From startup to industry leader: 20 years at Equipment Technologies
Equipment Technologies was in many ways a startup when Jeff Goodman started with the company in January 1999. In the 20 years since, Goodman has been a big part of evolving the company’s production and manufacturing systems, as well as capabilities to meet growing demand for self-propelled sprayers. Though those early days trial by fire, he’s helped guide production, purchasing and manage the manufacturing process that today yields some of the most efficient, productive sprayers on the land.
“Like any startup, we were doing a lot of learning and refining our processes in the early days,” Goodman said of Equipment Technologies’ early days. “Over the years, we added a lot of structure and let our people shine and take care of business.”
Today, Goodman is Director of Materials, managing the entire supply chain for Equipment Technologies. A big part of ETs success through the years has been its ability to outsource instead of building everything in house. For the outsource model to work, suppliers must understand their role in the product and the importance of delivering a reliable part, at a fair price on time, every time. Pulling this all together is no small feat and Goodman is quick to point out that it takes a great team for it to all work in harmony.
“We have a lot of long-term employees. We have a high percentage of 20-year employees, and the company’s only 23 years old,” Goodman said. “We have four or five people here who have more seniority than I do and that really says something about this place. We don’t have a lot of turnover. We get to know one another really well and all share the desire to do a good job for our customers. I want them to be happy, and the more I can do to provide them a quality product, the better I can help make them happy.”
Goodman approaches his work with both a passion to serve his customers and a hard-nosed drive to be productive, both traits he sees in many of his colleagues responsible for manufacturing Apache Sprayers. He knows that ultimately, one day he’ll pass off the reins of manufacturing and purchasing to another team member but is confident the company will continue to evolve to effectively meet customers’ changing needs well into the future.
Though he still has some time before he reaches that point, Goodman said he hasn’t really thought much about retirement. But, he says he’ll know when he’s ready.
“I probably at some point will ride off into the sunset. Do I want to be doing this at 70? Probably not. Would I be willing to do something else to help the company? Yes. I definitely won’t be happy sitting on the beach with an umbrella drink,” he said. “To be honest with you, I haven’t really thought about it much. I am not worried about it. I can’t change yesterday and tomorrow’s not here yet. That’s how I approach every day.”
Read more about Equipment Technologies team members here.