What are your roles at Tormach?
Amanda Lucas: I’m a technical writer. I create and maintain all of the customer-facing instructional material like operator manuals, installation guides, release notes, and then the safety labeling that’s on the product. A big part of my role is to take the complex or technical procedures and write them in a way that’s clear and understandable to everyone.
Kimberly Upton: I work in our supply chain, and i have a degree in industrial engineering. I do a combination of planning and sourcing, but I also perform other duties like assembly instructions and routings and project management. I wear a lot of hats and also coordinate with other departments.
Why is it important to diversify these traditional roles in industry?
Lucas: I actually find it beneficial that I don’t have an engineering background because I think I can approach the user-interfacing content from a different perspective than the people who were developing the product. If we all had the same background, it would be easy to make assumptions about what the end user already knows.
Upton: I was taught through my education and experience the importance of understanding the various facets and roles that support manufacturing. Having that background makes it possible to work with various departments and with people of different experiences.
How are manufacturing roles becoming more cross-functional while blending engineering, operations, and communication?
Lucas: From my perspective, I’m bringing the documentation in earlier in the product cycle release so that it isn’t the last thing we’re thinking about. That helps me to work with engineers and support operations. It also helps me to not only understand how something works, but also how it’s actually used in the field.
Upton: The ability to wear many hats means understanding and being empathetic to what other people are doing in their roles and their jobs and to be able to soften those edges of the silo, so you’re able to work within the other departments and also question things.
Do you see the industrial landscape changing at a positive pace or do you still see a lot of opportunity for improvement?
Lucas: I feel encouraged to see the industry changing with regards to more women and younger generations getting into STEM fields. The opportunity there is converting that interest into long-term careers in the field.
Upton: I’m noticing that there are more women in important roles, like leadership. Personally, I see this as a huge benefit.Not only do women tend to have more empathy, flexibility, and support for employees, but it shows other women that these roles are possible.
Do you see the barriers not as high and more obtainable?
Upton: I am noticing a positive change. Women are sticking with their engineering jobs and roles; there seems to be more flexibility, support, and acceptance in the workplace.
Lucas: I don’t really see many barriers to entry and getting your foot in the door, but there is a need to create workplaces where more women or more diverse populations would want to apply to or could work and could see themselves long-term.
How are companies missing out on opportunities that would be advantageous to them by diversifying traditional roles?
Lucas: When we have a more diverse team, it creates an opportunity to build products that apply to a wider range of people. If we’re bringing people into the company who could evaluate and give their opinions on products early in the life cycle of the development, then you know we have a better chance to create a product that more people will want to use.
Upton: If you have a diverse set of employees, you’re going to be more well-rounded in how you are coming up with an idea and putting that product out for a customer.
How do you change the way decades-old companies approach their hiring paradigm?
Lucas: It starts with recognizing that adjacent skill sets have value and not just the traditional engineering. On the hiring side, they can offer a workplace that can attract a wider range of people. Maybe that’s things like flexibility and remote work, benefits packages that support a different range of lifestyles and life situations that people might have. That could make a big difference in widening the scope of who is able to enter the workplace and stay in the workplace.
Upton: Flexibility and support are crucial. That didn’t exist 20 years ago with a lot of the companies I worked with. I have a lot of friends who I graduated with who no longer do engineering, and it was because of the lack of flexibility and support.
There’s a plethora of very well-educated smart women out there who would gladly come back to the work environment if they knew of the flexibility and support that existed. It’s a golden nugget out there that hasn’t yet been found.
More info: tormach.com
