NTMA
Published

VIDEO: Emerging Leader Committed to Excellence

Ben Nikkel is committed to learning, leading and relationship building in his management role at Hirsh Precision Products.

Share

As a leader at his workplace at Hirsh Precision Products, 2022 Emerging Leader Ben Nikkel approaches his duties as production scheduling and customer service manager with communication top of mind.
 

From the time 2022 Emerging Leader Ben Nikkel began working at Hirsh Precision Products Inc. in Boulder, Colorado, he has been committed to learning, leading and building relationships within the company as well as with customers and suppliers.

Through on-the-job training and a willingness to learn, Nikkel became proficient as a CNC setup/production machinist not long after starting as a material handler at the company in 2011. “I worked in our lathe department where we employed several machines with bar feeders,” he says. “This was my first opportunity to work with automation and learn the importance of unattended run time.” 

He eventually advanced into a lead role in one of Hirsh’s most complex work centers – its 69-pallet five-axis Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS).

When a need opened in the shop’s customer service team, Nikkel did not hesitate to switch gears, stepping up as production scheduling/customer service manager in 2019, according to his nominator, Peter Doyle, president and CEO at Hirsh. He said Nikkel quickly learned the ERP system, created a new structure for the production scheduling and customer service team, and diligently trained his team to partner alongside the aerospace, medical device, and industrial customers.

“Having an in-depth understanding of how the system works enabled me to adjust our scheduling practices to better match the flow of work through the FMS cell,” Nikkel explains. His position supports the company from order entry all the way to finished goods delivery.

2022 Emerging Leader Ben Nikkel

As a leader in his workplace, Nikkel is sure to interact with his employees and ask them questions that help them make their own educated decisions. He also believes their engagement is critical to success.

In his role, he has also developed an outstanding ability to bring people together to reach a common goal, according to Doyle. He builds strong relationships with not only his coworkers at Hirsh but also customers and suppliers.

“Ben’s diligent work ethic and his commitment to excellence in all he does are very commendable, but his leadership style incorporates many other admirable qualities,” Doyle explains. He adds that Nikkel is calm under pressure despite his stressful job, and he is always easy to work with.

To learn more about Nikkel and the other 2022 Production Machining Emerging Leaders, read Emerging Leaders’ Viewpoints and Training and Retention, and don’t forget to watch the video with the combined interviews while you’re there!

Related Content

Become a NTMA member today!
NTMA
NTMA
Gardner Business Media, Inc.
Star swiss-type automatic lathes
World Machine Tool Survey
Techspex
PMTS 2025 Register Now!

Related Content

CNC Machine Shop Employment Positions to Consider Beyond Machine Operators

Many machine shops have open machine operator positions to fill. But does it make sense for shops to also seek automation engineers, IT managers and assembly personnel?

Read More

Recognizing Signs of a Degrading Workplace Culture

Is your machine shop missing key “culture elements?” Here are ways to identify if your organization is heading in the right or wrong direction in terms of establishing a healthy company culture.

Read More

Job Candidate Questions and What They Tell Us

Individuals who ask thoughtful, original questions in the interview set themselves apart.

Read More

Manufacturing Skills Training: Virginia Martinez and Laiken Carrillo

Roles of Women in Manufacturing Series: A precision machining career starts with skills. Virginia and Laiken share their journey and how they help prepare the next generation.

Read More

Read Next

Workforce Development

VIDEO: Emerging Leader is Much More than a CNC Programmer

This 30-year-old is a talented innovator, trainer, teacher and loyal hard worker, respected by all his co-workers at Norman Noble Inc. He’s the go-to employee when someone on the shop floor needs a problem solved.

Read More
Emerging Leaders

VIDEO: Emerging Leaders’ Viewpoints on Training and Retention

The 2022 Emerging Leaders focus on new strategies for hiring, in-house training programs and retention plans for the young generation of workers as well as the valuable employees already in place.

Read More
Measurement

Seeing Automated Workpiece Measurement in Real Time

User-friendly inspection software for CNC machining centers was shown at IMTS 2024 monitoring measurements between and after machining while performing SPC based on recorded measurement values.

Read More
NTMA