Working in the foundry industry isn’t easy, but it sure makes it a lot better when you have a family-like culture at your facility.
Well, Lawton Hanover is just like that, boasting a great team mentality and a fantastic support team for the employees.
We caught up with several employees in Hanover, both new hires and long-time workers, to check out the key to the site’s success.
People: The #1 reason these employees love Hanover
“I think the genuineness of the people here, you can’t put a price tag on that,” said Robin who started about two months ago as an administrative assistant.
Joe has been with Hanover for nearly 50 years and he echoes Robin’s sentiments. “The people. I hardly find a person that doesn’t like working for me. So you keep people and they want to work here.”
Randall recently came back to work at Hanover after a few years away and he’s happy he’s back. “The people are great. I get along with everyone. If you have a question, they’ll help you. If you have family issues, they’ll understand. I just love it.”
We also caught up with Jeremy, the melt supervisor, who has been with Hanover for over 22 years. He also left for a brief period of time and then came back. “I think we’re such a close-knit group here, we know what we’re doing here and we try to make the best quality products we can.”
Jeremy continued, “I want to retire here. I love it.”
Robin added that “the people are helpful and conscientious of their work. And I think that trickles down and helps us have a really cohesive team here.”
Continuous Improvement has really driven Hanover to excel
“The foundry we have now is probably one of the cleanest ones you’ll see,” said longtime shipping and cleaning supervisor Joe. When he started they had no cranes and would need 3 or 4 guys to lift the castings and move them into place. “It was a challenge.”
He continued to say “it’s like a new place in here compared to when I first started. It has come quite a ways and it is making the process a lot easier to flow through the shop.”
“Probably the biggest change was when Lawton brought us over,” said Jeremy. “We were stale, doing the same processes, but now we’re continuously trying to improve those processes and products.
Randall was first with Lawton Hanover in 2010 and left for another job, but now he’s glad to be back. “Came back here and it’s much better than it was. Safety is top notch now, the management is awesome and we have a lot of fun.”
“I see growth of employees and growth of the company here,” said Jeremy. “I want to continue to see this place prosper.”
Why should people choose to work in the foundry industry at Hanover?
“It’s a dying art,” said Jeremy. “It’s a really good career if you get into it. It’s stable, everyone is going to need a casting, there are castings in everything.”
“Why should somebody want to work here?” asked Joe. “Well, it’s just working with each other, getting my guys to work with other guys with experience. Make them feel like they want to be here.”
Jeremy finds that one of the best ways to keep great workers is to empower them. “I feel it’s beneficial in helping to build the team. I’m big on empowerment. You empower your people and you get good people, good products.”
“Lawton Hanover is great because you will come, you will get trained, people will be helpful and there is a very good work-life balance,” said Robin. She also added “everyone really seems proud of what they do and their pride in the job is evident in our products.”
Randall added “great benefits, great people and management is great. The benefits are top notch and the pay is great. I’m very glad I’m back.”
Joe chimed in that Hanover is a pretty friendly place and there is a lot of good teamwork.
What Lawton Hanover can do for you!
Lawton Hanover is mainly a gray and ductile iron job shop, making castings from 150 to 5,000 pounds.
The foundry has been pouring since the 1960s and the air-set, no-bake molding helps create castings with excellent machinability.
Our complex cores and intricate designs help us tackle a number of detailed projects that some other foundries just can’t handle.
The site also has an on-site pattern shop which helps streamline the design and tooling part of the job. It also has finishing services to make sure those iron castings really shine when they leave Lawton Hanover.
The icing on the cake is that you’ll get the castings you need when you need them. We take pride in our 95% on-time shipping rate.
Apply to work at Lawton Hanover today
Lawton Hanover is always looking for great people to join our team.
Currently, we have a number of positions available including production workers and a foundry engineer.
You can check out all our open positions, as well as positions available across the Lawton Standard family of companies, by visiting our career page.
Take it from Joe, who has been passionate about his job with Lawton Hanover for over 49 years “I’d like to go at least two or three more years yet. See how things go. I take pride in what I’m doing, so I’m usually here every day, first one in and last one out!”