Culture and diversity

Building a strong team and reliable equipment at Hunterwood Technologies

By Karen Sample and Janet Morley

Robust and reliable describes Hunterwood Technologies Inc.’s hay compressing equipment and the quality end products that come from those machines.

Started in 1994 as hay exporting was growing, the company recognized an opportunity for improved hay press designs to allow the industry to meet increased demands for compact, uniform and easy-to-handle compressed bales. The first Hunterwood press became known as the robust and reliable one, and that set the tone for all Hunterwood products that have been built ever since.

Hunterwood presses can be found on five continents. The majority of hay exporters are located in the U.S., Australia and various countries in Europe and North Africa. Those exporters typically ship their end products to China, Korea, Japan, and Middle Eastern countries.

Jeff Conley has been CEO at Hunterwood for three and a half years and has, in his words, “the honour of leading the team” of 60 employees at three locations. All assembly takes place in the Cochrane, Alberta plant. The Calgary location houses a machine shop, and the newest location, Ellensburg, Washington, has inventory and service.

Although Conley says that hay presses are relatively simple machines, the level of technology built in by Hunterwood is amazing. Today’s Hunterwood presses have 100-200 sensors at various points in the compressing and finishing process and offer customers access to an incredible amount of data and even the ability to benchmark productivity versus other similar installations worldwide.

Each Hunterwood hay press is customized, starting with the basics: How is the hay harvested? In North America, most hay is baled, whereas in Europe, hay entering the press is often loose due to different drying processes. As Hunterwood discusses design for a press with a client, the way hay is handled is taken into account and customizations are made.

“We have a can-do attitude, a lot of innovation, and some great skilled trades,” Conley says. You put that all together, and you come up with some very cool equipment.” improvements also make Hunterwood machines very difficult to copy.

From start to finish, including engineering, customizations, procurement and manufacturing, building a press from initial consultation to shipping takes approximately six months. The Hunterwood development process starts with a discussion to understand the client’s objectives. From there, a proposal for a custom solution is drafted. Once an agreement is reached, the design is turned over to the Hunterwood engineering team to determine which aspects of the build need to be customized, modified or designed from scratch. Customizations run from the layout of the machine to fit in the customer’s building to the nature of the output product – bundled together with straps, wrapped with plastic, or other configurations.

Once the build is ready to go, Hunterwood sends a team to install and commission the press, which can take several weeks to complete. “We have an excellent service team, and they’re willing to jump in the truck or on a plane,” Conley says. “We will do whatever is needed to get the job done,” he adds.

Typically, Hunterwood would have three or four presses at various manufacturing stages at any given time, plus some smaller projects. Smaller projects may entail making auxiliary equipment for existing presses, such as twine pullers and big bale de-stackers. Says Conley, “It’s a lot of different things that increase the level of automation in the press to allow customers to do more.” Ultimately, the customization and the accumulation of many nuances and tweaks over the years have built the Hunterwood reputation for having the best bale presses in the business. Those countless subtle

Hunterwood has also developed an excellent IoT system called Hunterwood Online. Each machine has hundreds of sensors that collect data. Through the online portal, both the customer and Hunterwood technicians can access this information. This allows them to work with the customer to diagnose and often resolve issues remotely. Additionally, Conley says the company is developing a partnership with a European company to provide on-the-ground service to European customers.

Robust and Reliable

In the press world, Hunterwood is well-known as a top manufacturer and that comes back to keeping the product and service robust and reliable. “The appearance of the bales that come out of the machines is very good and is often requested by the end customers. Secondly, the machines are very reliable and very automated. That becomes a big factor as well,” says Conley.

In an effort to continue growing its reputation for machines that work well and produce top-grade compressed hay for export, Hunterwood has recently taken a step back to find out what else can be done to support its customers with highquality end production.

High moisture content can be an issue with large bales. That lowers quality and can even ruin the end product, whether that hay stays in its original bale or gets compressed for shipping. Hunterwood has recently partnered with another AMC member, Chinook Hay Dryers, to enable a ‘bale to boat’ complete service offering, which will help their customers get top dollar for export hay because it has been perfectly dried and compressed.

Tackling the skilled labour shortage: Competing with oil and hiring women

It’s all very well to be moving forward in business with new products and services, new markets and new geographies, but with any expansion comes the need for additional staff. “Probably the biggest challenge is recruiting skilled trades such as welders, millwrights, electricians and machinists right now,” Conley says. “There’s oil and gas industry demand for similar trades,” and Conley says that as they work through the hiring process, they want to be sure to attract a diverse range of applicants and to give those applicants all fair consideration. “Ultimately, we’re focused on hiring whoever is the best candidate for the role,” he says.

In the past year, Hunterwood has hired 10 employees, 50 per cent female. The company has seen a gradual shift in the skilled trades employee demographic, with overall employee numbers now at one-third female and growing. Conley says when a prospective female candidate is toured through the shop as part of the interview process, “they see women in a variety of skilled and leadership roles, and it reassures them there will be good opportunities for experience development and advancement.”

Michelle Devlin of Creating People Power Inc. Conley says it helped the company brainstorm different strategies they could use throughout the process to avoid biases. Ultimately, Conley says, that will lead Hunterwood towards what Conley refers to as “a critical mass of women throughout the organization.”

Michelle Devlin will speak at AMC’s Annual Convention and Trade Show: POWER in November to share her knowledge about how embracing diversity, inclusion and equity can foster a positive workplace and impact employee effectiveness, satisfaction and productivity.

Ag over Oil

Although oil may sometimes have deeper pockets than ag, Conley feels that the ag industry has some powerful leverage in hiring. “We have some good things going for us. A lot of people really do care about what difference the company is making and the opportunity to contribute to improving global nutrition. I think it’s meaningful to a lot of people.” process to ensure each hire is a good fit with Hunterwood culture. That culture is reinforced regularly in a variety of ways. Conley says his favourite is the Spotlight Award, which is “awarded monthly at our town hall through peer nominations of team members living our core values. We always receive a lot of nominations, both for recipients and honorary mentions. The nominations highlight which core value or values, and often they end up listing more than one.”

Stability is another ace in the hole for the agricultural industry. Ag industry jobs allow people to stay rooted in their communities and to work on a reasonable schedule compared to many jobs in the oil industry.

Conley says Hunterwood has another advantage for employees who want local job stability but may also want an occasional travel opportunity. “A number of our team members find value in the opportunity to do some international travel too, with the installation and service of our equipment,” he explains. At the time of this interview, one team was in Australia for an installation.

HR Manager Trish Connolly has played a leading role in helping to ensure they hire the best candidate for the job – whatever their gender. She organized Unconscious Bias Training for all hiring managers and standardized the interview and rating process, which helps keep unconscious bias from playing a role when hiring.

To provide this training, the company hired

Other vital parts of Hunterwood’s hiring and retention package go beyond regular healthcare benefits to workwear, tool, and safety allowances, as well as additional health benefits that extend to employees being reimbursed for expenses such as fitness club memberships.

Core Values and Culture

Hunterwood strives to build its culture around its core values; Commitment, Accountability, Innovation, Integrity and Teamwork. Conley says that candidates are measured against the company’s core values throughout the recruitment

The monthly Spotlight Award winners are recognized with a Spotlight trophy, which they have until they pass it along to the next winner. They get to announce the next winner and receive a Visa gift card, but, says Conley, “It’s more about the recognition.” Typically, Hunterwood receives about a dozen nominations per month out of a workforce of 60 people. Clearly, the Spotlight Award is a recognition that resonates with Hunterwood employees.

AMC

Conley speaks highly of the benefits of belonging to AMC: “I really value the opportunity to network with and learn from other leaders in our industry. Since joining, I’ve been impressed with how well the organization is led by Donna Boyd and the strong focus on providing value to members.”

Forward Outlook

Looking ahead, Conley says that the company is excited to diversify the business even further by adding to the hay press business with growth in the feedlot, biomass, and industrial fabrication industries. With a solid background of robust reliability and a forward outlook, the company will surely see continued growth and success in the years to come.

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