How QCC Middlefield Delivers on Every Metric

Community, Culture and Commitment

The Middlefield, Ohio, Quanex Custom Components (QCC) team has exemplified safe and reliable operations for decades. Its workers’ commitment to an honest day’s work has driven its ongoing success.

Take a drive North on Ohio’s State Route 608, and you’ll pass a sign that may pique your interest: “Middlefield: Center of the 4th Largest Amish Settlement in the World.” Indeed you might also find yourself driving behind a horse and buggy.

The Amish are a group of Christians who practice a separatist lifestyle, preserving a simple and self-sufficient existence, and who work to be an example of Christian living by avoiding many of the common trappings of modern life. Geauga County, where Middlefield sits, is home to more than 20,000 members of the Amish community.

It’s also home to one of the QCC’s most successful plants, where the predominantly Amish workforce is managed by veteran Quanex employee Dan Miller.

“Middlefield has maintained a 98—100% on-time delivery rate for as long as I can remember,” said Brian Fiest, director of operations for QCC. “Dan manages several million dollars’ worth of inventory with 99% accuracy. The plant has no problems with employee retention, with less than 2—3% annual turnover. Their safety numbers are routinely fantastic and are coming up on seven years without a lost time incident.

“The Amish community in Middlefield will tell you they believe first and foremost in family and an honest day’s work,” he continued. “And the performance of the plant is proof positive of that commitment.”

Rolling Up the Sleeves: The Power of Old-School Work Ethic

The Middlefield facility predominantly makes wood moldings for homes and cabinetry, cabinet door face frames, as well as some specialty items like spindles, pillars and posts. Its largest customer, KraftMaid, is located just down the road. The two operations maintain a symbiotic and highly successful relationship, with the Middlefield facility managing consignment inventory on a just-in-time basis for KraftMaid—an arrangement that makes the plant unique among QCC facilities.

Dan, who has served as plant manager for nearly 20 years, attributes his facility’s success to his team and their dedication to the work.

“Our performance is a reflection of our employees, all of whom bring a strong work ethic to our operations,” Dan said. He added that wood crafting and woodwork is a skill that’s prioritized within the Amish community, which translates well to the plant’s operations.

Dan’s own career experience has made him a natural leader for the plant. He was a carpenter before joining KraftMaid and worked there for 18 years, including 12 in management. Eventually, he left with a colleague to start a plant that would make KraftMaid moldings. That facility became Woodcraft and then Quanex. His rich millwork experience positioned him well to understand the customer’s needs, which Middlefield has been able to anticipate and service throughout his tenure.

“It’s important to know your customers and what makes them tick,” Brian said. “With Dan’s background and the entire team’s ability to deliver on critical needs, our relationship with KraftMaid is something you can’t duplicate.”

Back to Basics With Safety and Inventory Control

Richard Mack, interim director of environmental health and safety for Quanex, said the plant sets a tremendous example for safe operations. “The Middlefield team has always been safety focused—the minute you walk out on the shop floor it is very obvious that the team puts a lot of emphasis on housekeeping and organization, both of which are key to maintaining a safe work environment,” Richard said. “Safety begins at the top of the organization, and Dan takes responsibility for the safety of his team and sets the expectations for an accident-free workplace.”

In addition, the plant follows strict inventory management processes. Operators are accountable for allocating and substituting blanks to fill orders correctly. “We place a lot of focus on getting orders into the system accurately so they’re handled appropriately and arrive exactly as stated on the receiving end,” Dan said. “And, our operators hold themselves accountable because they want good numbers as much as we do.”

Marcos Lee, director of audit services for Quanex, said it’s clear when walking through the plant that it’s a coordinated and finely tuned operation.

“The sense of ownership and pride is apparent,” he said. “When we have questions, Dan is able to answer them without hesitation. Our audits yield great results, which is attributable to the entire Middlefield team.”

Dan also credits Quanex’s investment in the plant as crucial to its high levels of performance.

“The company has given us everything we need to succeed,” he said. “One of the first things Quanex did after acquiring our operations was investing $2 million for safety improvements across numerous QCC plants. We know that if there’s something we need, we’re able to get that support from Quanex.”

Middlefield’s commitment to service its customers, delivering high-quality every day and maintaining safe operations has resulted in continued success for the plant. And it’s truly what makes the Middlefield team A Part of Something Bigger®.

Learn More about Middlefield

Fast Facts: QCC Middlefield

• Maintains an exemplary safety record, currently nearing seven years without a lost time incident
• Serves 10 primary customers, including KraftMaid
• Manufactures 12,000 pieces of molding per day
• Processes 100,000 board feet of wood per week
• Offers 200+ profiles for 20+ species of wood including poplar, hard maple, and cherry
• Employs 60 people working two shifts
• Plant is “fed” blanks by 5 other QCC plants processing raw wood
• Middlefield’s dust mitigation system collects 1—2 semi-trailers of sawdust per day, which is shipped out to make other products like bricks, grill pellets and animal bedding

Who Are the Amish?

The first Amish in Middlefield migrated from Wayne and Holmes counties to Geauga County in the 1880s, where they established farms and carried on their faith-based traditions.

Amish dress in a plain, simple and traditional manner, without adornment. Amish men begin to grow a beard once they marry and always wear hats. Women also wear head coverings. Dresses, aprons and capes are of distinctive patterns and colors that may vary by church district.

Home is the center of family and community life for the Amish.

Families work together for the common good, and children as young as ages 6 or 7 have chores to do every day. They meet in their homes for church services, weddings and other social gatherings.

Amish are well-known for forgoing electricity and telephones in their homes, and for relying on the horse and buggy (or other nonmechanical means) for daily travel. Today’s Amish often hire taxi services to transport them to and from appointments and jobs. Additionally, an increasing number of Amish selectively use modern tools and technology that are appropriate to their work.

For example, Amish employees at the Middlefield plant take advantage of sophisticated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to manage operations.

“Dan is probably one of the best users of our ERP system throughout the QCC business,” Brian said. “He’s able to train his teams—who typically have no experience with such technology—on using it, and it’s been instrumental to their success.”