A Bit about CrossWind

Here at CrossWind Machining we know hard difficult it can be to find skilled workers to run our machines.  We are in a niche here, making small diameter parts for the medical device industry.  Not to mention that the machines we use are swiss screw machines, which are even harder to find machining talent for than your standard mill or lathe machine.  CrossWind is situated in the Sierra Foothills of CA.  The scenery is amazing, it is cheaper here than many areas in the state, we have a low crime rate, great schools, etc., but it is still very difficult to find the talent that we need to help our company to grow.  One of the biggest reasons for this is that women are not being drawn to this field. “Women constitute manufacturing’s largest pool of untapped talent in the United States. They comprise just over one-fourth (27 percent) of manufacturing employees even though women make up nearly half (47 percent) of the total U.S. labor force.”  Overall, t...

5 Ways to Keep Your Employees Happy Without Breaking the Bank I’m sure most of us have had a “lousy” employer or two in their life.  You know, the boss that expects everything and gives nothing.  You’ve probably also worked for companies that you really enjoyed.  What made you like where you worked?  Was it financial incentives?  Maybe you had good benefits or was it just the atmosphere of the place?  What keeps employees showing up day to day, being productive, and not looking for employment elsewhere? About 15 years ago I worked for a company that published a magazine for the higher education market.  They also put on a tradeshow annually.  When I started the job the pay wasn’t great, but I saw potential in what my job could eventually become and I really liked some of the people working there.  I got along very well with almost everyone and the benefits were decent too.  I quit after 6 months.  Why?  My boss was ...

         It’s that time of the year again, graduation.  High school students are ending a huge part of their lives and making decisions that will shape their future.  Some teens know from a young age what they want to do with their lives, but most are still figuring it out as they go.  Should they go to college?  Should they go directly into full-time work?  Maybe join the military?  What should they major in if they do go to college?  At 17 or 18 these are life altering questions that many aren’t’ prepared to answer.  Or, if they do have an answer, they don’t know how to go about accomplishing their goals as college can be very expensive.  Most people can get college loans, but do you want to start of your adult life with huge debt already hanging over your head?  This is where a career in manufacturing comes in.               Long gone are the days where a career in ...

This week, as I was searching around for inspiration for our blog, I was feeling extremely uninspired.   I really do try and find a subject that relates to CrossWind’s field (swiss screw machining,  manufacturing , medical device components, etc), but also to blog about things that are interesting to people that aren’t in those fields themselves.   Nothing was calling out to me this week and I was feeling very frustrated.     Then I happened to hear a conversation between 2 employees about needing skilled workers and how hard it is to find one that has experience working with the tight tolerances that we do and I started thinking about where other companies find their skilled workers.   Do they take years to find what they’re looking for like CrossWind has?   Do they try staffing firms?   Do they start looking overseas for talent?   This isn’t something that is just limited to our field.   This is a problem that almost all industri...