Using Their Hands - And Still Having to Think Roy Horsman, born and raised in Birmingham, is now 39 years old. With 15 years he took a job sweeping floors at a local parts factory, and the next 21 years he worked his way up, to machine operator to designer to engineering manager. And at that stage he began attending technological conferences around Europe and started taking classes in pneumatics and electronics, read up on new technologies and informed himself about, how other companies where doing their organisation and work. So, at present, Roy Horsman is the owner of a parts factory that produces metal valves and motor shafts that are fitted into everything from Rolls-Royce airplane engines to Hoover vacuum cleaners. Roy's 8 employees include a former bricklayer and an Asian immigrant. The special fact is, that they learned the skills from Horsman, at his expense. So you can say that they are no ordinary factory workers. Horsman's background idea, or his believe, is that the way forward is to train the youth, to teach them and invest in them and keep them moving non-stop. Another important fact for Horsman is, that everyone must be multiskilled, because all of his employees have to write their own programs for the CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines, and they must be able to set each machine. Horsman owns 7 CNC-machines and manufactures 520 different parts, mostly out of specialty materials like titanium and stainless steel. He attributes his success to the 14-hour days he put in, and the fact that each worker can do every job in the factory. On my point of view, another serious advantage for the success of the factory are the CNC-machines, because the different materials can be processed faster and much more accurately than ever.
