall manufacturing process was challenging.
"Learning about how the different departments work and the processes in place really help when trying to troubleshoot why a particular system isn’t behaving in the way the user expects," he said.
On Loyalty, Work Ethics and Leadership
Loyalty is one of the key issues that companies point out when employing millennials. For Tom, loyalty is something that is developed over time, not something that is granted or automatically attained.
"Loyalty is trust, dedication, commitment and faith in a set of ideals, person or organization. An employee will be loyal to a company that looks after them fairly, treats them with respect, and rewards their efforts."
One of the complaints that the older generation has about millennials is that they have a unique work ethic—or no work ethic—and that they seem to want praise even just for showing up for work. For Tom, however, people are the product of the culture and environment they grew up in, which dictates how each individual defines loyalty.
"Consider what the older people were saying about the younger people in the 80s, in the 60s or the 30s. Exactly the same kind of attitudes existed then. Rather than lambasting an entire generation, why not just hire the people that have the good ethics and values that you want? Try to understand people and utilize their unique perspectives and experiences to bolster the company's skill sets."
Millennials are next in line for leadership roles as the older generation vacate a lot of positions in the manufacturing field. To be successful, Tom says millennials who can quickly adopt and understanding of change technology will be the leaders.
"That doesn't just mean a few skilled individuals knowing technically how something works. Management of any manufacturing business needs to incorporate a standard doctrine that explains how their systems interact with each other, and more importantly, a framework for how future additions or revisions of technology get adopted. With greater understanding comes more employee-driven insight into how we can continue to improve our products. My role will be a major part of that, providing subject matter expert advice to the other departments as they adopt these new manufacturing technologies, and understand how they work."
For Tom, personal advancement is one of his motivations, while solving complicated problems after studying them and working them out by himself offers the greatest sense of accomplishment.
"Through constant learning and trying new things, I become more successful by utilizing resources at my disposal. People are a big motivator in being happy at work. Accomplishment and succeeding at your job is one thing, but having fun while you are doing it with the people you work with, that is very important to my job satisfaction and overall happiness."
Attracting Young People to Manufacturing
As far as careers go, according to Tom, the manufacturing industry doesn’t seem to do a good job of advertising the core roles available within companies in this field.
"A lot of job advertisements just state what they want from you. Very few actually go into 'This is our facility, and this is how you can be a part of it.' Modern manufacturing is not the monotonous production lines of yesteryears; and I think a better job could be done to entice people into the sector. If modern manufacturing showcased more of 'This is what we do', then I think more people would be interested. Talking about things like automation, traceability, big data and analytics, continuous improvement through data analysis, as well as the core business functions that keep the company afloat—these sorts of subjects are talked about and well known within the industry, but if you talk to most young people, I don’t think they would be aware of or think about those facets of the modern manufacturing world."
Tom suggested that this could also be because of the decline in manufacturing in the West during the last few decades, "It's just not the big industry it used to be so people aren’t as aware of it."
So what made him decide to work in manufacturing? "It wasn't until I had a tour of the plant during my interview that I decided that I wanted to work at this facility. Just briefly looking at the technologies involved and how much diverse work was available for a small IT team supporting it tipped the scales in favor of this opportunity over some of the other offers that I had."
As technology continues to be the main innovation driver within the manufacturing space, IT experts like Tom have an incredible opportunity to shape the future. Within our facility, Tom leads and manages the backbone processes for Lectronics 4.0 Connected Factory, made possible through the Internet of Things (IoT) technology. His IT experience and education give him the technical wherewithal to implement the required technologies, but it's his forward-thinking mind and visionary type approach to problem solving, his millennial attributes, that make him truly successful.
Watch Tom's interview here:
More Columns from Millennials in Manufacturing
Millennials in Manufacturing: Hiring, Training and Retaining MillennialsManaging Millennials: Lean Champion Jeff Riedel Emphasizes the Importance of Mentoring
Managing Millennials: Eric Hassen Discusses the Importance of Balance and Clear Communication
Millennials in Manufacturing: Zach Tondreau—Motivating Millennials
Millennials in Manufacturing: Mya Walton – The Millennials' Advantage in Manufacturing
Millennials in Manufacturing: Andrea Tarhanich - What’s Driving Millennials to Thrive—and Stay—in Manufacturing
Millennials in Manufacturing: Kyle Robertson – A Rewarding Career
Millennials in Manufacturing: Cathy Cox – Multiple Approaches to Solving Problems