At General Machine Products we have some outstanding employees, and we are very excited to proudly highlight some of our brightest and most committed staff in our monthly Employee Spotlight. February’s Employee Spotlight features our Senior Design Engineer, Russ Hackius.
1. What is your role at GMP?
My role here at GMP is Senior Design Engineer. My job function is new product design and testing. I also support the existing products we manufacture and provide technical support to our sales team. I help customers with technical questions regarding our products and assist customers who may encounter issues using our products.
2. What drew you to GMP originally?
I was looking for a more challenging experience. Since I lived not far from GMP, I often passed the factory not knowing what they manufactured here. After seeing a listing in the local newspaper for a Mechanical Engineer I decided to look into what they actually manufactured here. I applied for the job and was hired. The rest is history.
3. How long have you worked at GMP?
I have been with GMP for 20 years now.
4. What is your favorite part about working at GMP? / What has been your favorite project so far?
My favorite part working here at GMP would be the diverse products we Engineer and manufacture here; I encounter something different every day. We also have a great group of people here. The people here are willing to work as a team to get even the most difficult tasks done.
I have enjoyed working on many projects over the years but perhaps my favorite is also one of our latest products, the Super G cable lasher. The Engineering team was tasked with developing a new large capacity lasher to replace our aging G lasher. The casting patterns for the G lasher were going to have to be replaced at considerable expense so we were asked to look into a smaller, lighter cable lasher. Our G lasher weighs about 72 Lbs. The Super G lasher weighs about 57 Lbs. The development of the Super G lasher began with a conversation with the team who builds and repairs all of our cable lashers.
The Engineering team asked the lasher build/repair team of all our cable lashers, what features are the easiest to assemble and require the least amount of repair or maintenance. The Engineering team took their suggestions and “Frankensteined” a cable lasher design that met the requirements we were looking for. The end result is a smaller, lighter cable lasher with a larger cable capacity and fewer parts to assemble than the G lasher.
