Kapco Promotes Hani Malek to Chief Operating Officer

November 1, 2021 | Press Release

Continuing Focus on Strategic Growth and Innovation

GRAFTON, WI – Kapco Metal Stamping today announced that Hani Malek has been appointed the company’s first Chief Operating Officer after a successful nine-year tenure as Vice President of Corporate Development.

During his time with Kapco, Malek has been instrumental in driving Kapco’s growth through strategic planning, new business development, and culture-building. In his new role, he will continue to help lead the organization forward as it continues to invest in innovative manufacturing technology, including an Industry 4.0 roadmap that will position Kapco as a manufacturing leader in the Midwest.

Over the last decade, Kapco has experienced dramatic growth, expanding its manufacturing footprint throughout Wisconsin with six facilities in Grafton, Osceola, Port Washington, and most recently, a state-of-the-art facility in Germantown. With more than 600,000-square-feet of manufacturing space across all locations, Kapco is one of the largest contract manufacturers in the nation. Additionally, the organization has grown to nearly 600 employees while impacting the lives of thousands more through outreach efforts, philanthropy, and special events.

“Being part of a team that is so committed to stability and growth – in a variety of ways – is one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire career,” Malek said. “Whether that is through new business, new equipment, and innovation, or helping our people and team grow both personally and professionally, helping to continue leading those efforts as COO is a major point of pride for me and a responsibility I cherish.”

“Hani’s work ethic, ability to connect with people and his incredible attention to detail have been a critical component to the growth of Kapco,” said Jim Kacmarcik, chairman and CEO of Kapco. “Hani is a living, breathing reflection of our core values, and I couldn’t ask for a better person to help drive the innovation and change that we have planned as we continue to grow.”

Malek, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, lives with his family in Cedarburg.

About Kapco Metal Stamping

Kapco, Inc. manufactures metal components with our highly skilled team and state-of-the-art technology for customers needing stamping, fabrication, and welding. Based in Grafton, Wisconsin and founded in 1972, Kapco is trusted by leading brands in diverse industries across the country.

Safety in the Face of COVID-19

December 10, 2020 | Press Release

Kapco: How Companies Can Adapt to Working in an Ever-Changing COVID-19 Environment The COVID-19 pandemic has differing impacts on businesses of all types across all industries. In the manufacturing space, specifically, it has influenced changes in the supply chain, put extra pressure on suppliers and partners, and prompted operations to take a close look at health and safety protocols to ensure those practices are aligning with the findings and advice of medical experts. As a result, companies have had to quickly adapt to an ever-changing COVID-19 environment. This article highlights factors that allowed companies to endure the impact of the pandemic, the importance of investing in technology that enhances employee safety and productivity, and employee training for the future Factors That Enabled Companies to Endure the Tough Times 

The companies that have been most successful in handling safety and health considerations to keep operations running during the pandemic were prepared to react quickly and thoroughly from the start.

Some of the factors that positioned businesses well to weather the initial months of the pandemic include the following:

• Having extra inventory of sanitation materials and personal protective equipment (PPE). This includes products like hand sanitizer, disinfecting cleaners, and face masks. Organizations that were stocked up for the traditional flu season benefit ted from being prepared. However, as all companies operate under this new normal for an unknown period of time, it is best practice to make sure your company is well stocked with sanitization and safety materials.
  • Other sanitation practices that companies embraced include spacing shift changes by at least 30 min to ensure the entire facility — shops, equipment, bathrooms, and lunchrooms — can be properly disinfected.
• Acting quickly and appropriately. When medical experts and epidemiologists make recommendations, companies should react appropriately, even when those recommendations change with new information. There is certainly a significant cost associated with making hard decisions that change the norm of an operating environment. However, companies that reacted quickly to the facts and information related to the pandemic made difficult choices, such as discontinuing in-person department meetings, customer and vendor visits, and travel between internal offices and business sites.
  • Those interactions continued virtually unless absolutely necessary, in which case appropriate mask wearing and social distancing guidelines were followed. Employees in the industry who were able to get their jobs done remotely embraced the work from-home norm. Meanwhile, those skilled workers responsible for the welding and manufacture of many of the products that companies produce were supplied with face masks and PPE while social distancing mandates were enacted.
• Maintaining a diverse set of skilled workers. Organizations with a diverse skill range of welders were able to react swiftly at the onset of the pandemic. Take for example an organization that may have seen initial demand changes when the full realization of the pandemic’s impact took hold. By having welders with a diverse skill range, organizations can toggle output capacity without significant layoffs due to the variety of roles and responsibilities within their staff. Less experienced welders can operate welding robots while more experienced welders can assist those team members with robot setups, programming, inspections, and quality control.

  Additionally, the most experienced and skilled welders can continue executing manual welding work. That skill balance affords the flexibility to rightsize to meet demand without having to change employment levels or adjust hiring practices, even during times of great uncertainty. To read the full article in Welding Journal, check out the Digital Edition here.

KAPCO LAUNCHES CONCERT SERIES

July 24, 2020 | Press Release

Kapco Metal Stamping Supports Music, Local Charities in Greater Milwaukee Community During Pandemic

By Rick Barrett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

With music venues closed across the country because of the pandemic, a Grafton manufacturing company stepped up to offer drive-in concerts.

It’s just one of many things Kapco Metal Stamping has done, for decades, to support the Milwaukee area from its home base in Grafton.

Kapco manufactures metal components for a diverse set of customers needing stamping, fabrication and welding. As a family-owned business founded in 1972, the company now employs about 500 people, mostly in Grafton.

The company has customers in industries including military and heavy equipment, agricultural machinery, consumer products, recreational equipment, and commercial lighting.

It manufactures, for example, the handlebars on snow throwers and the seat pan of garden tractors.

For prospective employees: “First and foremost I would tell them we are safe. We are safe enough that if I wanted one of my children to work at this plant, I would absolutely trust it,” Wenger said.

We make thousands of different metal components that might be stamped, cut on a laser, bent in a press brake, machined or welded, and those are sent to customers for final assemblies,” said Jenny Wenger, senior director of talent and organizational development.

Read the full article via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here.

Kapco Named Wisconsin Top Workplace

July 24, 2020 | Press Release

Kapco Metal Stamping Named Wisconsin Top Workplace as Top-Quality Metal Products Spur Decades of Growth

Jesscia Levy for Journal Sentinel

Kapco Metal Stamping started as a husband-and-wife team in 1972 and today has grown to more than 400 employees. Kapco is a growing organization committed to innovation, people and the future of manufacturing.

They manufacture metal components for industry-leading brands in need of stamping, fabrication, welding and other metal solutions.

With four facilities and 500,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehousing space, Kapco currently ships over 120,000 made-to-order parts to 40 states, Canada and Mexico.

“Our consistent growth is contributed to many factors, but the most important is our people,” said Jim Kacmarcik, President of Kapco. “We have a passionate and hard-working team who partners with our customers in developing the most efficient and innovative way to manufacture their components. Our success and growth are truly driven by teammates who live and breathe our core values every day.”

For full coverage, head to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s website for more.