TEXTILES.ORG
By Jamie Swedberg
Roy Chism of The Chism Co. in San Antonio, Texas, is a firm believer in embracing automated equipment and programs to increase cost efficiencies, product versatility and speed to market. The company uses MPanel to address added product applications for tension and tensile applications. Reinvesting revenues in automated tools is deliberate on the company’s part to affect a shift from craftsman to machine operator.
Chism hires interns from the community college in San Antonio who are well prepared for an automated workplace. They often become full-time employees. Many are involved in the NAM (National Association of Manufacturers)-Endorsed Manufacturing Skills Certification System, a program that prepares students with the necessary technology skills for advanced manufacturing jobs.
“They don’t have the patience to work with scissors, but if you give them an automated machine that moves at four feet per second, they’re real happy,” he says. “That’s what we tied into and it’s where we’re growing our employee base and business. Over half of our employees are under the age of 35. Like everybody else, we operate with fewer employees than we did in the past, and automated systems help the process tremendously.”
As the industry embraces automated processes and new generations of tech-minded workers enter the field, these software programs and others are becoming the new normal.