My sixteen year old daughter, Nina, is at a wonderful time in her life where she is exploring who she wants to be and how she wants to get there. It is fascinating to see her try out her ideas of jobs, locations, colleges, and living situations. We have created a safe place for her to experiment with what it means to uncover her passion and explore it. Her journey so far has been awesome and inspiring to me at the same time. Last night she introduced me to a documentary series, Chef’s Table, she discovered about some of the world’s best chefs and their pursuit of their passions. Despite the establishment’s criticisms, they remained steadfast in their commitment to their craft which ultimately transformed the establishment’s perception of great food. Nina knows she does not want to be a great chef, but she does aspire to excellence. I find that remarkable at her age.
As an example, the first episode is about Massimo Bottura. After starting a successful restaurant in Italy he leaves for New York, settles there and meets his future wife, only to return to his restaurant in Italy. She then joins him, only to have him leave for France 10 days after she arrives. She goes home, he follows and they decide to open a new restaurant in Italy. They open the restaurant on the day he proposes to her. Inspired by his new wife, Massimo invents a new way to serve Italian classics and the local food critics call him a heretic! After several years, he is ready to give up, but his wife urges him to continue. Later that year, a freak accident redirects the top Italian food critic from his trip, so the critic visits the restaurant and is amazed. Massimo’s restaurant, Osteria Francescana, is now rated the #3 in the world.
At ETM Manufacturing, we make custom sheet metal parts, just like our competitors. Each of us has a unique way we practice our craft to produce a satisfied customer. How we practice our craft is very personal – we risk our life savings, our reputation, our families, and our time – to produce custom metal parts the way we believe is the right way. At the very core of who we are, ETM Manufacturing is all about pursuing excellence through metal. This is about having the right material arrive at the right time all the time. This also is about the quest for the perfect shipment. But our vision expands to include an entire supply chain solution. We are not satisfied with our craft until we have created a sustainable competitive advantage for our customers. We do this not because we are asked, but because we are called to fulfill our passion for excellence.
This pursuit of excellence is not without its challenges or its critics. We have seen customers who have accepted our help and tripled their business. We have also seen customers stuck in their traditional buying patterns shrink to a tenth of their size. Our best successes have outgrown our capabilities and we believe that is a good thing. We have also survived a flood that destroyed our offices and a former employee that recruited away almost our entire second shift. Our commitment to excellence has meant making tough decisions, like replacing 4 operations leaders in the pursuit of finally finding the right one, or holding off 4 years to hire the perfect sales leader. Every day we are tempted to participate in RFQ packages to be compared on piece part pricing. We cannot be McDonalds; instead we must be Osteria Francescana.
This is the life lesson I live every day for my daughter and my employees. We only have one life to live and we need to make it the best one we can. The only way to do this is to uncover our passion, pursue it completely and share this passion with others. This is what we do at ETM Manufacturing. If you are passionate about US Manufacturing, improving your competitiveness or simply need to work with others at the top of their game, we want to hear from you.
from ETM Manufacturing http://etmmfg.com/3497
from American Quality Management http://aqmauditing2014.tumblr.com/post/123582052430
No comments:
Post a Comment