BLOUGH INC.: From Turnover to Transformation: Blough Inc.’s Leadership Journey to Operational Excellence

Founded in 1962 in Lowell, Michigan, with just three employees, Blough Inc. has grown into a veteran-owned industry leader, now operating out of a 50,000-square-foot, climate-controlled facility. Today, the company serves more than 15 industries, leveraging advanced automated and robotic technologies. Blough is widely recognized for its high-quality metal finishing capabilities across a range of materials, including zinc, aluminum, stainless steel, cold-rolled steel, brass, and copper. With a team of 90 employees, Blough supports clients in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, motorcycle, appliance, hardware, and plumbing.

Situation: A significant challenge the company faced in recent years was an alarmingly high and costly turnover rate. Upper management identified that low employee morale contributed to this turnover problem. It was clear that a key area for improvement was formal leadership training for the operations management team. This gap in leadership skills hindered management’s ability to mentor and engage with employees effectively. In turn, this fostered a negative work environment that hurt overall employee attitude and morale. In the previous year, the company incurred $148,000 in temporary labor costs to meet its customer commitments due to this turnover issue.

Solution: By participating in the Supervisor Leadership User Group through the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC), Blough Inc. gained valuable insights into best business practices, explored new technologies and approaches to supervisor challenges, received training in supervisor tools and business acumen, and completed targeted work projects aligned with group learning objectives. Additionally, Blough underwent Internal Audit Training, which provided the knowledge to conduct audits in accordance with the ISO 9001:2015 standard, allowing them to verify compliance, identify improvement opportunities, and prepare a management summary useful for registration audits.

Results: The benefits of the training received were evident and palpable from the very beginning, after our operations management team began this leadership training class. They returned to work each time with renewed energy, a smile, a positive attitude, and valuable information to share that they had learned from the various workplace tours and through the networking and relationships built during the class sessions.

• 14.6% reduction in turnover, resulting in $228,000 in cost savings ($80,000 in hiring/training, $148,000 in temp labor).
• Improved safety, with Total Recordable Injury Rate dropping from 28.45 in 2023 to 0 in 2025.
• Higher productivity and schedule attainment, increasing from 94% to 99%, which contributed to $300,000 in additional revenue.
• Investments in plant equipment and workforce practices yielded $16,000 in measurable improvements.
• 90 jobs retained, securing a stable workforce.

Testimonial

"Working with MMTC transformed our organization from the ground up. Their Supervisor Leadership User Group and targeted training programs directly addressed our critical turnover crisis, delivering exceptional ROI. Most importantly, our management team now thinks strategically about business impact while fostering a culture of employee engagement and development. The $544,000 in quantifiable benefits far exceeded our investment, but the real value lies in building sustainable leadership capabilities that will drive our continued growth."

Sean Larkin, CEO, Blough Inc.