Dave Hataj, President, Edgerton Gear, Inc.  Point and click here (movie link) to see and hear Dave explain the Edgerton Gear culture.
 

The simple, but incredibly powerful "dot system."  The top gear came in at 8:00 a.m. the day we visited Edgerton Gear (without a print).  The bottom gear is the replacement.  It was complete except for deburring.  I took the photo at 11:00 a.m.
 

They make large gears too.
 

Raw material is stored vertically for easier (and faster) handling.
 

Dave presenting the "numbers" for the year just completed.  The plant shut down at 11:30 a.m. for the meeting and lunch.  The entire staff attended.

by Joe Romanowski
Chairman & CEO

Do you know where Edgerton, WI is located?  It’s a small town a few miles off I90 between Janesville and Madison.  What is a low volume, high mix, precision gear manufacturer doing in this admittedly, beautiful but remote location?  The founders, Richard and Nona Hataj, moved here in 1962 at the urging of Richard’s uncle, Cliff.  Richard had gained experience as a machinist and gear maker working in the Chicago area.  His attempt to start a turning/gear job shop in Edgerton was no easy task.  He drove the country looking for business during the day and machined the parts at night so he could deliver them the next day and look for more work.  Edgerton Gear, www.edgertongear.com has come a long way from this humble beginning.  Today, they are well known as a high throughput, custom gear manufacturer.  And, they really excel when the gear has to be reversed engineered.

All parts are processed in one of four rapid delivery categories.  They use a dot system to pull the jobs through the plant.  One red dot means they have one week to deliver.  Two dots mean it has to be delivered in two to three days.  Three dots mean every effort has to be made to deliver the same day.  No dot means that the job can take a leisurely two weeks to get through the plant.

It just so happened that Scott Rosen, Machinery Systems Senior Sales Engineer, and I were visiting with Edgerton Gear president, Dave Hataj, on the day of their annual meeting.  We were thrilled that Dave invited us to attend.  The plant was shut down at 11:30 a.m. and Dave reviewed the important numbers for the staff of 21 employees.  The year before last the company grew 11% and the year just ended the company grew 24%.

I now want to take a little time to describe their president.  Dave started with the company at the age of 5 doing whatever he was capable of doing.  At the age of 15 he was running an engine lathe.  As Dave explained, “Every family member worked in the business,” but then at 20 years old, Dave left the company.  As he said, “I hated it and couldn’t get far enough away from it.”  He moved to California, competed in triathlon events and found a deepened spirituality.  He attended a theological college and became a pastor.  After about eight years Dave returned to run the family business at the urging of his dad.  Today, Dave sees himself as the pastor of Edgerton Gear, Inc.  Point and click (movie link) to see and hear Dave explain the Edgerton Gear culture.  He feels very comfortable helping his employees deal with the personal and professional heartaches that show up in their lives.  Dave described God’s plan for him, “These are the people that God has put in my care.  I don’t look at the bottom line.  I look at who God is sending into our congregation.  We hire for character and creativeness.  Our people have high integrity, some artistic ability and all are ‘almost’ inventors.”

Dave sees his business as, “a modern day blacksmith.”  The Edgerton Gear culture is on continuous high alert for any emergency job.  As Dave said, “So what if machines are not running? We keep machines open so that we have capacity when we need it.”  Even though the culture is fast paced Dave is very careful to make sure his employees know that they are accepted and valued.  He does not want to burnout or stress his people.

After talking with a few of his employees privately, I’m convinced that Dave’s vision is reality.  One employee told me, “It’s an unselfish company.  It’s more than a job.  I come to work to have fun.  It’s not about the money, although I know I have to pay my bills.  It’s enjoyable being able to work with a group of great people.”  Another employee told me he considers Edgerton Gear an outstanding company.  A company that takes pride in what we do, and puts the customer number one.  He stressed that everyone gets the same attention, customers and employees.  Everyone is appreciated.  "It’s a thrill to come to work."

The Edgerton culture encourages heavy cross training.  Employee, Mike Kruckenberg stated, “We’re multi-tasked.”  All job quotations are completed the same day.  Every member of the staff is always on the alert for new good ideas on how to increase throughput even more.  They do not worry about their competition because they spend all their time and energy focused on the customer.

My final question to Dave was, “Why have you decided to buy Mazak CNC machine tools?”  As Dave said, “We love Mazatrol because it’s a major contributor to the high velocity of our operation and we continue to be impressed with Mazak’s commitment to service.”

As I visit our successful customers, I keep wondering if China (or some other off shore cheap labor country) will take their work away.  It’s not going to happen at Edgerton Gear any time soon.  Dave had an interesting way of summarizing his personal philosophy in life and running Edgerton Gear.  He said, “God is in control.”  When I asked him for an example, he said, “Our order flow is the best example.”  I would agree. Everyone at Edgerton Gear has left their personal egos behind, and with that major step everyone has come together as "one" working in harmony.