Page 24 - MetalForming November 2010

YOUR ESSENTIAL PARTNER
ways that affect our industry and our businesses,” Clay says.
Since that time, Clay and others from his company have participated in near- ly every PMA fly-in to lobby Congress on a host of issues critical to the success of U.S. manufacturing. The events, organized by PMA’s lobbying partner Franklin Partnership and conducted in concert with the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA), allow small groups of members to effectively meet with Congressmen from all over the country.
“Since partnering with NTMA (under the two associations’ One Voice advocacy brand), we’ve attracted around 100 industry executives to each joint fly-in,” says Clay, “which allows us to form into 20 to 25 small groups of four or five people. Each group makes five to eight visits to congressional offices dur- ing the course of the day.
“It’s amazing how effective these vis- its to the Hill have been,” Clay contin- ues. “I’ve been in several meetings where we walked out afterward and felt extremely satisfied, certain that we truly enlightened the people that play a crit- ical role in our success as an industry.”
Bringing Ideas Back Home
The beauty of membership in PMA lies in the beholder, particularly those at companies that encourage participa- tion in the numerous association events —educational, networking and others. Clay encourages widespread associa- tion participation by his employees, and several take advantage.
For example, Pridgeon & Clay’s European sales manager Ray Groendyk chairs the PMA West Michigan Dis- trict; global operations vice president Keith O’Brien attends meetings of the PMA Next Generation Leaders Divi- sion; director of quality assurance Cathy Winterhalter actively participates on the PMA quality manager’s online dis- cussion group and attends the associa- tion’s Quality Roundtable meetings; and director of human resources Julie Church Krafft participates on the PMA HR online discussion group and attends its HR Roundtable meetings.
Learning the Industry from the Ground Up
An engineer by training, Bob Clay learned the metal-stamping industry and gained an appreciation for the value of relationships in the industry by working in outside sales for Pridgeon & Clay from 1977 through the 1990s. But before launching his sales career at the company his father helped to start in 1946, Clay cut his teeth as a teenager performing odd jobs all over the factory, eventually working in the toolroom.
After graduating from high school, in the mid-1960s Clay served a term in the Navy (he is a Vietnam veteran), then enrolled at Michigan State University. After earning a Bachelors of Science degree in civil engineering, Clay, encouraged by his father to make his own way, went to work as a dam engineer.
Four years later, at the behest of his father, Clay
rejoined the family business as a salesman, and
in the mid-‘90s he took over as CEO.
“During my time in sales, I learned the impor- tance of being an essential partner with cus- tomers,” shares Clay. “There’s rarely, if ever, a time when you can do too much for the cus- tomer. We believe that if our customer has a problem, we have a problem, and we work until it’s solved to everyone’s satisfaction. And to this day, I remain a steadfast advocate for our cus- tomers as company CEO.”
To become more important to its customers, Pridgeon & Clay has focused on developing exceptional engineering capabilities, shortening lead times for its customers and “providing more robust part designs, at a competitive price,” shares Clay. “We’ve been able to differentiate ourselves from com- modity stampers by developing an advanced engineering facility (a separate 37,000-sq.-ft. A2LA- accredited Advanced Engineering Laboratory) that helps us devel-
op and launch several new prod- ucts each year.”
While Clay’s uncle (also named Bob Clay) has truly been the advocate at the com- pany for its in-depth involve- ment with PMA, Clay quickly gained an appreciation for
the numerous opportunities afforded by being an active member in his industry’s trade association.
“Pridgeon & Clay has been a
PMA member company since the 1970s,” says Clay. “My uncle always has believed in the value of member- ship, and we make sure that several of our employees take advantage of the opportunities to network and learn.
“For me,” Clay adds, “PMA’s CEO roundtables offer particular value, and I attend as many as I can around the country. By listening to others share their experiences, I’ve been able to make better, more informed manage- ment decisions for Pridgeon & Clay.”
22 METALFORMING / NOVEMBER 2010
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