Survival of the Smartest

Hopkins Printing has staked its future on cross-training. Commercial printing is a waning industry, but enthusiasm is waxing on the factory floor of Hopkins Printing. The reason is a cultural reboot that pushed employee skills and ideas to the forefront of what was once a more traditional top-down company. In the past two years, most employees have been trained in an additional one to two jobs and have implemented dozens of improvements that they devised.

“We work smarter and help each other work smarter every day,” says Mike VanAtta, a lead operator in the bindery and 19-year employee.