They came into work each day producing quality parts, solving problems and never missing a shipment. Last week the team members at 1835 and 1820 celebrated after receiving the General Motors (GM) Supplier Quality Excellence Award. With hard work and determination, these teams each earned the recognition that is limited to GM’s top 2.5% of suppliers. With more than 30,000 organizations in the running for the honorable award, it was a great win for Shape. Facilities are given the award by meeting a list of criteria that includes; no missed shipments, being TS16949 certified, no problem reporting/resolutions (PRRs), no field actions and more. This accomplishment reinforces our strong relationship with […]

Across the country, the unemployment rate is at 4.9%. In the state of Michigan it’s at 3.7% and Ottawa County sits at bottom with 3.1% – the lowest in the state. Low unemployment rates, as we know, makes it very challenging to recruit talent for a growing company. Impressed with our recent recruitment efforts in the West Michigan area, Michigan Manufacturers Association invited Julie Davidson, talent acquisition manager, to discuss recruiting challenges and solutions at their annual Manufacturing Talent Summit. Through extensive research, Julie broke down generational wants and needs in employers, followed by insight into potential promotional strategies. Over the past few months, Shape has had television ads in […]

Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) career opportunities are on the rise, while the qualified workforce is projected to decline. Last week a team visited the University of Michigan to explore the different options to partner with the elite university and tap into the talent of the next generation of workers. Gary Verplank, CEO, Jeff Piper, VP of strategy and innovation, Tom Johnson, director of engineering, Danielle Smith, HR director, Joe Matecki, APD product manager, Jeff McHenry, advanced product engineer, Kannan Ramamoorthy, CAE engineer IV, Helen Weykamp, APD product manager, and Danni Schertzing, APD commercial manager were all in attendance. The team learned more about Michigan’s Multidisciplinary Design Program (MDP), […]

Open. Honest. Humble. Transparent. “We’ve only strengthened Toyota’s opinion of us as a strategic partner,” said Daric Morell, director of manufacturing, as he talked about his recent presentation at Toyota’s Fall Supplier Event. “Our philosophies regarding people, production and products align closely.” After impressing attendees and Toyota at Bluegrass Automotive Manufactures Association’s (BAMA) annual conference in February, Toyota invited Daric and Mark White, president, to speak at their Fall Supplier Event. Shape was the only supplier to speak at the event which was limited to their top strategic suppliers. Daric spoke to attendees, many of which were CEO’s or Presidents of other Toyota suppliers, about Shape’s lean manufacturing journey on […]