If you are like most heat treaters, the last 24 months have been some of the most challenging times in our history of being in business. Lost sales, increased costs, and a lack of qualified employees have plagued everyone in the heat treating industry.
The good news is the economy is on the rebound, but not without some serious challenges ahead. With uncertainty looming in labor and overall costs, and as businesses begin to build back again, every company needs to be focused on six key elements:
- Sales Regeneration
- Cost Containment
- Quality Performance
- Workplace Safety
- Employee Recruitment
- Automation
Throughout COVID, the Metal Treating Institute and its wide array of over 100 volunteers made up of heat treaters, worked diligently to engage in a process to drive value and creative programs in an effort to help heat treaters maximize success and maintain their businesses. Because of these efforts, MTI has been able to provide many programs and resources that are helping heat treating companies, both captive and commercial, to not only navigate, but thrive in this current business climate.
The following are the key elements that MTI committees delivered over the last 12 months, and that every commercial and captive heat treater should be diving into to accomplish the six core goals above:
NextGen Committee: HeatTreatCareers.com – Recruiting New Employees
Finding qualitied people is the #2 challenge for any heat treater. The bigger challenge is being able to communicate, “Why work in the heat treating industry” in a way that is appealing to any prospective employee. In 2021 MTI’s NextGen Task Force invested several months to create a digital resource for any heat treating company to connect into their website that shares through video stories:
- What is Heat Treating
- The Impact of Heat Treating in Society
- Why Choose a Career in Heat Treating
- Ability Search Companies by State to Look into a Career
Heat treat companies can place a banner ad on their website that says, “Looking for an Engaging Career?”, CLICK HERE and then link to HeatTreatCareers.com. The website is a free resource by the Metal Treating Institute and every company is encouraged to tap into it.
Education Committee: NEW Heat Treat Quality Specialist Certificate
MTI’s Education Committee has put more emphasis on training by launching MTI’s newest technical training certificate, the Heat Treat Quality Specialist Certificate. With turnover at a high rate and not enough time for management to oversee everyone all the time, the new certificate provides a 360 degree view of quality, including blue prints, pyrometry, process, metallurgical theory, equipment, and hardness testing to name a few key areas. MTI has the industry’s most efficient online training system that provides an online corporate account to easily administer and manage your company training. It is 24/7, mobile friendly, and all digital. NO PAPER! MTI’s training also meets minimum requirements for auditing groups like Nadcap, ARP 1962, ISO 9000, and AS 9100.
Benchmarking Committee: Sales Trend & Quarterly Forecasting Reports & Webinars
MTI is partnered with ITR Economics to deliver monthly historical trend analysis and quarterly sales forecasting for heat treat sales and eight industry segments that drive heat treat sales. MTI delivers a quarterly webinar that digs into the numbers behind the printed report. This monthly and quarterly data would cost any company over $20,000 to get the same results. Through the work of MTI’s Benchmarking Committee, you receive all this business intelligence for FREE as a part of your general membership. The #1 value of these reports is that they create clarity for key management decisions in an uncertain future.
MTI Technical Standards Committee: Your Voice in Making the Rules
In a recent survey of heat treaters, 70% stated technical specifications play a major role in their quality department and profitability. With cost of quality being around 13% of sales, it is important for your company to have the inside information to stay ahead of the continual changes happening with Nadcap, aerospace standards, CQI9, and ASTM to name a few. MTI’s Technical Standards Committee, made up of 25 heat treaters and suppliers, meet quarterly and deliver a live webcast quarterly to keep your quality team ahead of the information curve on technical specifications. With MTI’s Technical Standards updates, it takes all the guess work out of your quality department and allows you to provide input into the rules you have to live by.
MTI Safety Committee: Resources to Combat High Turnover
One of the key downsides to the lack of qualified labor is the temptation to deviate from the high levels of safety; taking shortcuts because staff is simply doing so much; given production increases with no new staff. MTI’s Safety Committee revamped its Safety Self Audit Checklist documents and created (4) template safety documents in lockout/ tagout, confined space, elevated work, and arc flash, all meeting OSHA standards. Most associations charge you for these critical documents. MTI provides them free because the leadership believes safety needs to be a bigger priority given current labor challenges.
The bottom line is, MTI’s programs are created by heat treaters for heat treaters. Don’t take on the daily grind and challenge by yourself. Tap into the powerful resources MTI has created to minimize uncertainty and maximize productivity, quality, and safety.
If you would like to schedule a short virtual tour, reach out to our Director of Member Experience, Kristen Speer (kristen@heattreat.net) or CEO, Tom Morrison (tom@heattreat.net).
Our goal is your success…everyday.