The Bluegrass Automotive Manufacturing Association (BAMA) bi-annual Learning Conference brought together executive level leaders from numerous tier-one Toyota suppliers. The conference highlights each region’s development and training packages over the last two years. Organizations can then adopt the new content, share it within their organizations and leverage the learnings to help to build momentum. Daric Morell, director of manufacturing, presented to five groups of roughly 25 participants regarding Shape’s lean journey. “It was great. We had a lot of attendance. It was really cool to see different people from different backgrounds and different companies go through the process of trying to find the problem we were able to create. It […]

We came. We saw. We benchmarked. On Monday February 6, Doug Peterson, vice president of human resources; Julie Davidson, talent acquisition,, manager; Mike Johnston, vice president of government affairs for the Michigan Manufacturing Association; Mike Roberson, assistant principle at Grand Haven High School, and Jeremy Case, technical education teacher at Grand Haven High School, traveled to Wadsworth High School in Ohio to see a PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) lab and classroom in action. PRIME programing through SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers) is a national organization that prepares high school students for skilled careers in manufacturing. Typically, local manufacturers consult and provide insights into the training and development requirements […]

After completing the challenging course design and development workshop in November, Shape China conducted delivery skills training for new trainers by master trainer Jerry Zuo. The training focused on adult learning theory, teaching skills (including verbal and non-verbal skills), as well as presentation and feedback skills to help the participants deeply understand how to be an excellent trainer. At the end of the course, the participants were encouraged to utilize a mind-map to summarize what they learned from the training. For the action learning, the participants were required to pass a teaching demo by using the skills they learned. Ken Zong and Nick Li attended the training and successfully passed […]

We are pleased to announce that Shape has been selected as a Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency bronze-level status Veteran-Friendly Employer.  This certification demonstrates that Shape Corp. has made a commitment to help better recognize and support veterans and the valuable skills and experiences they bring to the workplace. Thank you to all veterans who registered their status. We would not have been able to achieve this certification or make this commitment without your help.

It is not often that Toyota finds a supplier who actively pursues their mentoring. Shape was one of the unique companies who reached out for Toyota’s support nearly 18 months ago. After a few phone conferences and a formal meeting at Shape, Toyota took the plunge to help us continue our lean journey. Through intense training, checkpoints, and support, we have grown. In the spring of 2016 the Shape team presented final reports to numerous executive level leaders from Shape and Toyota. As Toyota left, Shape continued the learning process. Six months later another checkpoint meeting with Toyota brought Melvin Sullivan, general manager, and Terry Horinouchi, vice president, who wanted […]

Last Wednesday 65 engineering and purchasing professionals attended our Tech Show at the Nissan Mexico Technical Center. Shape’s Nissan business unit intrigued the attendees with banners, videos highlighting our plastic capabilities, roll forming and pultrusion technologies, as well as a selection of parts on display. Nissan engineers and purchasing members were eager to learn more about Shape’s products and processes. They showed great interest and began discussing a visit to one of Shape’s plants to learn more. Specifically there was great excitement around the swept carbon fiber bumper. The Nissan attendees highlighted and showed appreciation for the support that we bring to our customer, including our regional teams in France, […]

Society of Plastics Engineer’s (SPE) Automotive Innovation Awards program is the world’s oldest and largest recognition event in the automotive and plastics industries. Each year the combined ingenuity and creativity of the automotive engineers, designers, and their suppliers yield the latest and best results of the dynamic nature of the automotive industry. Many teams submit nominations describing their part, system, or complete vehicle module and why it merits the claim as the year’s Most Innovative Use of Plastics. This year Ford took home the SPE award in the Body Exterior category on the 2016 Super Duty pickup partly in thanks to the injection molded, all-composite GOR/front-end module bolster, supplied by Shape Corp. “We are […]

Shape is committed to conducting business in accordance with the highest ethical standards. As an organization, we hold high expectations for ourselves, as do our customers, communities and team members. We hold an open door policy, and want to ensure that there are appropriate channels available for our team members, suppliers and customers to securely, confidentially and safely report concerns or issues. This policy is available and updated within our associate handbook on ShapeWeb. At no point will there be retaliation on any individual who is reporting an unsafe, illegal or unethical situation. Team members are highly encouraged to report concerns or issues to their supervisors first, followed by human […]

They came into work each day producing quality parts, solving problems and never missing a shipment. Last week the team members at 1835 and 1820 celebrated after receiving the General Motors (GM) Supplier Quality Excellence Award. With hard work and determination, these teams each earned the recognition that is limited to GM’s top 2.5% of suppliers. With more than 30,000 organizations in the running for the honorable award, it was a great win for Shape. Facilities are given the award by meeting a list of criteria that includes; no missed shipments, being TS16949 certified, no problem reporting/resolutions (PRRs), no field actions and more. This accomplishment reinforces our strong relationship with […]