By Relentlessly Pursuing Process Improvement, This CEO Built a Business That Withstood COVID-19

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For nearly every manufacturer across North America, 2020 has posed unique business challenges. 64% of manufacturers reported business impacts fueled by shutdown orders alone, based on data from a May Thomas Industrial Survey, which doesn’t even account for the substantial supply chain impacts caused by COVID-19.

However, our guest on this week’s episode of the Thomas Industry Update Podcast, hosted by Thomas CEO Tony Uphoff, was prepared for the worst.

Terri Jondahl, who has been the CEO of CAB Incorporated since 1995, is deeply familiar with the endless unexpected challenges that can face an industrial business at a moment’s notice. Under her leadership, the precision machined industrial castings, forgings, wind tower components, and flanges supplier has adopted a decisive slogan: “Relentless Pursuit of Continuous Quality Improvement.”

For Jondahl, process improvement is innate in just about every business operation, and she leads with this philosophy to ensure CAB is always prepared to pivot in the face of a challenge.

“When you look at manufacturing, or even if you look at making hamburgers and McDonald’s, everything breaks down into a process,” Jondahl explains. “And if you figure out how to break down that process into steps that you can do efficiently and effectively, then you’re going to become the best at whatever it is that you’re doing.”

Creating an Error-proof Business Model

For Jondahl, the “relentless pursuit” of improvement began as a way of diversifying the business at CAB. She first “caught the bug” for process improvement when she was involved in a merger with a $4 billion entity and noticed the stark contrast in operational efficiency at such a large organization. However, she clarifies, you don’t need to be a $4 billion operation to create and maintain efficient processes.

“It’s perspective. When you look at solving problems, it’s innate,” Jondahl says. “I just became active in a cat rescue organization, a teeny tiny little organization, and yet the same thing applies.”

Jondahl also addresses the COVID-19-related elephant in the room: reshoring business operations. Jondahl explains that CAB has a mix of offshore and onshore operations to cater to both domestic and international clients. The company moved in this direction long before the pandemic, she explains; as a middle-level operation, CAB wanted the best of both worlds.

“Larger manufacturers [have already been able to reshore] because they’re able to invest in exceptional amounts of capital equipment and automation back onshore,” Jondahl says. “Tomorrow we may end up with a whole new world where suddenly the rules are changing again, and as a business owner, you want stability. Whatever the policy is, just give me stability. But you have to be able to be flexible.”

An Honest Perspective on Automation

As automation and digital transformation sweep across the industry, for mid-sized and small industrial businesses taking the risk of huge capital investment in new technology can be incredibly intimidating, especially when current processes still work.

“I do think the barrier to entry on this is the capital investment,” Jondahl says. “There’s so much risk that most folks won’t dive in, so it means the big guys get in — and that’s the piece I think we’re missing.”

However, she went on to explain how advanced technology has made her business operate more efficiently, specifically citing the remarkable new capabilities CAB now has in lights-out processes at its Washington facility.

“The fact that you just turn on the machine and tell it to run overnight, I’m feeling like I can ask Alexa to run a part for me,” Jondahl joked. “That is going to be a real game-changer.”

Building an Enduring Industrial Operation

For more of Jondahl’s perspectives on business resiliency, community service, and her work at CAB Incorporated, check out this week’s episode of the Thomas Industry Update Podcast, available to stream on the following platforms:

Image Credit: Thomas Industry Update Podcast

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