Region's manufacturers key to economic progress

Pittsburgh and steel. Detroit and The Big Three. St. Louis and Anheuser-Busch. Some locales base their identity in a particular industry.

Others host a more varied manufacturing base, and Cape Girardeau and Scott counties are squarely in that group. From Procter & Gamble in Jackson to Havco Wood Products in Scott City, manufacturers in this area provide good jobs to our residents and valuable products to customers around the world.

Some of those products are revolutionary. A recent story in the Southeast Missourian highlighted a new P&G toilet paper product we dubbed a "perforation innovation" that changes how the sheets pull apart. Simply changing the cut between the sheets allows for easier and more consistent tearing. A small detail, perhaps, but one that didn't evolve without planning and execution at the plant.

"This innovation took us well over five years to perfect," according to Gregg Weaver, a senior scientist at P&G. "We figured out the physics pretty quickly, it was really implementing it on our machines and our lines. Cape Girardeau is one of our paper plants, so we had to spend some time there getting these lines efficient to create the cuts and run at speeds."

Representatives of P&G, Havco and Jackson's Mondi spoke at a recent Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce First Friday event. They spoke about trends — advances in and a focus on worker safety and ongoing labor shortages — affecting their operations.

Among their observations:

• On quality: Craig Wiertsema, president and CEO of Havco — "If we're not making a quality product, if we're not taking care of the customer, if we're not working how to put out the product better and more efficiently tomorrow, then we're out of business."
• On labor: Jim Franklin, vice president of operations for Mondi — "When unemployment gets down to 2.3%, it is hard to find people. We started going out to the service sector, to fast-food restaurants and to Walmart employees looking for skills, the right attitude and trainability. Six months ago, we hired a gal who said she had cut hair for 18 years and never thought she could run a machine by herself. She was so proud of being able to do it and found herself in a different place financially (with us) than she had ever imagined. We've got a lot of stories like that."
• On technology in the workplace: Jessica Money, converting operations manager at P&G — "What's going to get worse over the next 20 years is labor shortages," Wiertsema added. "We have to continue to figure out how to turn around and leverage technology so we can ensure the continued production."

We're thankful for all our manufacturing employers in Southeast Missouri. They are fundamental to our local economy, and their successes ensure continued progress beyond their facilities.