Wesley Beecroft, 35

Manufacturing Support Team Leader, Climax Portable Machining and Welding Systems, Newberg, Ore.

Years at Climax Portable Machining and Welding Systems: 4

Education: BS Mechanical Engineering Technology, Oregon Institute of Technology

Wesley’s contributions

“I hired Wesley as a ‘continuous improvement engineer’ and recently promoted him to manufacturing support team leader,” said Scott Simmons, vice president of engineering and operations at Climax Portable Machining and Welding Systems. “This would be an excellent acknowledgement of Wes’ zeal and achievements in manufacturing. Wes could easily excel in any other profession. He chooses manufacturing because of his love for translating engineering specification into groundbreaking manufacturing methods. Climax produces one-off/prototype machines within the same production system as our low-volume stand products. This is no easy task for any company. Wes provides leadership, energy, and a thirst for exploring; I feel these traits make Wes a great candidate for this prestigious award.”

Why a career in manufacturing?

“I chose a manufacturing career because of my passion for creating products and improving processes. I started my career in manufacturing as a machinist where I found myself thirsting for knowledge. I then furthered my education by achieving a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. I now use my knowledge of design and passion for manufacturing to continually align designs with process capabilities. In an organization that routinely designs custom, one-off, machine tools, this continued alignment is imperative to meet the expectations of our customers. Without this effort our key performance indicators (safety, quality, delivery, and profitability) would suffer greatly.”