Keep it Running: Tools and Company Culture

August 15, 2023 by Liberty Electronics

One way that a company like Liberty ensures an efficient and well-equipped workforce is by making sure the tools that employees use on a daily basis are current, calibrated, and functioning. The proper maintenance and organization of all tooling is a key element in a workforce that is confident, safe, and well-equipped.

Each tool on the production floor is catalogued and under the care of a tool crib attendant. This attendant keeps track of who uses each tool, issues tools to employees who need them for a specific job, and ensures that tools are properly maintained and calibrated.

Each tool or machine is marked with a serial number, and is issued to certain employees for specific jobs before being returned to the tool crib attendant once the job is completed. This minimizes confusion on the production floor (personnel only have the resources they need, nothing missing or superfluous), while also minimizing the risk of injury or damage due to the use of the wrong tool. For example, if the building instructions for an assembly calls for the use of a certain size of screwdriver, and an employee were to use the wrong size or type of screwdriver; the screw could be stripped, or the assembly damaged, or the employee injured in some way because they did not use the adequate tool. By closely regulating and cataloguing each tool, these opportunities for error are greatly reduced.

All tools also have an “expiration date:” a specified time when they are to be re-inspected and calibrated. Having each item numbered aids in this process as well: the attendant can keep track of every item and know what needs to be serviced when. Because each tool has been issued to specific employees for specific jobs, the attendant has a record for exactly how and when the tool has been used, which creates a pedigree of tooling: a work history of each item.

Without properly organizing and maintaining the company’s roster of tools, there would be the potential for an employee to use an improper tool, either damaging materials or injuring themself. By contrast, a very specialized system of organizing tools allows employees to not only be current with their specialized training, but for the tools they use to be serviced and calibrated as well.

Properly cataloging and maintaining tools reduces confusion, ensures that all items are up to code, and confirms that the intended tools for the job are being used by the qualified people for the job. This contributes to a company culture in which employees feel equipped, confident, taken care of, and ready for any challenge.

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Reduce Supply Chain Issues With a Relationship-Focused Supplier

January 31, 2023 by Liberty Electronics

Reduce Supply Chain Issues With a Relationship-Focused Supplier

OEMs rely on successful partnerships to improve performance, especially when supply chain issues are top of mind for many businesses. It’s crucial to consider how successful long-term relationships can ease supply chain delays through reduced lead times and expedited problem solving.

Building individualized relationships creates better access to products and helps meet specific needs. Manufacturers can reap the rewards in a complex, constantly evolving environment by working with suppliers who personally know their purchasing, engineering and quality departments.

What Sets a Relationship-Focused Business Apart

Relationship-based businesses focus on engaging customers through information and resources that connect directly to their audience and provide value. Once you’ve established familiarity, open communication channels lead to a beneficial relationship with tone and language that both parties easily understand.
Knowing the ins and outs of OEMs can lead to quick resolutions and proactive awareness of potential order issues, faster turnaround times and a deeper familiarity with product lines. Liberty’s team caters to your needs to help you and your project succeed, especially when the supply chain is experiencing shortages or long lead times. Here’s a deeper look at those benefits:

More familiarity with product lines: By knowing customer requirements, suppliers don’t have to start from scratch and can plan on meeting certain specifications ahead of time, potentially shortening the turnaround time for initial units.
Reduced lead time: Suppliers could choose to stock components that may have a long lead time, even if there is no current demand. With knowledge of the customer’s product and specifications, suppliers can also plan builds around those requirements to react more quickly.
Quicker resolutions: Suppliers would know exactly who to contact about specific issues or concerns. For example, an order could be flagged if the customer typically orders items as sets, but they only order part of the set. Suppose there are engineering questions or quality concerns. In that case, they could go directly to that person to manage the issue more quickly rather than contacting a buyer and waiting for contact information.

While transactional business models succeed in driving sales, this is also true with relationship-focused business models. However, the benefits from the relationship model are longer term vs. short-term financial gains. Ultimately, a strong relationship with suppliers allows OEMs to create systems to stabilize demand for parts and reduce shortage risks.

A Partner, Not Just a Supplier

From your first interaction with a relationship-based business like Liberty Electronics®, you can tell we operate differently. Our team prioritizes building relationships with customers by learning your specific needs and delivering customizable solutions. By immersing ourselves in our customers’ business, we develop a 360-degree understanding of what success looks like. Ultimately, you’ll feel heard and understand we aren’t just a supplier — we’re your partner.

This type of partnership results in more success, better performance and a higher quality standard for both the customer and supplier. With few signs of improvement in the disrupted supply chain, finding a supplier who focuses on building relationships can strengthen your operations.

With over 35 years of leadership in our field, we specialize in supporting aerospace, defense, rail, transportation and nuclear energy industries by providing products including:

Electronic wiring harnesses
Box builds
Electrical cable assemblies
Electrical cabinet assemblies
Electrical panel assemblies
Electromechanical assemblies

In addition to our dedication to quality, service and on-time delivery, we’re a relationship-based supplier that values cooperation over competition and are based in Franklin, PA. To build a long-lasting relationship, contact us on our website or via email about working together.

Employee Culture: Staying Sharp with Continuous Training

August 16, 2022 by Liberty Electronics

No matter how precise a tool may be, it still needs to be honed, recalibrated, and reevaluated in order to stay in prime condition and do its job correctly. This is no different for a workforce. No matter how knowledgeable or skilled an employee may be, there are always ways for the employee to refresh their knowledge. Continuous training to keep the workforce up to date on all its processes produces a workplace culture which is centered on preparedness and reliability.

Employees in each department are continuously trained in the best practices and standards for their jobs. This includes ongoing coursework, yearly training and recertification courses, and special classes. The goal is to produce a workforce that is abreast of industry standards and trends,and equipped for the next project.

Liberty’s engineers, for example, regularly undergo training on the newest versions of their computer software. Because the software changes (sometimes year to year), regular training allows everyone in the department to be equipped with the same information, to know what the expectations are, and to be knowledgeable about how the software works. This helps the department as a whole be on the same page.

Another example of Liberty staying current comes from the production floor, where personnel must be recertified annually for the individual specializations for which they carry credentials. Employees performing soldering operations, for example, must renew their certifications, and therefore must stay up to date on the workmanship standards for their discipline.

It is important to train a workforce that is prepared for all the standards and expectations they will experience, not only in daily work but in the unique projects that may come their way. Continuous training helps employees stay versatile and prepared. It also contributes to a company culture in which personnel are not simply current, but ready to meet each challenge. Honing employees’ skills equips everyone in the company to expertly and safely work together to get the job done.

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Community and Beyond: The Global Impact of Liberty Electronics

August 8, 2019 by Liberty Electronics

Every community is impacted by the companies that operate within. Companies of all sizes create a ripple effect, creating a variety of touchpoints and connections within their communities and beyond. This is especially true of a company like Liberty Electronics. Although a small business by definition, Liberty is actually one of the largest companies in the small town of Franklin, Pennsylvania. Franklin is a picturesque, Victorian era community of hard-working families that work together, play together, learn together, worship together, and succeed together.

Liberty’s Ripple Effect

Liberty’s ripple effect starts in the center with the employees who are invested in their corporate mission through Profit-Sharing and Employee Stock Ownership (ESOP) plans. Their care and skill reflected in their workmanship sparks a sense of pride within each individual. Liberty’s flexible work schedule options allow employees to work and still be with their families when it suits their lifestyle and obligations best. This flexibility helps to provide a more balanced lifestyle for the employees, their families, the company, and for the community at large. Liberty Electronics contributes to its community and takes care of its employees, in turn inspiring them to positively impact the local economy and well-being of the city of Franklin and the surrounding communities.

Supporting the larger community on an individual and personal level, a large percentage of Liberty’s products ensure that light rail transit and commercial aircraft systems around the world operate without issue. Liberty’s employees do their part to see to it that these systems will safely carry a multitude of people throughout their busy week of work, school, and recreation with the confidence of reaching and returning from their intended destinations.

Let’s expand this community impact out another layer. In support of our national defense, a large number of Liberty’s products leave our facility and move on to become components of defense weapons, and support systems that are required to meet the needs of the warfighters protecting our nation and so many others around the free world. Some of these warfighters are from our local communities, and a number of those are from families within our own company. In addition, many of Liberty’s employees have made the admirable decision to support their country by serving in various capacities within the military.

On perhaps an even greater scale, Liberty Electronics contributes to a variety of energy generating systems that literally touch and affect the lives of millions of people each day.

From mining operations and renewable energy applications such as solar and wind power generation, to the assembly of electronic safety systems that ensure fuel rods move in and out of nuclear reactors without fail. All of these systems work seamlessly together to produce the energy necessary to satisfy the demand of electrical distribution grids throughout the world.

The Reach of Our Products and Our People

Liberty Electronics is made up of so much more than just products and processes. We’re made up of people who have a passion for making a difference within the company, the community, and the world. Our values and visions create touch-points within our local region, and our skills create products that expand our reach beyond our small town to make a global impact. For Liberty Electronics, culture is more than just the dynamic within our walls, it’s the difference we make in the world.

Every day, every hour, every minute, the products produced by Liberty Electronics touch and impact the lives of people around the world, and beyond. And it all starts here, in a small community of dedicated and caring people living and working together for a common purpose in northwest Pennsylvania.

Want to partner with a company that creates products to improve and save lives? Contact us for more information.

Liberty Electronics, provides electrical cable assemblies, wire harnesses, and box builds for demanding defense and commercial OEMs looking to grow their business by teaming with a competent and caring outsourcing partner committed to success.