Meet Joel Camassar

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Joel Camassar. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Joel , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I get my resilience from learning to pivot when things aren’t working out.

I’ve always been really into cars and originally majored in automotive design. I was attending a small art school in Cleveland, which was a feeder school for the Detroit Big Three: Ford, GM and Chrysler. Unfortunately I graduated high school right after the housing bubble burst in 2008 and by 2009 the outlook in the auto industry was pretty grim. The Big Three were going bankrupt and there was a lot of discussion of government bail outs and mergers. The automotive design execs would come down to teach, critique our work, and talk about layoffs and the uncertainty of the industry.

I realized that I was not willing to spend four years working towards a degree in a field where there might not be jobs available upon my graduation. Also that degree would only be useful for a narrow range of positions. I decided to transfer colleges and pivot to a major in business with a focus in marketing to broaden the options for my future.

Since starting at Chapman MFG in 2012 I’ve had to pivot many, many times when facing complications with suppliers or when manufacturing processes and machines were just not working.

For me resiliency means seeing the writing on the wall and exploring other options when things aren’t working out as expected.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am the co-owner of a long time USA Made small manufacturing company called Chapman MFG.

We’ve been making small screwdriver bit sets in Durham, CT since 1936. Our tools have remained relatively unchanged since their invention, cuz if it ain’t broke…

Our product niche is that our tools excel in tight spaces on equipment that is either too expensive and or too delicate to use an electric screwdriver. Examples include medical imaging, dental equipment, robots, antique firearms, industrial machines, A/V equipment, and musical instruments. We’ve been selling our tools to all branches of the US military since 1953 (probably earlier, but no records exist), as well as nearly every kind of manufacturer from automotive to beer, NASA, and other small manufacturers like us!

Since joining Chapman Mfg in 2012, one of my ongoing achievements is the expansion and development of our retail business.. We have a website (chapmanmfg.com) that showcases all of our tool sets, which are available in many different colors and configurations. We’ve also had a lot of fun creating videos for tool tips and tricks that we share on our social media as well (Facebook, Instagram, and more recently TikTok)We also send an e-newsletter once a month with new tools and deals.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Question everything.

Just because something has been done the same way since the dawn of time doesn’t mean it’s the most efficient way. For context,Chapman MFG in a sense was a restart of a business. The previous owners were in their 90’s and many of their tried and true processes were no longer relevant to the current market.

I walked into this business with no manufacturing experience but tons of questions. Some were innocent questions, like “why do we send all of our parts out to heat-treat in open pans that we then have to individually wrap in Saran Wrap instead of getting buckets with handles and locking lids?” resulted in answers like “Never thought of that! Great idea!” While other questions received answers that showed I had a lot to learn about manufacturing.. Either way, I was happy to provide input from a fresh perspective and learn more about manufacturing at the same time.

2. After questioning, actually listen to the answer.

I work really hard to foster a team environment where everyone’s thoughts are valued. Everyone here has come up with a really good idea to make our production process more efficient. The example that comes to mind is whenI was demonstrating to a new hire how to operate a machine that inserts tiny springs and ball bearings into our parts. The issue we would run into with the machine was that the tiny springs and ball bearings would sometimes go flying. o after a run, we would always have to carefully use small paint brushes to sweep balls and springs off the machine components, table, and nooks /crannies. I told him it was a pain, and remarked that I’ve asked around and no one has had a better idea on how to clean them up. He said “why don’t you get a little vacuum just to pick up ball bearings and springs? That’s how we used to pick up tiny parts in a place I used to work.” We are all very thankful to him for that suggestion on his first day of work!

3. Trust your gut. It seems like every time I’ve ignored my gut feeling I’ve regretted it.

A long time ago I was meeting with a prospective new supplier in their facility. While talking to the owner in his office, I remember thinking, “wow, he’s saying everything I want to hear” in terms of capabilities, production, skillset, etc. I noticed that his office seemed a little messy but nothing terribly out of the ordinary. Then we went onto the production floor and I saw it was very disorganized. There were piles of parts everywhere with people working in between boxes filled with parts, open buckets of machine oil laying around, and tools scattered on every surface. My gut told me “there’s no way they are as competent as they claim” which I of course ignored. I worked with them for a few years and within that time my initial gut instinct was proven right.: they were very disorganized. They’d run late on deliveries, make bad parts, mix up those bad parts with good parts, or make the wrong parts entirely. Eventually I had to switch to a different supplier.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

Honestly, the internet. There is no shame in googling!

It seems like for most problems, I encounter someone who has dealt with it before and posted about it on YouTube, Reddit or some other blog or forum. Sometimes if I get lucky, I’ll find a Youtube video that has step by step instructions on how to fix the specific issue I’m having with a machine or anything else. Other times, there’s just clues about where to look or who to contact. Either way, I rely on the internet to solve many, many problems or at least point me in the right direction.

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