Volusia Manufacturers Association’s "Manufacturer of the Year" Expanding its Business and VMA President speaks on VMA Benefits

Volusia Manufacturers Association (VMA) is the only manufacturing trade association established by manufacturers uniting Volusia and Flagler County Manufacturers and Associates.  An article in this month’s issue of the Volusia/Flagler Business Report (http://www.vfbr.com) showcased the Volusia Manufacturer Association’s Manufacturer of the Year, A.O. Precision LLC of Daytona Beach.  The second article in the Volusia/Flagler Business Report offers perspective on this year’s manufacturing challenges and how the VMA supports its members going through hard times.

 Even though this has been a tough year for many manufacturers in Volusia and Flagler counties, A.O. Precision Manufacturing LLC of Daytona Beach has had a record-breaking year.  Their sales have never been better, continuing a six-year trend of double-digit increases in annual revenue.  To accommodate the increasing sales and future plans, they are increasing production space by moving to a new 48,592 square foot facility in the summer of 2010.   A.O. Precision LLC also added 28 employees to its work force increasing the number of employees to 183, positioning them in the top 20 companies by number of employees in Volusia and Flagler Counties.

The best part of this success story is that under direction of their president, Stephen Koch, their success was largely attributed to a major restructuring of their manufacturing operations to include all employees’ opinions.   They broke their employees into small teams with one appointed leader.  They installed television screens throughout the manufacturing areas so that the employees could observe real-time progress.  Most importantly, they solicited feedback from the employees on a monthly and quarterly basis.  Koch said, “They have the best ideas.  I always ask them what they think can make us better, or what we can improve on.”  Then they invested in training these employees.  A new internal training manager evaluated each employee’s skills and what areas of training they needed.   A.O. Precision worked with two VMA members, The Center for Business Excellence and Advanced Technology Center, to provide training for these employees.  They also provided training for managers on topics such as interviewing skills, performance reviews, and goal setting. 

Secondly, the Volusia Manufacturers Association President & CEO, Jayne Fifer, reflected on the manufacturing year in a second article.  Some local companies were forced to close or lay off workers due to the recession.  However, the Volusia Manufacturers Association supported these companies and laid-off individuals by listing local job openings at other companies on its website, and by connecting them to manufacturers who might be interested in purchasing their manufacturing assets.  This year, the VMA offered special training in lean manufacturing to help companies learn from each other to increase operational efficiencies.  Though this year was hard for many companies and workers, some local companies had their best year yet and are expanding operations.  Fifer said, “In the VMA, where one company succeeds, the group succeeds, as the VMA is dedicated to being an organization where hope begets hope, and can offer encouragement to those businesses, which are not quite on the up swing yet.”