How Pay for Performance Leads to Manufacturing Profits with Kevin Johnson

<p><strong>Connect with Kevin: </strong>kevin.johnson@bhamfast.com&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Show Transcript:</strong></p><p><strong>Lisa Ryan:&nbsp;</strong>Hey, it's Lisa Ryan of the Manufacturers Network podcast. I'm excited to introduce you to Kevin Johnson. Kevin is V.P. of manufacturing at Birmingham Fastener. He has 25 years of experience in steel and steel products. He has worked for Nucor, Fontana Grupo in increasing responsibilities. And his current role is responsible for sales, manufacturing, engineering, maintenance, shipping, and quality. He studied metallurgical engineering at Purdue University and is the chairman of the Industrial Fastener Institute chairman and is also on the A.G. Gaston Boys and Girls Club board.&nbsp;</p><p>Kevin enjoys spending time with his wife Cindy and their two children, Amani and Jada. Kevin, welcome to the show. It's good to have you here.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Kevin Johnson:&nbsp;</strong>Thanks, Lisa. Glad to be here.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Lisa Ryan:&nbsp;</strong>Well, you and I had the opportunity to meet at the Industrial Fasters Institute, and now you are in charge of that. So not only dealing with manufacturing at your plant but also I'm sure that you hear many things from your members. So when it comes to your background, please share with us a little bit about what brought you to manufacturing and how you got where you're at.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Kevin Johnson:&nbsp;</strong>OK, well, you know, I come from a manufacturing family.&nbsp;I'm the third generation. My grandfather was in aluminum. My dad was in steel, and I ended up in steel as well. That kindled my interest in metallurgical engineering. So I received a scholarship for that. I attended Purdue. It was in-state. And from that, I went to my first job, which is an Otakupu, and started in their lab. They moved me up to the lab supervisor, then over quality control. I went over to Nucor, hired in as a metallurgist, and again had a similar thing. I went over quality and then went over all manufacturing and had a wonde