Related Posts

• Meet Tommy in the Sheetmetal Department

  We thought it would be fun to introduce the many behind the scene faces here at Cambridge Engineering that you wouldn't normally get to meet but make a profound difference in our culture and our desire to manufacture the highest quality products for you....our customer. Every couple of weeks we will post a new video of one of our team members that "Make a Difference" her at Cambridge. This month we are pleased to introduce to you Tommy Davidson from our sheetmetal department. Tommy is a Lean leader here at Cambridge as well as a all around great guy. We hope you enjoy his video.   For more videos from Cambridge Engineering visit our Youtube page at https://www.youtube.com/user/CambridgeEngineering
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  Scrum: The Art of How an Overtasked Engineering Department Turned Their Work from Frenzied to Feasible

  Though the practice of scrum is fairly new to Cambridge (has only been actively applied in three of our 56 year existence) it has already helped us formulate a new approach to goal setting and how we will ultimately achieve those goals. More importantly, we are using it to address safety practices and protocols within Cambridge, so that every one of our fellow employees makes it home at the end of the day. After being introduced to the scrum concept (grouping agile thinkers together that stress constant communication to achieve complicated tasks and goals) in J.J. Sutherland’s book Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, a group of Cambridge engineers volunteered to be trained in the practice by Toyota scrum expert Nigel Thurlow and apply it within the Cambridge walls, thus becoming our first four certified Scrum Masters. See their story and how their daily work has changed over the past few years. To catch a glimpse of Nigel Thurlow’s on-site scrum training at Cambridge - make sure to check out our blog on his visit!

• Move from Presenting to Selling for Improved Sales Results

  Have you ever found yourself in this situation? You go to a meeting ready to engage in a discussion and you wind up listening to a presentation that includes a massive data dump. I’ve heard it called “death by PowerPoint.” Entering into a customer meeting with your presentation deck provides the presenter with a comforting safety net but often times misses the mark in allowing one to build real momentum in understanding the customer’s core challenges and their primary need for the solutions that you and your firm can provide. In an effort to provide the attendees with as much information as possible, we often times miss the opportunity to truly engage with our customers on the topics that are most important to them. Presentations are great when you are engaged in an educational session and your audience is seeking educational content especially as it relates to new concepts, new product categories and ongoing educational agendas with your listeners. Educational sessions lend themselves well in these types of situations. Presentations are dramatically different than selling situations. Selling situations ...

• Humility, Cultural Recruiting & Morning Meetings

  Reprinted with permission from the Winter 2017 issue of Target, an AME Publication. Authored by Lea Tonkin Part Three of a Four Part Series. Miss Parts One and Two? Click Here to Read!   Humility The culture at Cambridge reflects a unique perspective on pursuing humility. From the president to the front line worker, people share a consistent theme of humility as something to strive for instead of something to endure. “Humility is part of the beauty of working here and part of what attracted me,” said Meg Brown, human resources director. “You are asked to make improvements and share them with videos. It’s empowering to be able to say, ‘I made a difference today.” “No task is too small,” added Brown. Leadership and others from throughout the company voluntarily share the task for cleaning bathrooms, for example – reflecting humility and ownership. Cultural recruiting Cultural recruiting – attracting potential employees who will support the Cambridge collaborative approach – is crucial to the company’s long-term success. “We attract people who enjoy being problem solvers, and being given the ability to make changes,” ...

• TEN SALES LESSONS FROM GOLF

  I really enjoy golf.    I love how the game brings people together from all walks of life and stages in life.   Being outdoors for 2-4 hours in a world of offices and meetings is great for friends, families and business associates.  Golf teaches several life lessons that help anyone seeking to improve performance.           TEN SALES PERFORMANCE – GOLF LESSONS Learn/Practice: Sales people are made.  They are not created.   Just like the best players in the golf game, those that commit to practicing and learning their craft, fare better than those that are winging it. Have Fun: If you have passion and energy for something and can enjoy the experience, you are going to return to it again and again.   If you don’t feel the special calling, do something else.  We must be inspired. Expect to Win: Just like seeing the putt role in the hole or the approach shot rattle the pin, expect greatness and great outcomes.   Visualize the best outcome without worry of the worst.  The best outcome is just as likely as the worst.   ...
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  A POV from a Woman Working in the Manufacturing Industry

  This blog was written as a POV from Cambridge’s Marketing Manager, Annie Krieger, a working mom that found out years ago that she loves the spirit and opportunity she found in the manufacturing industry. Last week, Meg Brown (Cambridge's VP of Human Resources) and I were invited to join a group of ladies from across Missouri to represent ‘Women Working in Manufacturing’ at the Missouri State Capitol. The Missouri Association of Manufacturing, by ways of Executive Director Michael Eaton and Marketing Manager Andrew LeGrand, organized the event as a way to understand how needs as individuals or for our industry are championed by our elected representatives. We met with several House Representatives and Senators and had the opportunity to speak with both Missouri Governor Michael Parson and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe on the state of manufacturing in Missouri. Frankly, it’s been a minute since grade school social studies for me, and my recall of how state legislation progresses was a little rusty, so allow me to summarize my learnings for those like me: 1. Your elected officials will open their door to you. ...