From Painting Buildings to Building Machines: This is Joe's Story
Meet Joe Kear, a Machine Fabricator with Cincinnati Incorporated. Learn more about Joe and his career journey at Cincinnati Incorporated.
How long have you been with CI?
8 years this year in June 26th.
Tell us about your career.
When I first came here I was hired on as a painter, but not a machine painter. I was painting the buildings, I painted the showroom and other big projects that weren’t the cleanest but I did what I could.
My father was a painter, had his own paint business. He taught me how to paint when I was a little boy, and I picked up pretty quick on that.
How did you hear about Cincinnati?
My uncle actually works here and he’s been working here since the nineties. He told me about it. My grandfather worked at Hillrom his whole career. And I always wanted to do what he did. He was always around steel and smelled like grease. So that’s a pretty good smell, I think I’ll do that too.
Tell us about your job day-to-day.
We have a meeting and after the meeting, I got this big wall of all kinds of tickets and jobs, I just ask what’s hot and what they need done and that’s what I do. Then I take the tickets down to lasers and I find the material that I need to cut on and I let it rip.
Tell us about the lasers you’re running.
One’s fairly new and one’s older. The one that’s older, I call her old Betsy. She never quits, she always runs. The new one is real nice too, it’s very technologically advanced compared to the 400 and they’re fun to run when they’re running at a hundred percent.
What kind of stuff are you cutting in the shop?
About everything. Mild steel, aluminum, stainless, really any material to be honest with you. I haven’t cut anything like bronze or cooper though. I did cut plastic acrylic the first time Saturday so that was neat.
What kind of parts are we making on our lasers for our machines?
About everything besides on the lasers, obviously the laser heads and [for] the press brake, the pistons and stuff. Everything else we do in-house, all the panels, brackets, you name it, we cut it and we bend it and we put it together.
How cool is it that we’re using our machines to make parts for our machines?
I think it’s really cool. It’s neat, especially when you walk up front and you could see what you cut all the way in the back and you see it progressively move forward, it’s like an assembly line. It’s cool seeing it all kind of come together and it’s like, I remember I cut that up weeks ago. Now it’s up here. It’s painted, welded, all fancied up.
How does it feel being a part of the CI family?
My experience has been great. There’s a lot of pride [that] takes place in this company, and especially for my experience, you know, I was just painting. And they took a risk on me to push me through classes and training to learn how to run these machines. And in my opinion, no other place has ever really taken that leap of faith on me personally to push me to be a better person, and a worker obviously. And that’s obviously beneficial in the long run.
What was the transformation going from painting to running the CNC laser like for you?
It was nerve wracking, very nerve wracking. Didn’t know what could happen, what could I break? So it was a big leap.
What are the things you’ve done that you are proud of?
Just anytime somebody needs help on the press brakes, because I used to run the press brakes too, and anytime those guys have issues or something, they come running to me and I set them on their way to do the best they can. It usually works out. And I think that’s what I take pride in most is just helping everybody else in here to accomplish the same goal. You know, just send out good quality parts and make everybody else happy in the long run of things.
Tell us about your relationships you have with people in the shop.
Obviously being here for seven or eight years, made a lot of relationships with a lot of people, and some of them are closest brothers. Even though some have retired or left for different adventures, I’m still close with them and I’ll never forget them. There are a lot of cool people that have been in and out of this place.
Why Cincinnati?
The pride in the machines, the American made quality. And obviously my grandfather, he was the biggest influence on my life and he always did it. He was a tool crib guy at Hillrom, he always took me to the shops, learn how to work on stuff, and I always just wanted to make him proud and he’s the main reason I’m doing what I’m doing today.
What was your grandfather’s reaction when he found out you were coming to work here?
“That’s good Joe. Don’t give up, just keep on keeping on.”
If you grandfather looking at you now and seeing that you’re running these machines, what do you think he would be saying?
I think he’d be proud and I think he’d be a little intimidated because where I’m at now, I think I’d put him in his place on those machines.
What’s your impression on all the things CI plans and does around here?
It’s definitely a big family company. I was part of one of the bigger picnics and it was just like a family palooza. Everybody brought their families, grandkids, kids, and just a whole nine yards and seeing everybody have a good time. It was really neat and cool. Really, in my opinion, it all comes down to pride. There’s a lot of pride in this company and just want to keep it being successful.
If someone asks you, ‘Why should I buy a Cincinnati?’, what would you tell them?
Like I said, the American made products. They’re durable, they can handle abuse.
How does it make you feel knowing that the company took that big of an interest in promoting you?
I feel very proud in my opinion because I did not know diddly squat about any of these things and it was very intimidating. But I’m a man of repetition. Once I get enough reps in, I think I could conquer any challenge that’s in front of me. And I think that’s what I did with these machines. I conquered them, and there’s still stuff I need to learn, every day’s a learning experience. There might be some stuff I don’t know yet, and I adapt it and make it my own now.
Do you see yourself still continuing to grow with the company?
Yes, sir. I would love to keep on going up higher and higher best I can, the sky’s the limit and I believe my potential can never be stopped.
What does it take to be successful here?
Honestly, I tell my kids this all the time, you go fast, you’re going to crash, and slow and steady wins the race. Be like a sponge. Absorb everybody’s opinions on how to do things, and honestly take everybody’s opinions of a certain skillset. Try to make it into your own and use it. And my opinion, that’s what I did and that worked the best for me. I learned a lot from Matt here, and I still use tricks. Matt taught me seven, eight years ago. It always helps to have somebody to help you and teach you and guide you.
Plus everybody here is always about doing that. You know, they’re not really about themselves, they’re about the bigger picture. And from my experience in the past eight years of growing, I’ll always be grateful for that.
What’s the bigger picture here?
Selling machines and being successful in keeping this place open.
