Five Questions with Billy Gillespie and Larry Shew

When two employees with a combined 82 years of experience leave a company, a gaping hole is left in their place. At Sandvik Coromant's Westminster Production Unit, a plant that employs almost 300 people over five shifts and produces 24 million carbide inserts a year, highly skilled professionals like Billy Gillespie and Larry Shew are greatly valued. When they both retire at the end of the year, they will be dearly missed - and not just for their years of service and wealth of engineering and manufacturing knowledge - but also for the caring and dedicated people that they are.

According to Angela Long, Human Resources Manager at Westminster, “Billy has the best common-sense approach to situations which has always brought balance to the Westminster team. Always a team player, everyone that has worked with him or for him would tell you how much they appreciate what he has taught them. He's just a great person all the way around and he will be greatly missed."

And for Larry, Angela comments, “The first time I met Larry, I wasn't sure how to take him. He was very straight forward and direct. But what I soon learned was that he is this way because he is so passionate about his job and making sure things are done in a good way. His wealth of knowledge about our industry is amazing and there is no way to replace this as he leaves us. All I can say is thank you to him for his commitment to this company. I wish him the very best as he rides off into retirement.

Arun Pattanaik, Westminster Production Unit Director, concurs, "It has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside both Billy and Larry since I relocated from Fair Lawn to Westminster in 2006. Over the years, I have learned a lot from both Billy and Larry on various aspects of production. Both have contributed immensely to the growth of the Westminster site from a very manual Valenite production unit to a world class production unit of Sandvik Coromant. I really appreciate and thank both Billy and Larry for their long years of dedicated services and great contributions to both Valenite and Sandvik Coromant in different capacities. Both will be missed. Congratulations to them both on their successful careers at Sandvik Coromant and I wish both a very happy and healthy retirement life."

In a manufacturing climate where experts estimate that roughly two million jobs will go unfilled in the next 10 years, we appreciate long-term employees like Billy and Larry, and we wish them all the best in their retirement. But before they leave us, we caught up with them to ask five questions about their history with Sandvik Coromant, the best on-the-job advice they've ever received and what they think about manufacturing jobs in the future. Here's what they had to say…

Sandvik Coromant: How many years have you worked for Sandvik Coromant? And how many years have you worked in the industry?

Billy Gillespie: I worked for Valenite for about 21 years. Then, Sandvik purchased Valenite in 2002, so my combined service with Valenite and Sandvik is almost 39 years. My experience in this industry is the same, 39 years.

Larry Shew: I have been working in this industry for 43 years. 26 years with Valenite and 17 years with Sandvik.

Sandvik Coromant: What was the best advice you ever received and what advice would you pass on to young people getting into manufacturing?

Billy Gillespie: The best advice I received as a manager is to “treat people they way you want to be treated." My advice to young people is to be open to learning as much as you can. There's always something new to learn and understand.

Larry Shew: Always maintain a good work ethic and stay positive about your work. At times, the person you report to and/or people you work with can be challenging, but as a professional engineer you need to know how to make yourself understood without being overbearing.

Sandvik Coromant: Negative perceptions still exist about working in manufacturing. What would you like people to understand about modern manufacturing? How has manufacturing and specifically, insert manufacturing, changed over your careers?

Billy Gillespie: Specifically speaking about Sandvik Coromant, we have a very professional organization who treat people fairly. The work environment is clean, safe and highly technical. There are lots of opportunities to learn and develop your skills in many areas in a global manufacturing company like Sandvik Coromant.

Larry Shew: Manufacturing facilities are much cleaner and work areas are safer than in years past. When I started, the machines I worked with were manually operated and the people moved the product. Today, machines are computer controlled and we use robotic handling systems to move the product. There has been a big change in the concern over the health and safety of the employees.

Sandvik Coromant: What are the challenges ahead for manufacturers? Do you see that roles such as yours will be hard to fill in the future?

Billy Gillespie: Manufacturing has moved away from manual machines and processes to more automation. The skills of the machinists have evolved from being an individual resource to now being part of a group or team for the manufacturing process to be successful.

Larry Shew: Insert manufacturing is a limited industry and finding good fit process engineers has always been difficult.

Sandvik Coromant: You are both retiring after long careers in manufacturing. What will you miss most about your jobs?

Billy Gillespie: I have met many great people from all over the Sandvik world and they will all be missed.

Larry Shew: I will miss problem solving with my co-workers about the equipment they are operating.