178 | Business World Magazine |
May 2013
to achieve objectives would prove signifi-
cant to advancing Consolidated Industries
over the years that followed. Staff develop-
ment was equally important in the process.
“We’ve always strived to bring in the most
highly trained, technically-skilled people,”
says Briggs, noting that beyond the various
degreed employees working at Consolidat-
ed, there is also what he describes as “high-
tech blacksmiths.” Briggs says Consolidated
doesn’t simply rely on schools to do the job;
it conducts its own system of schooling, and
views training and staff development as a vi-
tal part of their own operations.
In connecting, honing and building
upon skill sets, Consolidated significantly
expanded its capabilities in both design and
production. Under Wilbur’s leadership, new
product offerings (once limited to six per
year) grew to more than seventy per year. At
one stage, it was determined that as much
as half of the new products had been co-
designed with the customers served by Con-
solidated. This ability to collaborate, to fully
understand the customer requirements and
applications for which their forged materials
must serve, and actually produce the goods
in the quality and time frame demanded, all
speaks to the capability of Consolidated In-
dustries. In fact, Briggs notes there has been
