Mr. Rezin, U.S. industry is booming. What challenges do you face as a plant and equipment manufacturer?
The market really is booming, especially the water management sector. Business is skyrocketing thanks to the government’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The flipside, though, is the skills shortage. That’s no secret in the USA. Usemco operates in a rural region, so we have to compete with other companies for well-trained people.
What specific steps are you taking to find skilled workers?
We normally find engineers. If we also want to take on people who are less well qualified, we need to make our production processes much simpler – our wiring, for instance. Rittal automation technology helps us achieve that. Without it, these people would have no chance of wiring enclosures. It’s difficult finding mid-level staff with two years’ training.
How has your competitiveness changed in recent years?
Our company has been completely transformed over the past five to ten years. We used to work with 2D wiring schematics and scanned-in CAD drawings. Now, absolutely everything is digitalised. We’ve boosted our competitiveness big time and doubled our share of business.
