SUMMER 2020
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MANAGEMENT | HR
EMERGING LEADERS
How Andy Karel is Making an Impact at Valco Melton Natalie Craig Managing Editor
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ndy Karel, hot melt equipment manager for the northern region at Valco Melton, had no idea he would have a career in the packaging and processing industries when he studied finance at a small liberal arts college in Kentucky. But after connecting with the hot melt equipment manufacturer, Karel has since seen the value and opportunity that the industry has to offer—especially for younger generations. That’s one reason he has gone beyond his job duties of overseeing hot melt applications for the international company, which has more than 500 employees in 90 countries, to join PMMI’s Future Workforce Committee.
What does your day-to-day look like normally, and how has that changed during the COVID-19 pandemic? Usually, my position requires me to travel 60% to 70% of the time. I typically travel three days during the week. A lot of times I will attend an installation going on or I will travel out for sales meetings. When I am in the office, I interact with all of our different departments. So that way I can have conversations when I’m out in the field about things that are going on within our facility. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed how we conduct day-to-day business just like everyone else in the packaging/processing industry. Customers have limited visits and travel of their corporate personnel, and as a result, we are only making visits to customers who consider us as an essential or critical visitor. The majority of meetings/installations have been cancelled and those are difficult to reschedule given the uncertainty surrounding the direction of the pandemic. Valco Melton has taken several steps to both answer demand while keeping our employees safe. I have been working out of my home office and many others are as well to minimize the number of employees who are working out of the corporate office at one time. We now have two production shifts to limit the number of workers on
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