Robert Martz walks around a manufacturing job site in time, greeting workers with a wave or a word. At 6-foot-8, the former University of Notre Dame defensive lineman stands above the crowd, according to Time products.
The maker of aerial lifts and bucket trucks is ramping up production at 7601 Imperial Drive, hiring to start a third shift and filling backlogs until next winter.
Employment is 600 locally, and watch manufacturing could employ another 50 people yesterday, said Bruce Hardt, vice president of human resources. He said he remembers being represented by the full roster of 350 employees in Waco. Interest from international utility companies and foreign governments has grown.
Lifts and work platforms that extend hundreds of feet into the sky are built, tested, and shipped from several Time facilities hanging from the Imperial Drive. Martz, vice president of manufacturing, assesses the temperature of the work environment, both literally and figuratively, by walking the concrete floor early. Martz is a 30-year manufacturing veteran who turned to making things when a knee injury cut his NFL career short. Most family members live in the Midwest. But Martz’s work takes him everywhere, including Mexico and Texas.
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Martz came to time from Big Tex Trailer, a company with a global reach but located in tiny Mount Pleasant, in northeast Texas. Martz laughs and remembers his first week on the job. Heavy snow interrupted what Martz believed would be a sunny welcome to the Lone Star State.
“I thought, ‘You guys lied to me,'” Martz said with a smile.
Martz’s arrival in 2017 coincided with the promotion of longtime executive Jay Jeffrey to president and chief commercial officer at Time Manufacturing. Jeffery, as fans will recall, quarterbacked Baylor University in 1980, when the Bears won the Southwest Conference title with a 10-win season. Jeffrey is a member of the Baylor University Athletic Hall of Fame.
As one might expect, Martz loves college football. With Jeffrey as a partner, he was able to easily get tickets to Baylor games. For what it’s worth, he said he’s impressed with the team under head coach Dave Aranda.
By the time Martz arrived, her work was hitting the manufacturing plant. As Time’s Fact Sheet Martz testifies, and then some, he says, “Manufacturing processes are becoming increasingly sophisticated while simultaneously improving production volumes.”
A senior management team, including Martz, created a lean manufacturing system focused on what he called “first quality.” Versalift equipment should leave the plant with zero defects, which means customers can use it immediately. The team monitors quality, cost, delivery, customer satisfaction and efficiency to standardize the process and ensure that each employee contributes to success.
New software allows Time/Versalift representatives to access customer records from a single source, reducing confusion and mixed signals. Another system provides managers with real-time information and information about decisions and goals set by the management team.
Robert Martz, vice president of manufacturing at Time, looks at equipment at the Waco facility on Imperial Drive.
Jerry Larson, Tribune-Herald
Back at the Waco factory on a busy Thursday, Martz points to the laser beam cutting patterns in steel at a rate of 70 inches per minute. He mentions that the factory has 40 welding stations. He said elevators sold in China and Europe have different color schemes and safety standards. A locally manufactured time lift can extend 200 feet into the air. A related company in Germany built a 300-footer to work with wind turbines. Martz wondered aloud if Logistics and Demand would justify opening a similar plant in the United States.
Martz’s on-time manufacturing pay is competitive. He said he knows many employers are offering $15 an hour to start. He described it as a ballpark figure at the time, perhaps high for some job descriptions, low for others. He said it would make a big difference among attendees.
Like many other industries, Time Manufacturing has struggled with supply chain issues. But Hardt said conditions are improving. Among the biggest challenges is finding the people to work the product line. Half have little or no experience. Time continues to see Texas State Technical College as a resource, not just in Waco, but at campuses statewide.
Time produces tools for electric utilities and telecom companies, bridge monitors and tree trimmers. Specialty items include bucket trucks, drill rigs, cable trays and truck bodies. The board of directors, with an office serving Europe in Denmark, has 2,600 employees and 300 service centers. As a privately held company, it is not required to disclose financial information.
A long-time O’Flaherty Holdings Ltd. property, Time Manufacturing was acquired in 1998. In 2017, The Sterling Group is a Houston-based private equity firm. He has since focused on acquisitions, buying Aspen Aerials, Artillery Truck Equipment, OG Hughes and Sons and MAP Enterprises, Time reported.
Last year, the company acquired Rutman, a manufacturer of work platforms for the European market. It also purchased CALCO Equipment, now known as VersaLift Canada, and provides sales, service and financial support in that country.
Late last year, Time was acquired by private equity firm HIG Capital. Time CEO Kurt Howell said the acquisition will strengthen the company.
This summer, Time bought France Elevator, a European manufacturer of aerial work platforms. It serves markets in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, eastern France and Spain.
