When Denise and Bob Mantz started Mantz Automation in 1989, neither of them intended to have more than 20 employees.
Customer demand dictated otherwise, however, and in the course of six months they went from seven to 20 employees. Today the tool and die company has about 80 employees.
Since the economic climate when they started the company was similar to today’s economic doldrums, Denise and Bob Mantz were ready to deal with the challenges of a down economy. In fact, Denise says they are taking this time to grow and improve.
“There are opportunities in times like these,” she said. “We’re not as busy as other years so we’re doing a lot to revamp our systems and re-organize so that once things pick up we’ll be in a better position to take advantage of it.”
One reason they’ll be in a better position to take advantage of an uptick in business is their emphasis on people over machinery, said Denise. The toolmakers at Mantz are highly trained and interact one-on-one with the customers.
One method of hiring those employees at Mantz is through their youth apprentice program. Apprentices can start in high school and if students demonstrate good work ethic and desire, Mantz will put them through school and training. Right now about a dozen of their workers have been brought up through the program.
Denise says those hires and the rest of their employees are the key to their success.
“Everything we have here is because we’ve hired great people,” she said.
Mantz Automation Inc.
Address: 1630 Innovation Way, Hartland
Website: www.mantzautomation.com
Industry: Tool and Die
Revenues: $16 million
Employees: 80
