Goodwin-Bradley Pattern Co. | Overall Excellence | Fewer than 50 Employees
From working with Henry Ford on the Model T to providing the key component for the nation’s aerospace projects, fourth-generation manufacturer Goodwin-Bradley Pattern Co. has spent the last 105 years staying on the cutting edge.
“We’ve never selected the road more traveled,” said President Robert Goodwin. “A lot of things we take on, others have rejected. We haven’t played it safe. We see opportunity and it’s more fun to take on the challenges.”
Goodwin-Bradley started in 1912 in metal casting, but now its products include molds and tool making, manual machining, compression and rubber molds, patterns and casting, prototypes, trimming and machining, CNC, CMM, and metrology and inspections.
By continually reassessing the market, investing in new equipment and training, and following the theory that their employees can make just about anything, the Providence manufacturer is strategically positioned to grow the business.
“I’ve never seen the manufacturing environment this exuberant,” said Chris Goodwin, Robert’s son and vice president of sales. “It’s crazy how many things are being built right now. I’m not sure if it’s military buildup or tax code incentives … but I was waiting for this boom to happen. I was told by customers it was coming.”
The company employs 17 people, and as new equipment is developed and added will need people who can program, run and monitor it.
“It’s very hard to find people who are skilled at what we do,” said Chris Goodwin. “Our guys can take any kind of print or CAD (computer aided design) file and make anything.”
This type of highly skilled technical machining is high pressure, says Chris Goodwin. There is very little lead time and there is no room for mistakes. So, Goodwin-Bradley invests in people who are committed to learning the trade. Management teams receive leadership training such as strategic planning, analyses, job costing and estimating, and the front-line receives accelerated training as well. He says manufacturing programs are good feeders into the workforce, but the on-the-job internships and mentoring make the difference.
“It’s not an individual effort,” said Robert Goodwin. “It’s a team.”
The Goodwin family takes pride in the investment they make in their people. Half of the staff has been with the company for more than 20 years. And Goodwin takes pride in the company tradition of making adjustments so that no one is ever laid off during down years.
“We foster a family environment,” said Robert Goodwin. “We care about our employees and try to help them out during hard times or bumps in the road.”
Along with relationships within the company, the Goodwins look to work with others in the industry.
In 2014 Goodwin-Bradley instituted a collaboration program “to promote conversation, collaboration and innovation among Rhode Island manufacturers who, typically, had seen and treated other members of the collaboration strictly as competitors.”
Chris Goodwin says the company realized the benefits of collaborating with others on bids so each could play to their strong suit. The intention was to allow each collaborating company to take on bigger projects single companies otherwise would not be able to handle due to either lack of manpower or equipment to handle the bid requirements.
“The last thing we want to do with a new customer is say we are too busy,” Chris Goodwin said.
Chris credits his dad, now 70, with using his computer-systems background in getting the business to where it is today.
“Dad came into the business at age 34, after years in New York City working in the insurance industry,” he said. “My father started the technology revolution. Without him, the business would have gone under.
“My father is a big-time reader,” he added. “He started reading every book and magazine on manufacturing he could get his hands on. He taught himself to work the CNC machine by learning the manuals.”
