MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Wiremold employees (pictured above), pose in the West Hartford facility. 
The West Hartford manufacturer employs 450 workers.

Wiremold has been in West Hartford since 1929. What should the business community know about Wiremold? 

Wiremold manufactures end-to-end wire pathways for residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Our location, on Woodlawn Street in Elmwood, keeps us somewhat secluded aside from our street signage.  Wiremold is recognized as an industry leader in management processes and efficiency.  Our products can be found all over the country and are made locally in our West Hartford facility.  We are proud to be a part of the West Hartford community and a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

In the early 1990’s Wiremold switched to the Japanese management approach “Kaizen” and saw great success.  Is this management style still in place?  How can business owners implement components of this style into their own business?

The Kaizen approach is embedded in our management style and plant processes.  Based on the idea of constant improvement, the theory can be applied to any business, large or small.  At Wiremold we use the 5 C’s: Clear, Categorize, Clean, Consistency, and Commitment.  In any work environment, if you take a minute to de-clutter and organize your processes, productivity will increase immediately.  It may seem like a small change like moving a file cabinet closer to your desk or scheduling a monthly meeting - but looking at the big picture it will not only increase productivity but also decrease cost.

 
Wiremold is an active member of the U.S. Green Building Council.  What role do you play in the Green Practices movement?

We have recently aligned with Herman Miller’s company, Convia, to produce an industry first monitoring system to increase the efficiency of energy output in commercial buildings. 

Stepping outside of our product lines, Wiremold works hard to “Walk the talk” so to speak, and not only produce green products but do what we can in our West Hartford facility to decrease our own carbon footprint.  There is a “Green Practices” section of our Balanced Scorecard.  This systematic monitoring and improvement to our environmental performance is part of our ISO 140001 certification. In our West Hartford facility year-to-date, we have decreased our energy/water consumption by 20% and our solid waste to landfill by 21%. 

Wiremold participates in the Chamber’s Manufacturers Roundtable meetings.  How does the Chamber support Wiremold’s initiatives?

After 80 years in West Hartford, Wiremold, as many manufacturers, faced the economic downturn, and the likelihood of layoffs.  We took a step back and realized we needed to reengage in our state and local governments, as well as organizations like the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce. 

The Chamber has successfully brought together the manufacturers of West Hartford to meet and share what has worked and not worked.  This is a great opportunity to network and work strategically to combine our efforts where possible and learn best practices from the group.  Sitting at a table with Abbott Ball, Colt Defense, and SWI Glass and others has been a step in the right direction and hopefully will generate some new strategies as manufacturing continues to evolve.. 

Additionally, the Chamber’s Breakfast Seminar Series “Train your people, Grow your business” is a cost effective way to educate our workforce and continue to improve their skills.  Chamber Rewards, the membership discount program, offers our employees “feel good” savings on everything from computer service, to alternative electricity through a program with Positive Energy, a fellow Chamber member.  Taking advantage of these membership benefits will more than pay back the nominal investment Wiremold made to join.

Where can people go to learn more about Wiremold?

Our web site is a great place to start:  www.Wiremold.com.  Other great industry sites include www.nema.org – The National Electrical and Medical Imaging Equipment Manufacturers, and www.ame.org – the Association of Manufacturing Excellence.