How to assemble a fulfilling career

Employee holding an engine part

“I’ve always been interested in mechanics and tinkering. Taking things apart, putting them back together, making them work.” Ethan’s love of tinkering led him to a fruitful career here at Cummins, where he’s been since 2018. He’s currently Service Supervisor, managing the shop in Richmond, Virginia, with six direct reports. They serve all kinds of customers, from fleets to owner-operators to RV and even small business owners like food trucks and mobile grooming trucks. “Anywhere you think of a need for power you can find us, and we work on it all,” Ethan says.

Having been a technician himself, he understands what they need to succeed. Let’s “take apart” his career journey and learn how he got here.

When Ethan was 16 years old, he bought an old Camaro that needed a lot of work. He soon realized that washing dishes after school for $6 an hour wasn’t enough to pay someone to fix the car, so he would have to figure it out himself. He’s been working on cars and other mechanical things ever since.

After gaining experience working in a plant and operating a forklift for a few years, Ethan decided to shift his path. “I love doing mechanical work, so I started thinking about going to school.” He visited the Universal Technical Institute campus in Exton, PA and, he says, “that same day is when I found out about the Cummins Technician Apprentice Program.”

Ethan started the program in December 2017 and loved it. Then, the Covid-19 pandemic spurred a layoff at the branch that was going to affect his role—just a few weeks short of finishing his Technician Apprentice program. Ethan asked around to see if there was somewhere else in the company that he could help out while finishing the program.

The only opening was in Chesapeake, in what was then a new program, the Power Gen Technician Apprentice Program (TAP). “I became one of the few guys in the country who has been enrolled in both Tech App programs.” He graduated as class valedictorian. After graduating, he stayed for a while at Chesapeake, then saw there was an opening for a Service Supervisor in Richmond and said, “I might as well try.” That’s where he is today.

Everybody who goes through the TAP program is required to spend one 40-hour week in the parts department. That gave Ethan insight into how that aspect of the job works.

One “secret” to Ethan’s success, he says, is to set goals and timelines to get there. “Let’s say I have 40 hours to rebuild an engine,” he muses. “I would do what I needed to do to meet my goal. I know that the first day, I want to have everything torn down in eight hours. The second day, I want to have everything cleaned and ready to start going back together, the third day I want it put back together. By the fourth day, I want to start running and testing, and any repair confirmation that I needed to and on the fifth day, I’m returning my unused parts, making sure that the truck is clean and ready for the customer, my notes were in and the paperwork is good. Then I can give it to my supervisor for QC and to invoice the work.” That kind of holistic planning is paying off.

Thanks to his training and experience, Ethan has been able to put some processes in place that he’s seen work at other branches. He credits others, saying, “I’ve been very lucky to have some good mentors along the way—guys who took the time to explain things and share feedback to make things better. I like to be that mentor now to help people and answer questions. I was in that position and hungry for those answers, so I want to make their lives easier.”

When he first joined the management staff, they let him know about a technician working under him who needed a little extra support. This person was new and a bit unsure of himself but had a great attitude and was willing to learn. “That’s the kind of guy I want to mentor,” Ethan says. He worked with that person, providing feedback and acting as a sounding board until the tech gained more confidence and improved his performance times.

Even though he’s a capable leader, Ethan stays humble. “I have a lot of experience, but I don’t know everything. There are guys here who have been doing this a lot longer than me. I’m still learning.”

As Ethan’s story shows, at Cummins, there are plenty of opportunities for those who keep their eyes and ears open and are willing to learn. “I’m passionate about the line of work we do here. I like to get the customers in and out and fix their trucks and address their complaints. It’s really fulfilling to me.”

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Cummins, a global power technology leader, is a corporation of complementary business segments that design, manufacture, distribute and service a broad portfolio of power solutions. The company’s products range from internal combustion, electric and hybrid integrated power solutions and components including filtration, aftertreatment, turbochargers, fuel systems, controls systems, air handling systems, automated transmissions, electric power generation systems, microgrid controls, batteries, electrolyzers and fuel cell products.

Polish brothers deeply committed to serving Cummins’ mining customers

The brothers – Jerzy, Krzysztof and Adam Majcher

The bonds between three brothers who are service technicians for Cummins Poland have become even deeper now they are all working together one kilometre underground in a copper mine.

The brothers – Jerzy, Krzysztof and Adam Majcher have 26 years of experience between them working from Cummins’ Lubin branch in Lower Silesia.

They were selected to be part of a team of 17 service technicians embedded with one of the biggest copper and silver mining companies in the world.

The specialist technicians are on hand to maintain and repair the 600+ Cummins engines powering various machinery and keep the mining operation working around the clock.

“These are some of the most challenging conditions on earth for machinery,” said Marek Matuszewski, Country Leader for Poland, “and it’s our job to minimise any machine downtime and help our customer maximise the productivity of the mine.

“Having a specialist team on site, close to the action, means we can identify issues before they happen and react quickly to any issue that crops up. The mission is to keep things running as efficiently as possible.”

The Cummins service technicians work on a variety of Cummins engines starting from small 4B 3,9 litre up to QSL9, covering complete range of emission levels - from old mechanical engines up to latest Stage V engines, which powers some of the latest prototype undergound mining equipment. from 3.8 to 8.3 litres engines.

“I’m immensely proud of the Majcher brothers and all our team,” said Marek. “They are showing tremendous dedication to this important work which matters so much to us, to our customer and to our national economy.”

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Ready to go turbo with opening of ‘good as new’ Cummins Huddersfield plant

Hudderfield plant

There is a new spring in the step of the 1,000-plus people who work at Cummins Engine Components Huddersfield campus in the north of England.

The feelgood factor follows the highly successful completion of a six-year project to rebuild the iconic manufacturing plant.

The project was hampered by the pandemic but ended in triumph thanks to strong and motivational leadership and a collective will to rise above the many challenges, not least maintaining a steady flow of production while major construction work was going on in the background.

The more than £20 million invested in the Huddersfield site has yielded a truly world class facility primed to produce in the region of 300,000 turbochargers a year.

The investment can be seen not just in the upgraded manufacturing plant and its three main assembly halls but in a transformed research and development centre, renovated offices, canteen, gym and newly installed electric vehicle charging points.

The plant itself has a new roof (currently being kitted out with solar panels), new external walls, new floor, new electrical and heating and ventilation systems, energy-efficient LED lighting and greater wheelchair access.

Cummins Huddersfield Shop Floor

“The renovation of the Huddersfield plant ties back into our commitment to decreasing carbon emissions. Investing in the site will help us manufacture core technologies more efficiently getting us closer to our goal of net zero emissions by 2050,” said Shon Wright Vice President of Cummins Engine Components.

Everything dovetails with the overarching mission of Cummins to dramatically reduce its carbon footprint and improve the sustainability of its operations.

“I’m so proud of what the team has achieved here,” said Gary Waterhouse, who only recently moved on from his role as Huddersfield Plant Manager at Huddersfield to take up a key leadership role within Cummins European Regional Operating Team as EMEA Manufacturing Engineering Leader

“Amid all the work, we kept things running and kept focussed on our customers – on product quality and delivery -– so they were not impacted. However, Safety and taking care of the team is priority one for us and there were zero injuries recorded in the six years of work, which is a fantastic achievement.

“We had our fair share of challenges along the way but we overcame all the hurdles and what we have here in Huddersfield now is a plant that to all intents and purposes is brand new. It’s clean and full of light and is very pleasant environment for the current employee, plus a positive impression of a manufacturing operation to customers, visitors and potential new team members.

“Our team are certainly enjoying the changes. The whole Huddersfield campus has come together and they’re ready to move forward with a new energy and purpose.”

Adam Dawson, who took over from Gary as plant manager, said the next phase of the investment programme is under way for the assembly lines: a new heavy-duty line has been commissioned and is being ramped up; a new line for variable geometry turbos is being built and plans are taking shape for a new high horsepower line.

“The journey continues,” he said. “We will be upgrading all our assembly lines ready for the latest technology required for the next generation of product. It’s all very exciting.”

Gary said the refurbishment had offered manufacturing operations the opportunity to review its processes. “We call it value stream transformation,” he said. “It was a good time for us to reset and drive the efficiency of our machining and assembly operations.”

Gareth Cooper, Huddersfield Facilities Manager, likened parts of the project to the sliding block puzzle game where you need to manoeuvre blocks into free spaces to achieve your ultimate goal.

“We were constantly having to move equipment around to create space and allow the contractors to do their work. In all, we calculated we had to move 311 machine tools during the rebuild.

“There was an efficiency impact working around some of that upheaval but we were successful in bank-building ahead and running it off. Manufacturing is a tough job but it’s even tougher when they’re pulling down the roof and walls around you!”

Gary, Adam and Gareth were keen to stress the success of the Huddersfield refurbishment was down to a collective effort.

“The knowledge, the work ethic, the teamwork and the desire to get this project complete by the Huddersfield team was exceptional,” said Gareth. “The entire plant was involved in the work and they should feel proud of themselves.”

From a tiny wooden shed to global powerhouse

Had it not been for the 18-month hiatus brought about by the pandemic, Cummins Huddersfield would have celebrated the opening of its sparkling new facility in its 70th anniversary year.

The original company, incorporated in 1952 as Holset Engineering Co Ltd., was founded by business partners Brian Holmes and Paul Croset. It was acquired by Cummins Inc. in 1973 and rebranded as Cummins Turbo Technologies in 2006.

Starting out in a small wooden shed, Holset has grown into a global technological leader whose products are synonymous with outstanding performance, durability and a high standard of safety.

Over the past seven decades, Cummins has introduced a range of industry-leading air handling technologies under the Holset brand, including fixed, wastegate, variable geometry, two-stage, and exhaust throttle technology.

The Cummins Huddersfield campus is either side of St Andrew’s Road in the heart of the historic Yorkshire town famous for its textile industry heritage. Its technology and research centre is one of four around the world developing air handling technologies for global customers operating across diverse markets including on-highway, commercial vehicle, industrial, construction, agriculture, marine and power generation.

The other three tech centres are in Columbus (US), Pune (India), and Wuxi (China).

As part of its net zero emissions strategy, Cummins is investing in the development of alternative air handling solutions for zero carbon powertrains such as hydrogen, natural gas and alternative fuels.

There are around 200 engineers at Huddersfield focussed on helping Cummins achieve its ambitious environmental objectives.

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