CEW is a Custom Injection Molding and Polyurethane Foam products supplier specializing in Consumer Products for North America. We create value for our shareholders, customers and team members by focusing on superior quality, outstanding customer service, innovation and Manufacturing Excellence.
HISTORY:
Starting from humble beginnings as a merger between Hamlin and Sun Metal, CEW has grown to become an international leader in custom plastic manufacturing.
We design and manufacture an array of products that can meet the needs of various customers:
Cutting-edge Technologies for Creating Superior Products
We at CEW have acquired the latest equipment and technologies that will meet the current and future needs of our clients. Our manufacturing facilities boasts of world class manufacturing equipment (link to equipment list), which includes:
Injection Molding
Polyurethane Molding
Lost Core Molding
We also provide supportive secondary services such as assembly, machining, painting, heat staking. We pride ourselves in delivering quality products on time, every time. Our strategically located facilities in Baldwyn, Mississippi, and Reynosa, Mexico allow us to deliver our products to customers within a short turnaround time.
Winning Accolades for our Innovations
Our CEW team has also made efforts to create innovative technologies that provide quality product and application solutions. Our exclusive Spin Cast Process produces tires with dense treads and soft pliable sidewalls. Our patented Ultra Quad Bead System locks tires to the rim, helping to prevent roll offs. Customers rely on our consistent performance for outstanding product innovation and quality, exceptional customer service, and world class delivery.
CEW VALUES:
Safety - Safety is our highest priority. Safety is every team members’ responsibility and we are always committed to provide a safe workplace for all employees and guests.
Environment - We are committed to protecting the environment, and the health of our team members, customers, vendors and the communities where we work and live.
Lean Manufacturing - We measure every aspect of our business through the lean principles and we strive to perform better tomorrow than today.
Ethics - We conduct our business with the highest level of professionalism and integrity.
Customer Satisfaction - We are committed to exceed our customers’ expectations with superior quality, value, service and innovative solutions.
Teamwork - We recruit intelligent, engaged team members and respect that our team members are our most valuable asset, critical to CEW's sustainability. We invest and engage our team members through training, problem solving activities and recognition programs.
Innovation - We have a sense of urgency to provide new and existing customers with innovative solutions to their product needs through Manufacturing Excellence and engineering design to support our growth imperative.
Quality - We strive to have zero defects in every facet of our business and in every product.
Sustainability - We accept our responsibility for the future with strong leadership, sound business practices and listening to our customers while operating in an open, proactive and respectful culture.
The CEW & ME Way...
Behaviors that drive us in our pursuit of excellence...
Excellence is only obtained through specific action and intent. It is determined by the actions and behaviors we demonstrate consistently day in and day out. We have 28 Behaviors defined that drive the culture of our organization. They are the foundation of excellence and critical to our team’s success. By talking about these daily, discussing how we are applying them and challenging each other to consistently improve, we will drive a culture that is unique and sets us apart from the competition.
DO THE RIGHT THING ALWAYS. Demonstrate an unwavering commitment to doing the right thing in every action you take and every decision you make. Make every decision/action like everyone is watching you and it is going on the front page of the local paper and everyone will see and read about it publicly, even when nobody is looking. If you make a mistake, own it. Apologize when you make mistakes and make it right. It is what you do when people are not looking that defines your character.
RESPECT OTHERS. Regardless of whether it is internal or external, always act with the ultimate respect of others. It is critical that we all respect other’s safety, property, beliefs, opinions, dignity, sex, race, time, emotions, knowledge, experience, etc. in everything we do, say and think. See the world from a multitude of perspectives and participate in dialogue that lifts others and promotes understanding. Be conscientious about your words and actions in everything as simple as answering the phone to saying “hello”.
DO WHAT IS BEST FOR THE CUSTOMER. In all situations, do what is best for the customer, even if it is at your detriment. Bringing customers value at all interactions is critical to loyalty and growth. Note that this is not “giving away” the resources and value of our organization but rather building value by continually providing more value to our customers. Remember that information is one of the most valuable assets, so give it generously. The easy way is often not the best way. Make it easier for customers to do business with CEW, not harder. Make them remember you by showing them how good you can be day in and day out.
FIND A WAY TO MAKE RESULTS HAPPEN QUICKLY. Take personal responsibility for making things happen, somehow, someway. Results are what matters, so find a way to get them. Give a little more than expected in what you do to ensure the success of the team. Respond to situations by finding out HOW we CAN do something versus ever talking about why we cannot. This is not about effort but results and getting those results quickly. Remember that speed of results is what determines a company’s success. Be a superstar and set expectations for others around you.
MAKE EXCELLENCE PERSONAL. Take pride in EVERYTHING you touch and do. Ask yourself “Is this my best work?” in everything you do. Drive excellence into all areas of your work and set expectation for others to do the same. Make sure your work always represents your level of professionalism and commitment to the job, because others think it does! Details matter.
HONOR COMMITMENTS. Be true to your word and do what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it. This covers everything from showing up to time for meetings, providing data on time or meeting project deadlines.
CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR. It is not about you. Don’t let ego or personal agenda get in the way of doing what is best for the team. Control your actions to drive results for the team and stop wasting energy worrying about what others are doing. Worrying about who gets credit or taking things personally is counterproductive. Make sure every decision is about advancing company goals. You don’t need to tell us how smart you are, prove it by deliveringresults for the team.
SPEAK STRAIGHT. Speak honestly and respectfully in a way to move action forwards with the fewest words possible. Participate with your viewpoint at all times even if it may cause conflict that needs resolution to ensure team Address issues directly with those involved with clear communication. Be crystal clear in the specific who, what, why, when, where and how when you communicate. Nobody by the name “they” or “somebody” works at CEW.
PRACTICE BLAMELESS PROBLEM SOLVING. Use your energy to create solutions rather than ever engaging in finger pointing or dwelling on issues of the past. Identify lessons learned and use those to improve future actions through documented processes, training and communication so we do not make the same mistake twice. Ask what can you do differently in the future to improve? Your behaviors can only change the present and future, not the past.
BE PROCESS ORIENTED. Repeatable, effective processes drive consistency and excellence. Look to create processes that can be documented for every aspect of your work. If we have processes, ensure everyone is aware of them and use them or improve them. Make your job so systematized that it is automatic or at allows least others of lower skill can perform your job, freeing your resources up for personal growth and additional opportunities.
BE OBSESSIVE ABOUT ORGANIZATION. Maintain a clean and orderly work area. Prioritize and plan to ensure you are providing your best to the organization. Set the example for others and help them where possible to A place for everything and everything in its place.
ASK QUESTIONS. There is no greater way to learn than to ask questions. Healthy, vigorous debates create better solutions and challenges the status quo. Don’t accept the first “why?”. Drive down into the issue by asking “why” again and again. Be curious and question what you don’t understand. Never stop asking “Why?”
BE RELENTLESS ABOUT IMPROVEMENT. Constantly reevaluate every aspect of your job to find ways to improve. Experience is of no value if it does not change future behaviors. “Because that is the way we have always done it” should never be accepted without discussion and analysis. Keep getting better in everything you do. Drive CEW & Manufacturing Excellence (ME) through the organization with your behavior.
ANTICIPATE. Look ahead and solve problems before they happen by anticipating future needs and proactively addressing them. Preventing issues is always more effective than correcting them after the fact. Use your energy proactively fixing issues instead of fire-fighting. When providing information, ask yourself “what actions may be taken from this information and how can I best provide this to allow that to happen easily?”.
SET CLEAR EXPECTATIONS. Make clear, direct request and clarify so others understand. Create clarity and avoid misunderstandings by discussing expectations upfront. Established mutual understood objectives and timelines for all projects, issues and commitments. Confirm expectations by asking others to repeat back their understanding for clarity. Follow up when needed with documentation to remove any ambiguity. Use electronic tools in Outlook® to make this easier.
GET THE FACTS. My high school coach had a saying about what “ASSUME” means. There is almost always more to the story than first appears. Gather facts before jumping to conclusions or making judgement. “In God We Trust, all others bring data…”
SHARE INFORMATION. Keeping confidentiality in mind with every interaction, share information freely. Ask yourself “Who else may benefit from knowing this?”. Information is one of the greatest assets, share it and use it. Holding information decreases your value to the organization so share it. Teach others every chance possible.
ONLY PAY THE PRICE OF TUITION ONCE. Ensure that you learn and react to mistakes by developing robust solutions that prevents re-occurrence, even if they are the mistakes of others. Get smarter with every mistake. Learn from every experience and change your behavior to ensure success. Grow and get better. Don’t pay for the same mistake twice and help others to do the same.
FOLLOW UP ON EVERYTHING. Record a follow up date for every action and take responsibility that it gets completed and/or stays completed. We get paid to complete and sustain things, not just to do them once or just put them in motion. Use tools like Action Item List, Outlook® and frequent audits to help make this happen. Own sustained results.
BE AN ACTIVE LISTENER. “E.F. HUTTON RULE”. When other speak, we listen. Another lesson from high school athletics. Listening is not keeping your mouth shut waiting to talk and convey your knowledge to the world. Listening is being present and engaged by letting go of judgement and the need to either agree or disagree. Listen to understand facts and emotions and listen intently. You can likely find an old EF HUTTON video on YouTube®if you’re curious.Ifind it entertaining…
PARTICIPATE, CHALLENGE AND ENGAGE WHENEVER POSSIBLE. If you have something constructive to add to a process, participate. Give value wherever you can in the organization even if it is “not your job”. Our jobs are to drive value to this organization. Every job is “our” job. Positive, professional, respectful conversations challenging the logic behind decisions is critical for a team to get to the best solution. After your voice and heard and a decision is made be 100% committed to that decision, even if it you do not agree and make the team successful.
RECOGNIZE RESULTS. When others are performing and getting results, openly recognize that in front of the team. Give praise generously to results. Extent regular and meaningful appreciation, recognition and acknowledgement to true performance in all directions of the company. Effort is nice, but Results = Success. Remember that customers don’t pay us for effort.
SIMPLIFY EVERYTHING. Always look for the easier method to do your tasks. Remove waste from every activity. This is not about taking shortcuts. This behavior is about finding ways to remove complexity out of your job that improves quality and productivity for everyone. Excellence is found in the simplest of processes, not the most complex.
BE A FANATIC ABOUT RESPONSE TIME. People expect a response to their questions and concerns quickly. Today’s world is a world of instant gratification. This includes simply acknowledging the fact that you have received the question and are working on it, as well as keeping others involved updated on the status of outstanding issues. Rapid, quality responses are one of the easiest methods to stand out in a crowd.
HELP OTHERS SUCCEED. Be outward focused in your actions to help other succeed also. Don’t let other trip and fall without providing help. Proactively support people in areas where you see they need it by asking if you can be of Judge your value not only by what you do, but by what you help the team collectively accomplish.
ASSUME THE BEST OF PEOPLE. Work from the assumption that people are good, fair, honest and hard working and that the intent behind their actions is positive. Set aside your own judgements and preconceived notions. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Don’t pre-judge people.
USE EMAIL AS A SECONDARY FORM OF COMMUNICATION. Email is a great tool to communicate and document. However, sending emails does not relieve you of your obligation or responsibility. Communications should be clear, concise and interactive and for that to occur by either talking on the phone or ideally face to face. This applies both internally and externally to CEW.
KEEP THINGS FUN. Remember that life is about living, and we need to smile and laugh at work. Bigger problems exist than those we face at CEW. Keep perspective. Years ago, when being very upset coming home from work and complaining to my wife about a $20k quality issue, she was working as a Quality Director at a hospital and said to me “Why are you worried about that? When we mess up, we kill people.” I remind myself of that conversation and tell that story often to reinforce that things are not as bad as you may act. Have fun and don’t take yourself too seriously.
