GenMet's Company Policy:
- Superior Safety, Quality and On Time Delivery
- Supported by Employee Led Continuous Improvement and State of the Art Technology
- Resulting in Profitable, Long Term Customer Relationships.
GenMet is dedicated to following lean manufacturing practices to reduce waste and improve overall customer value. GenMet employees are continuously trained on lean manufacturing principles which play a critical part in maximizing efficiency and productivity.
Eric Isbister, GenMet’s CEO, serves on the advisory boards of MSOE, WCTC, Associated Industries of the Blind, and Wiscraft. He credits GenMet’s success to lean manufacturing practices as well as the team culture. "Every GenMet employee adds value to our organization," explains Eric Isbister. "Purchasing high-tech equipment is only beneficial if you have the culture to make the machines profitable. Our team environment is evident throughout every level of our organization, starting at the very top.”
Mary Isbister, GenMet's president, serves on Milwaukee's Next Generation Manufacturing Council, COSBE Board of the MMAC, and the Board of the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership. At the 2008 Wisconsin Manufacturing Matters Conference, she presented on the topic of lean manufacturing practices. The workshop, titled One Team, One Goal, addressed how companies could use ISO 9001 to increase revenue and capacity while creating a strong team, thus improving overall operations.
"Five or ten years from now, we're not going to be producing the same products we are today," says Mary Isbister. "Manufacturers must be innovative in finding new ways to add value and create products that are not easily replicated by low-wage overseas competitors.”
ISO Certified
GenMet earned ISO 9001:2008 certification in 2010, which provides the structure for building processes and supporting continuous improvement and employee involvement. "The ISO auditor complimented our staff for knowing exactly what to do,” Eric recalls. “Our employees weren't nervous during the auditing process. They had documented their own procedures in each area, so they felt confident when answering questions and talking about various operations."
GenMet’s documented ISO processes are infused into the company's employee training and culture. "Some companies get ISO certified due to external pressures from their customers," Eric states. "We became ISO certified because we believed the process would help us continuously improve overall. Attracting new or better customers as a result of our certification is a secondary benefit — a spin-off of the improvement process."
A Woman-Owned Small Business
GenMet is a Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB), which helps many of its customers meet government requirements. To assist woman-owned small businesses, the Department of Defense awards a percentage of prime and subcontract opportunities each year to companies like GenMet that have obtained the WOSB designation.