Barry-Wehmiller’s “Portraits of a Better World” video series features team members from across the organization sharing how Truly Human 领导 is alive in their corner of our global organization. Whether describing their leadership at work, their contributions within their communities or the indirect impact of our culture on their families, these short vignettes give voice to the many ways we are using the power of our business to build a better world.
自1987年以来, Barry-Wehmiller has grown from a $20 million dollar business to a $2 billion dollar global company through a healthy balance of organic growth 和 more than 70 acquisitions. We actually prefer to call them “adoptions” because we’re welcoming these companies into our family.
Take for instance our Paper 转换 Machine Company, an 80-year-old equipment company headquartered in Green Bay, 威斯康辛州. When we invited PCMC into our organization in 2005, the business was struggling, as many manufacturing companies were, due to foreign competition 和 market challenges. And like most struggling companies, their culture was broken too. But just as we’ve done with our other similar situations, we partnered with our new team members to turn both around.
I’ve written about PCMC 和 their transformation from a company with little hope for its 800 team members into thriving business 和 culture whose team members now share a vision of a good future (Bringing Lean to Life 和 From Robot to Leader.) These days, PCMC has emerged as a leader in tissue converting 和 flexographic printing presses. In addition to Green Bay, 威斯康辛州 (USA), they have additional manufacturing operations in Duncansville, PA(美国), 德文郡, 英国和卢卡, 意大利.
它的卢卡, 意大利 operation happens to be in the heart of the global tissue industry 和 a critical part of the global technology evolution. 自然, team members in at the Lucca plant were anxious about the ‘new’ owner 和 the concern that some of PCMC’s operations would be shut down 和 production moved to lower labor cost markets.
“They said ‘the Americans will change everything, we’re going home,’” said Stefania Sforzi, our Culture 和 People Development specialist at PCMC in Lucca. “Our team members were very afraid. But they were surprised.”
One of the reasons our new 意大利 teammates were hesitant was because they were conditioned to think that business is business 和 caring has no place at the office. They probably have a right to fear most American business owners.
“Our normal culture of work is going to work 和 doing what your boss says to do,” Stefania said. “In a normal company in 意大利 they ask you to do something 和 only that. 没有更多的. T在这里 aren’t leaders in companies in 意大利, t在这里 is the boss. Our culture is so different now. It takes time to underst和 和 feel that it’s really true instead of just words on the wall or the website.”
But the team members at PCMC Lucca eventually began to see the difference. “We now know that we have no bosses, only colleagues,” Stefania said of the difference. “We are all working for the same purpose. We’re not just working for our salary at the end of the month. And we have no boss, so t在这里 isn’t the boss that wants to obtain the maximum profit from your job.
“It seems simple, but it is very revolutionary for us.”
Watch Stefania through the link above. To see other Portraits of a Better World, click 在这里.