Mon March 1 08:11 am 2021 in category Company news

He Left a Good Manufacturing Job. Now, He’s Enjoying Life at Nokian Tyres

Brian Hale had a great job in a neighboring county. Now, he couldn’t imagine working anywhere other than Nokian Tyres’ Dayton Factory

DAYTON, Tenn. – Brian Hale was happy. The Rhea County resident was working as a quality engineer at an automotive factory 45 minutes from home. He wasn’t looking to change jobs.

“When I first heard about the Nokian Tyres factory coming to Dayton, I thought, ‘that’s cool, it’s gonna be good for the area and close to home,’” Hale said. “But I had a very good job handling some big projects and was having a lot of fun.”

But he kept hearing about how clean, high-tech and sustainable the $360 million tire production facility was going to be. Eventually, he applied to be a quality engineer on the factory’s launch team. Nearly two years later, he hasn’t looked back.

“I had always thought I’d love to be part of a plant launch and use my skill set to take things to the next level,” said Hale. “And my drive time went from 45 minutes to about 10 minutes. That was also a huge plus for me.”

Nokian Tyres opened the Dayton Factory in 2019 and is ramping up production there, with full capacity of approximately four million tires per year expected once ramp-up is complete. The global tire company is adding nearly 150 workers to its team in the first half of the year, and candidates can apply at NokianTires.com/DaytonFactory. Hale has deeply enjoyed contributing his skills to the growing team.

“When you walk in here and see the latest and greatest equipment… even on our bad days, my departments are cleaner than the better factories I worked at,” Hale said. “And I don’t have a boss breathing down my neck saying, ‘do this exact thing this exact way.’ What I have is support from leadership to help define, measure and analyze the issue. We have the opportunity to make some really cool things happen here.”

As the factory’s workforce has grown, Hale has seen team members grow, too.

“We have some very bright people, and I’m seeing them do well and apply for promotions. Some of them are getting that opportunity,” Hale said. “To have the confidence to pull from within is a huge deal for me. I do not want to work for a company that only hires from the outside and doesn’t take its production operators very seriously.”

Nokian Tyres holds its products to a high standard, and Hale is a critical line of defense in the production process. His perspective has given him extreme faith in the company’s tires – and in the quality of his workplace.

“I have high confidence in the products we’re making,” said Hale. “We have growing pains like anywhere else, but we also have a lot of good people who want us to succeed and are helping us one step at a time.”

Hale may have been satisfied at his previous company. But now, he couldn’t be happier he gave Nokian Tyres’ Dayton Factory a chance.

“What I like the most is the freedom I have to make things better,” Hale said. “What I wanted and what Nokian Tyres wanted came together and couldn’t have made a better puzzle piece.”

Anyone who is interested in working at Nokian Tyres’ Dayton Factory can apply for open positions at NokianTires.com/DaytonFactory.