Chris Gates has worn a few hats during his 15 years with ALTEX — but that’s a good thing according to Gates. When he first began looking for a job after graduating from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1998, he knew he wanted to work for a small company. He enjoyed the opportunities offered by small businesses to step in and make an immediate impact.
“When I arrived at ALTEX I think I got thrown into the fire on the first day of work,” laughed Gates. “The floor supervisor was leaving and I assumed that role immediately in addition to my engineering duties. I got exposed very quickly at the age of 22 to the challenges of balancing a multitude of responsibilities and wearing more than one hat.”
Gates says that he learned a lot that first year with ALTEX and not just about engineering and manufacturing — but about working and interacting with people — and credits his early days as great learning experiences for the role he plays today in the company’s focus on maintaining superior customer service.
As ALTEX grew, Gates was eventually able to hire a floor supervisor and began to focus on more of an engineering role for the company. At that time, ALTEX was transitioning from a more industrial account base to involvement in the automotive industry and with that push came a requirement for tighter quality control management.
“With our growth my role expanded to not only include product quality but quality systems as well. In the automotive industry there were tighter requirements for quality and continuous improvement and I began to take the lead role in those areas for ALTEX,” said Gates.
Around 2000 ALTEX opened up their Nogales, Mexico manufacturing site and Gates became integral in the set-up and management of the new production facility on a day-to-day basis. He was responsible for hiring, tooling, staff training and worked nonstop the first six months of the facilities’ operation to make sure engineering, production and quality were consistent with the already-established ALTEX processes.
About the same time, Gates was also instrumental and chief implementer of a LEAN manufacturing management culture to ALTEX allowing him to put into place processes that would focus on eliminating waste in the workplace and create a company-wide transition to a more LEAN-focused facility.
“The LEAN mentality really allowed us to focus on putting into place processes that were streamlined and gave us a roadmap to become a highly efficient custom manufacturing facility,” shared Gates.
Gates also meets with clients during the assessment stage of a project. He will determine whether this is something that ALTEX is equipped to do by reviewing production and technical requirements. He will also assess any quality risks in order to engineer, and produce a defect-free product that can be delivered on time.
“I really enjoy being able to touch so many facets of our business,” Gates said. “I like being involved in the total process from engineering to sales to even the accounting side. I think that is exactly why I chose to work for a small business and my position allows me to do all of those things.”
He, his wife who is a nurse, and their 10-year-old daughter live in Noblesville, Ind. Gates professes to be an avid fisherman and tries his luck often at nearby reservoirs when he has the time. Otherwise, family activities, fishing and work keep his schedule packed full. As a past collegiate baseball player at Rose-Hulman, Gates professes that he doesn’t play the game anymore but is still a Fightin’ Engineer at heart.
“All those hats I wore from the very first day at ALTEX have been good training,” said Gates. “I didn’t want a job where I was pigeon-holed into doing just one thing. Here, I get the best of all worlds by making sure we help our clients find the best manufacturing solutions for their unique product. And, I get to be involved in almost all of the processes that make that happen.”
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