It’s day four and I think Kristin may be suffering from a mild case of PTSD after spending four days in the car with me. But she’ll gut it out.
Besides, it’s Twin Disc day, and the Racine, Wis., power transmission company has a full day of activities for us, including a boat ride.
Upon arrival at the factory, it’s obvious that safety and security are a big part of the powertrain company’s operations. TSA employees should be sent here for training.
We’re met by Kristin Schenk, marketing communications manager, and Guy Clementi, manager and facilities maintenance. Once on the factory floor, Megan Wells, digital marketing manager, is waiting for us in a conference room. We’re joined almost immediately by Justin Vara, the facility’s continuous improvement manager.
As our little group makes its way around the manufacturing facility, there’s every kind of Twin Disc marine transmission, marine control drives, and products I hadn’t seen before made from steel alloys, aluminum, and other materials. These people know what they’re doing.
What really gets my attention, though, is the operation itself and the facility. It really seems to run like a Swiss watch, a well-oiled machine, or whatever cliché you want to use. I know I sound like a homer, but the attention to detail and the concentration on safety are really what I notice.
“We do 6,500 total direct working hours each month,” said Vara. “That’s in 20 working days.”
Once we leave the facility, we head to the company’s offices in downtown Milwaukee for a meeting with Greg Mueller, Twin Disc’s marketing director and Megan and Kristin’s boss.
But the meeting is not taking place in the office. No, we walk a short distance to the riverfront where the company’s 60' “sports boat” Double Clutch is waiting to take us cruising on the Milwaukee River. We’re welcomed aboard by Capt. Billy Willman, and we are off and running.
This is where everyone wishes to be on an early Thursday afternoon. For the next couple of hours, we discuss Twin Disc, and the International WorkBoat Show, and other topics that have nothing to do with business. Kristin and I each take a turn at the helm. They have me turn the boat 180º but neglect to tell me that one of the thrusters is down.
I’m relieved of duty and Capt. Billy gets back in the pilot’s chair and heads the Double Clutch toward Lake Michigan. As we approach the great lake, the chop increases significantly.
After a while, I ask, “Are we in Lake Michigan now?"
“No, it’s out past the breakwater,” Mueller said as he and the captain decide it’s too rough to actually go into the lake, which is fine with me since I just had lunch and don’t want to see it again.
We make it back to the dock in time for Kristin and me to get to the airport where we sit out weather delays that got me to New Orleans at 3 a.m. and her to Portland Friday afternoon. We should have stayed on the Double Clutch.
(Our sincere thanks to Sean Fernstrum and his daughter, Rachel Fernstrum-Millard, from R.W. Fernstrum, Grant Zwicke and Benjamin Mihojevich from Meltric Corp., Lloyd Brown and Liz Porth from Marlin Technologies, Paige Bostrom and Ron Ogren from H.O. Bostrom, Kristin Schenk, Megan Wells, Justin Vara, Guy Clementi, Greg Mueller, and Capt. Billy from Twin Disc and everyone else we met along the way. Midwesterners are as advertised.)
