At ChemRite CoPac, we enjoy hosting first-time visitors at our production facility. It is rewarding to see the pleased look on guests’ faces as they observe the well organized precision of our manufacturing environment. From production line personnel diligently working to complete their assigned tasks to fork lift drivers skillfully moving around the production floor to maintenance workers keeping the plant clinically clean at all times – each piece of the operation moves like clockwork to fabricate products of the utmost quality. It takes experienced teamwork and skilled leadership to make it all happen week after week. And at the center of the action, there is an exceptional team member overseeing the many details which support this impressive manufacturing facility – our Floor Manager, Ana Carbajal.
Ana was raised in the capital city of Mexico, Mexico City. The school system which Ana attended focused on helping each student gain practical, real-world training and a technical degree by the time they finished high school. Ana loved travel and working with people, so she found it easy to choose her career path. She worked hard and graduated with a degree in tourism. After high school graduation, she went on to college where she gained an associates degree in business. While in college she worked as an Accountant for a small pharmacy. Working with the small company allowed her to see a practical application of her formal education. Following college, Ana helped her brother manage his grocery store. She enjoyed working with the customers and learning the ins and outs of running a customer service based business.
In 1998 Ana moved with her family to South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She started working for a temporary agency that placed her as a line worker at ChemRite. It was Ana’s first experience within a manufacturing environment, but she took an active interest in each aspect of the assembly process. She observed that if she contributed a little extra to her job function each day, it made a big impact on the entire process and helped it to flow more smoothly. As she learned more, she began guiding other temporary workers how to perform their job functions more efficiently. This initiative quickly caught the attention of ChemRite’s management and within several months, Ana was promoted to Line Supervisor.
Ana found the new position to be an exciting challenge. Her responsibilities included training and overseeing line personnel, along with ensuring the efficient flow of components throughout the production process. She also did quality checks and learned how the line equipment functioned. She quickly discerned the importance of following procedures and working proficiently. Impressively, she also took the initiative to resolve some of the communication issues the production team was experiencing by learning English. She would ask the ChemRite engineers and other employees questions about the vernacular and practice with them until she had a firm grasp of the language. This resourcefulness has made Ana an integral part of the production process to this day. Her linguistic ability bridges many communication gaps and is instrumental in making our bilingual team a success.
In time, Ana’s work ethic and dedication made her a natural choice for backup to the position of Assistant Plant Manager. When the regular manager was on vacation, Ana would cover the job’s responsibilities. She became skilled at many additional management functions including scheduling shift workers, overseeing payroll punches and monitoring overtime. In 2009, she joined ChemRite’s management team permanently as the Floor Manager. In this demanding role, Ana supervises the production floor on a continual basis to ensure quality, efficiency and cleanliness. She monitors production to make sure it stays on schedule and works with other department heads to correct problems as they arise. She also guarantees that all who enter the production facility comply with established health and safety practices by wearing required protective clothing and equipment. With all of these responsibilities, Ana says, “You never get bored. The important thing is that we always try to do the right thing for the customer.”
When she isn’t overseeing the production floor, Ana enjoys spending time with her 17 year old daughter, Mariana. The proud mother says that her daughter is her major accomplishment in life. Mariana is a junior in high school and wants to be a police officer. Like her mother, she excels with language skills and enjoys her English, creative writing and biology classes. The two love going to the movies and taking small trips together to places like Chicago and Wisconsin Dells.
In the 1600′s, the phrase “runs like clockwork” was introduced to the English language. This expression refers to the perfect regularity or precision movement of a clock. Clocks gain this attribute from a reliable source of energy. In many clocks, that source is a battery. In others, such as a pendulum clock, that source is a spring. Here at ChemRite, our production floor draws its well organized and skilled precision from a similar reliable source, our Floor Manager, Ana Carbajal. If you haven’t already done so, we invite you to meet Ana and the rest of our production team. ChemRite CoPac – come and see how our employees set us apart.