Page 2 Blackhawk Engineering
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Details Blackhawk Engineering 118 Blackhawk Lane Cedar Falls, IA 50613 Phone: (319)266-2681 Fax: (319) 266-2684 Office hours: 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday Production hours: 3 shifts, 5 to 7 days per week
BlackhawkEngineering.com Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook info@blackhawkengineering.com www.blackhawkengineering.com
COURTESY PHOTO
Blackhawk Engineering’s recent $3.5 million expansion added 40,000 square feet to the facility.
New expansion positions Blackhawk Engineering for future, more capacity ALYSSA CONNELL
offsite. In addition to paying ing was faced with a major more for storage, efficiency decision when it came time to was impacted. seek additional business. Founded in 1974, BlackWith the addition filling so See Expansion, page 3 hawk Engineering is the Mid- rapidly, Blackhawk Engineerwest’s leading precision CNC machining solutions provider, providing equipment parts and components of the highest quality, durability and functionality demanded by industry. Located at 118 Blackhawk Lane in the Cedar Falls Industrial Park, all of Blackhawk Engineering’s original infrastructure is still in use today. The company has made a practice of expanding its facilities and operations. By adding more than 70,000 square feet 40 Years of Service in the last decade, Blackhawk Engineering is poised for BLACKHAWK Automatic future growth and capacity. SPRINKLERS, INC. The 30,000-square-foot expansion made in 2010-11 (319) 266-7721 was intended for shipping 525 East 18th St. and receiving and to meet the demands of current customer Cedar Falls, IA expansion. In House Design & Fabrication As it became crowded with Fire Sprinkler Contractor more machines than planned, Installation • Maintenance Inspections BHE began storing materials For the Courier
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www.wcfcourier.com Blackhawk Engineering Page 3 Blackhawk Engineering staff, standing from left, Daniel Penley, Rebecca Nelson, LaNae Nielsen, Greg Fisher, Kim Rhodes, Mena Simmons, John Oltman, Brandon Bouska, Don Willfong, Clark Mastellar, Jon Lanigan and Mark Frohwein. Seated from left, Nate Luck, Robin Cooper, Kurt Barker, Leslie DeGroote, Cyndi Torrey, Melissa Kramer and Wendy Frost.
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Expansion Investment made in new equipment From page 2
“We had to internally weigh whether to quote this new business or potentially quit growing all together,” said John Oltman, general manager. “And it’s not really our business model to become stagnant.” The desire for expansion was there, but the location was not. The company had been trying to purchase the lot directly to the south for some time, but it wasn’t for sale at that time. In 2012, the south lot was purchased from Standard Golf. Now it was time for company officials to put another expansion plan together. Nea rly o n e yea r a f te r g ro u n d b rea k i n g , t h e n ew 40,000-square-foot, $3.5 million expansion recently has been officially opened. It was built to make room for additional state-of-thea r t e q u i p m e n t , ex pa n d e d employee break room space, upgraded employee locker rooms, additional parking spaces and three new truck docks.
The new facility is air conditioned and continues to provide a comfortable working environment for all employees, said Oltman. As part of the $3.5 million expansion, Blackhawk Engineering has invested in four new 630MM horizontal machining centers, which will allow the company to process
current products more efficiently. The additional capabilities of the new equipment will further enable the company to process a variety of materials that provide opportunity to further expand its customer base.
See Expansion, page 5
Congratulations
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BHE employees, guests take part in cutting ribbon on addition ALYSSA CONNELL For the Courier
On a crisp Thursday afternoon in April, nearly one year after breaking ground on the largest expansion in company history, Blackhawk Engineering employees and guests were celebrating. M o re t h a n 2 0 0 p e o p l e gathered together April 17 in the open space of the new 40,000-square-foot expansion to cut the ribbon and declare the new facility officially ready for business. Of those attending, more than 100 employees from all three shifts held scissors and took part in the event. “I was a part of the ground breaking and now the ribbon cutting,” said Robert Reid. “To be part of the celebrations shows that the company appreciates its employees.” In a line wrapping around the space, purple clad Ambassadors from the Greater Cedar Valley Chamber and Alliance led the ceremony. Guests were treated to cake and snacks, given a custom-designed BHE hat and taken on tours of the new area. “Everyone seemed thrilled to celebrate with us,” said John Oltman, general manager. “It’s a great way to open our door to the community and let them see what we’ve been working so hard on for the last year.” Blackhawk Engineering has been serving the Cedar Valley community for more than 40 years. The company has found its niche as a manufacturer of large and complex drivetraintype parts made primarily from iron castings used in heavy equipment, agriculture, construction, mining and government settings. Since the construction phase has wrapped up, BHE has been actively recruiting for open positions and has now completed the first wave of new hires, bringing on more than 16 qualified individuals. Additional career opportunities will continuously be announced, including further expansion in
COURTESY PHOTOS
Blackhawk Engineering management and staff gather with Cedar Falls Mayor Jon Crews and other dignitaries to cut the ribbon on BHE’s new expansion. Bottom right: Employees and guests were served cake at the ribbon cutting ceremony. sales and development. As a policy, BHE looks to hire from within the Cedar Valley first. “We have a lasting legacy of being good community stewards and believe our past recruitment and expansion efforts coupled
with this latest expansion are ways we show our commitment once again,” said Oltman. In the weeks since the official ceremony, Blackhawk Engineering has been putting new equipment in place and ramping up
for additional capacity. “The expansion is the beginning of new opportunities at BHE,” said Kurt Barker, sales manager. “Everyone is excited to see how we can take this company to the next level.”
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Expansion Space provides for efficient workflow
From page 3 While the plan is to grow for the future, BHE knows its existing customers are a top priority. “We’ve been working hard to develop new products and services,” Oltman explained. “This new expansion and equipment will meet the needs of new and existing customers for years to come. We can bring the most innovative concepts to everyone.” And should Blackhawk Engineering find itself in another capacity predicament, the south wall of the new building can be removed easily for expansion. “Right now, we’re thrilled with where we’re going and can’t wait to put it all to good use,” Oltman said. Several employee oversight committees were asked to weigh-in on the new space. High on the list of priorities was to create a more open work environment while keeping the work system efficient. Employee input was critical to the design of the project. The locker room, bathrooms and new women’s locker room were included to all for diversification throughout the plant. Efficiency is very important in CNC precision machining work, Oltman noted. There are many materials and aspects of work that go into the process, so an efficient workflow with a solid layout of materials and duties is necessary. By adding loading docks at the opposite end of the facility, it has allowed for materials to flow more efficiently through the facility. Bob Jorgensen of WBJ, Inc., was the general contractor on both expansions. Having local contractors do as much work on this project was very important to BHE. “We believe in being good community stewards,” said Oltman. “And part of that is fostering relationships with high quality suppliers in the Cedar Valley.”
Strong company built on expertise, growth ALYSSA CONNELL For the Courier
B
lackhawk Engineering originally began operations in 1974 with the purpose to design and build tooling, dies and special machines. The company primarily produced one-off projects and small quantity reproductions. It wasn’t until years later that BHE found its true niche. “The company saw an opportunity to change and migrate from small one-piece machining jobs to larger production runs,” said John Oltman, BHE general manager. “It was the right time to take this obvious step.” In the early 1990s, one of its largest clients, John Deere, made the decision to outsource some of its precision CNC work to BHE. John Deere sold some of its machines and equipment to BHE, beginning the focus on production machining. The tooling, dies and special machine operation was shifted solely to Blackhawk Engineer-
BHE started exploring new and innovative ways to meet the needs of its growing industry. They scoured the globe for vendors to provide equipment to TIMELINE help them compete in the large production arena. • 1985 — Additional CNC lathes became the world’s No. 1 user “We found a good partner in and mills purchased to focus of Hitachi Seiki Horizontal Pallet the Hitachi Seiki Co., and we on machining service/short-run Changers. became the world’s largest user production parts. • 1996 — Introduced the Ford of Hitachi Seiki Horizontal Pal• 1988 — Purchased large Quality Operating System (QOS) let Changers.” horizontal machining center for used to drive and improve BHE Nearly 10 years later, an agricultural differential housing. business practices. • 1989 — Became first recog• 1999 — Achieved ISO 9000 opportunity arose to sell the nized Certified Supplier to John registration. Systems division to industrial Deere Waterloo Tractor Works • 2006 — Sold Blackhawk park neighbor, American Patfor drivetrain casting machining. Engineering Systems Group tern. Then BHE became solely • 1990 — Blackhawk to solely focus on production focused on production preciEngineering Production Group machining. sion CNC machining. Now, and Blackhawk Engineering • 2009 — Certified to ISO BHE has expanded and diverSystems Group split into 9001:2008. sified to provide customers separate entities and facilities, • 2011 — 30,000-square-foot allowing for BHE’s focus on addition completed with the best precision CNC production machining. • 2013 — Groundbreaking on machining services available in • 1995 — Completion of third 40,000-square-foot facility, the market. building expansion, providing expanding facility to 118,000 “Our focus on customer serneeded space to focus on total square feet. vice, competitive pricing and expanding expertise in hori• 2014 — Addition completed, on-time deliveries has kept zontal mill usage for six-sided providing space for new opporus at the forefront of the CNC drivetrain-type machining. Also tunities, further diversification. machining industry,” said Kurt Barker, BHE sales manager with ing’s location on Airline High- growth spurt and completed Blackhawk Engineering. “Our its third building expansion in history is rich and it’s an excitway. In 1995, BHE hit its major the Cedar Falls Industrial Park. ing story to tell.”
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Space will ramp up diversification from traditional products ALYSSA CONNELL For the Courier
CNC machining is a process used in the manufacturing sector that involves the use of computers to control machine tools. The tools at Blackhawk Engineering utilize various 4-axis horizontal machining centers, vertical machining centers and vertical lathes to produce large, complex drive train components for heavy equipment. While it sounds complicated, Blackhawk Engineering has worked hard to define their role within the CNC machining industry. They’re consistently ranked as one of the Midwest’s leading firms producing tighttoleranced, multiple-sided parts. For more than 30 years, the focus has been on large and complex drivetrain-type parts made primarily from iron castings that are used in heavy equipment, agriculture, construction, mining and government settings. What makes Blackhawk Engineering unique? “Our reputation. Hands down,” said John Oltman,
‘The level of experience and continual development of technical knowledge of our team at BHE shows our investment in advancing the CNC precision machining field.’ — Kurt Barker, sales manager general manager. “We truly have a solid reputation of quality and reliability.” Administrators credit the consistency of the management team and longevity of its workforce for their positive reputation in the industry. Blackhawk Engineering Inc., is a production facility with design and manufacturing engineers on staff. The engineers and the management staff build quality into all processes and systems in their standard operating proce-
dures. This allows them to track performance, continuously improve and ensure quality on-time delivery of products. “The level of experience and continual development of technical knowledge of our team at BHE shows our investment in advancing the CNC precision machining field,” said Kurt Barker, sales manager. BHE brings value to its customers by partnering with their product development teams to develop the best manufacturing processes. “This benefits our customers with better machined products that are faster to market,” said Barker. “We’re involved from day one.” When Blackhawk Engineering looks to the future, things look bright. Thanks to adding the recent space, this production machining facility is poised well to quickly respond to the needs of customers and the demands of an increasing workload. “Creating an environment for success ... that’s the plan moving
forward,” said Oltman. With this new expansion, the company is positioned for future growth and capacity, as this additional space allows for diversification from traditional product lines. “We now have the ability to quickly ramp up production and
create more opportunities in different sectors, in addition to helping our current customer’s grow,” said Barker. “We’re now seeking out new projects where we can bring the most value to current and future customers. That’s exciting to all of us.”
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Innovative ‘Pay for Skill’ rewards, advances employees ALYSSA CONNELL For the Courier
B l a c k h awk E n g i n e e r i n g changed the way it handles employee compensation in 2007. It’s paying off for everyone. Prior to implementing the “Pay for Skill” platform, BHE gave employee raises solely based on seniority in a time-based compensation system. “We were finding it difficult to retain people,” said John Oltman, general manager. “Due to the area demand for CNC operators, they would stay for a while, but then get lured away for better paying positions elsewhere.” Administrators took an objective look at what it would take to retain employees, especially once they had completed the training program. They built a Pay for Skill program allowing
employees to be assessed and rated annually on progress to earn raises. A team of employees and senior leaders determined 20 skillsets required to be an outstanding CNC operator. Those skills make up the basis for rating each employee. “We wanted to find a way to entice people to learn, instead of just putting in their time,” said Oltman. This program allows the employee to ultimately be in charge of their own wage scale. Employees are taught skills to make them productive and knowledgeable, which increases their value at BHE. Many shining stars have emerged since the implementation of the policy. Seven-year veteran employee, Jose SernaMartinez understands the value of his hard work.
Martinez started as an entrylevel utility operator with no experience and within his first year moved up the ranks to CNC operator. He has advanced even further, currently holding the position as CNC operator setup technician, one of the highest skilled positions on the shop floor. When asked how the Pay for Skill program has benefitted him, Martinez was quick to respond, “I have been able to provide a better life for my family.” There’s motivation to learn more skills. “The more you pay attention and learn all you can, the quicker you can earn more,” he said. Another employee seeing tremendous growth opportunity from the Pay for Skill program is Brian Finn. Starting as a fork truck driver three years ago, Finn
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has now advanced to the position of CNC operator. “You’re more in control of opportunities to earn raises,” said Finn. “I’m now making more money than I ever would at my previous job.” Originally, Aaron Janaszak took a pay cut to come to work for Blackhawk Engineering. “After six months of hard work, I was making more than I ever would have at my previous employer,” said Janaszak. Now in his second year with the company, he is thrilled to help build parts for various types of equipment that is used on a farm where he also works. “You get what you put into it. You could just do the minimum, but as they say, you reap what you sow. “If someone is willing, there are always opportunities to learn,” said Finn. “The more you
learn, the more valuable you are to the company, and you get paid what you’re worth.” In addition to the Pay for Skill program, the company has implemented a suggestion process where employees can suggest improvements for process changes, safety or quality improvements. If their suggestion is accepted, they will receive either cash compensation or extra flex time. Each employee is encourage to submit at least two suggestions per year. Blackhawk Engineering continuously recruits for positions. The company offers competitive benefits, including health, dental and vision insurance; holiday pay, flex time and others. The best way to find out what positions are available is to check the careers section at BlackhawkEngineering.com.
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