SMI Culture

Three campuses – ONE SMI.
Although our company encompasses three separate facilities, our employees say that SMI is like a second family to them. Family is at the heart of our “ONE SMI” culture, with brothers and sisters, moms, dads, sons and daughters working together … many for decades. To foster the family feeling, SMI believes in giving back to its employees. We promote from within, providing education and training. Our summer picnic is legendary, followed only by our traditional holiday party. Each Thanksgiving, our employees receive a locally sourced turkey for their tables.

Business Development
On the business side, SMI promotes cross-training across divisions, most recently participating in a company-specific lean manufacturing champion boot camp that was offered through the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center’s Traverse City office at Northwestern Michigan College. The boot camp allowed trainees to step outside of their wheelhouse and identify change opportunities within the company.

Training/Employee Development
SMI is committed to not only business development but also employee development. We utilize Hoshin for Strategic Planning, one element of which is employee training. Each year, SMI’s executive leadership sets a target for how many training hours will be allocated. Then, we identify training/development needs within our business. Through competency modules and annual reviews, each employee’s performance is baselined. From there, we customize individual development plans.