Business booming again at Precision
WBJ File
Liora Stone, owner and president, Precision Engineering
Precision Engineering had a tough year last year. Uncertainty about the presidential election and other economic issues kept business slow for much of 2016, forcing the Uxbridge company to reduce its workforce by about 15 employees. However, things have started picking up again at Precision, and since November, the company has been hiring and adding new customers.
Liora Stone, the company’s owner and president, spoke about workforce development, upgrading the company’s powder coating system, and how she feels about business going forward.
You said you had a slow year last year because there was a lot of uncertainty. How have things changed?
Almost immediately after the election, orders began to increase again, from all customer sectors. Since January, orders have remained strong. We’ve been very busy and have begun to hire again. March’s revenues exceeded 2016’s highest monthly revenue point. We’ve moved beyond being cautiously optimistic; and barring any unforeseen event, we are now optimistic that this pattern will continue long term.
Have you hired any more people since December? In what positions?
In November, we began to call back and/or hire new people. Since that time, we’ve added back seven permanent positions and two temporary workers. All hiring has been in production areas.
How do you make sure your workforce is as strong as it can be?
We perform a lot of in-house training. We also partner with organizations like MassMEP and the Employers Association of the North East to strengthen and/or augment existing training. Additionally, we work closely with business organizations (like the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Association of New England and the Associated Industries of Massachsuetts) to “be our voice” in communicating the “skills gap” issue. Finally, through the Blackstone Valley Education Foundation, we work with area high schools.
What else is new at Precision?
Since November, we’ve added a couple of new customers; and several current customers have asked us to work with them on some new projects – one of which takes us back to the type of work we did when we started the business, 28 years ago. We’re truly grateful for the confidence these customers have shown in us, and we continue to work hard to maintain that trust in meeting their complex, high-quality supply-demand requirements.
Over the next year, we plan to upgrade our powder coating system. The new systems are more efficient from both a production and energy-saving standpoint. The project may include some structural changes to the roof of the building. So, it’s more than just buying and installing a simple piece of equipment. However, cost-savings from just the ability to recycle much more of our powder raw material will go far in helping to off-set the purchase and installation expenses – not to mention helping us to meet higher environmental sustainability goals.
This interview was conducted and edited for clarity by Laura Finaldi, WBJ staff writer.
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