At Harper Engineering , employees bring their best to every job . Mike Lindgren , vice president of sales and marketing , said that if you think about some of America ’ s biggest companies , there are ones that stand apart because of employee commitment — for example , Costco , Microsoft , and Boeing . He counts Harper in that league , regarding its outstanding commitment from personnel .
He said , “ There is a certain amount of effort required , and then there is discretionary effort .” He added that it is about hiring people with a strong work ethic that are willing to go the extra mile . Company leadership expects high quality , so they work to hire and retain high performing people . Harper Engineering ’ s primary focus is customer satisfaction . According to Lindgren , “ Perfect quality and perfect delivery can only be achieved when you have a team of high performing people .”
Boeing is satisfied with Harper Engineering ’ s work and according to Boeing , they have been a supply chain partner for the Boeing Company for more than 50 years .
Another employee , Ryan Funk , regional sales manager , who is an engineer and now works in sales , also believes in the commitment of staff , and the high quality of work produced in the company .
Funk said , “ When I was younger , I wanted to work on a ‘ big thing ’ — the wings , or the engine — something that everyone knows about .” But he said that much of Harper ’ s work is unseen in the aircraft interior , “ There is an incredible amount of work in the background that keeps people safe , that MUST work .”
He added that due to the engineering solutions and company commitment , “ Our products may not be the most important thing on the aircraft , but if they do their job , we never hear about them — that ’ s our goal .”
Harper Engineering ’ s products are flying on all of Boeing ’ s commercial programs , including the 737 , 747 , 767 , 777 and 787 . Harper also has product flying on most Airbus , Embraer , Regional Jet and some military applications including the Chinook and Apache helicopters .
Harper normally produces upwards of 70,000 components per month for new aircraft , although both Lindgren and Funk said , 2020 was a little different regarding production numbers due to COVID-19 and other industry challenges .
32 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS