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By Nathan Peck | MiBiz
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Lacks Enterprises spent $1 million in the last year to upgrade the ergonomics of its workstations, a move which garnered the attention of MIOSHA. The state program gave Lacks its Ergonomic Innovation Award during a recent award presentation featuring (l-r) Ryan Lacks, KV Lacks, Jim Green and Sen. David Hildenbrand. COURTESY PHOTO

GRAND RAPIDS — Like many companies in the automotive industry supply chain, Lacks Enterprises hopes to have finally put the bitter uncertainty of 2008 behind it.

The first layoffs in the company’s history are but a distant memory, as the company has added 600 employees since 2009. A rebounding auto industry has the manufacturer of interior, exterior and wheel trim automotive components projecting 10-percent annual growth in coming years and feeling bullish about its future.

The company has expanded its customer base, serving most of the automakers with manufacturing operations in North America. Now employing 2,200 in 22 facilities, the $350 million company is looking to continue its hiring growth and plant expansion.

The company, which traditionally had produced trim for automakers’ larger, higher-end vehicles, now has followed the global trend toward smaller vehicles, said James Green, executive director of human resources for Lacks.

“We’ve gone through three major downturns in our company’s history, and we have come out of each of them stronger as a result,” Green said, noting the memory of layoffs is still fresh in the minds of executives. “Times are good, but we are running things very differently. We are very cautious to not just be throwing people back into the process.”

Green said the company emerged from the recession stronger because it invested in its operations and people.

In the last year, Lacks Enterprises spent $1 million to upgrade the ergonomics of workstations at its facilities, a move which earned the supplier the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Ergonomic Innovation Award.

The investments in ergonomic improvements aren’t the stuff of fluffy press releases: These investments impact the bottom line, making lines more efficient and profitable.

“It is an investment. You want to do what is right for the employees, but it has to reduce lost time and medical costs,” Green said. The company has also empowered employees to identify problems and propose solutions to improve their work spaces.

“When we invest money like this, we see payback in one year or less, which from a business perspective is excellent,” Green said.

Still the decision to make investments in the down economy was not taken lightly.

“No one knew when the business (was) coming back,” Green said. “We’re fortunate that when situations come up, (employees) will speak up. We know any dollars you spend ... you’re going to recoup.”

Most of the recommendations come from the employees. For example, as new equipment is installed, plant managers and floor leaders are troubleshooting new technology before it comes online. As the equipment becomes operational, that process continues, said Green. Few suppliers can afford lost-time accidents, but the real savings can be realized in creating a more efficient work flow through the plants.

“We are constantly seeking input through our safety committee,” he said. “You can build a new machine with new technology built into it, but until you run with the human capital, you don’t know all of the opportunities to improve the ergonomic flow and the setup of the workstations.”

The efficiencies, and positive morale among employees who know their input is effecting change, helps make Lacks more competitive in an industry that underwent tremendous changes in the recession. The industry has shifted in its wake, with OEMs relenting their constant beat down of suppliers on prices and terms.

“For years, they tried to drive everything down on price and pit suppliers against one another, where people were buying business and leveraged to the max,” Green said. The industry is finding a more equitable relationship between customer and supplier. “The auto industry is finding that … all it took is one hiccup and the whole thing is thrown into chaos.”

Those suppliers that survived are looking for the talent to help fuel continued growth.

“We have been disappointed at the caliber of people coming in that don’t have the skills we need,” Green said. “Part of it is that a generation has grown up thinking that there wasn’t a future in manufacturing. We are trying to enhance our visual exposure. We have been a pretty quiet company. We need to make sure that people outside the industry know what we’re all about.”

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