An Interview with John Huelsman
Author:
March 2007
What does Midmark do?
Midmark Corporation is a privately owned healthcare products manufacturer for the Medical, Dental, and Veterinary markets. Our products include such items as power and manual examination tables, sterilizers, casework/cabinetry, lighting, seating, electrocardiograms, analgesia, and dental operatories. Most products are manufactured at our headquarters in Versailles, OH and we have subsidiaries in France, California, and New York as well. For more information go to www.midmark.com.
How did you end up at Midmark and what are your responsibilities?
My wife and I were living and working in the Dayton area when we made the decision to relocate closer to where we both grew up to be near family, friends, and to raise our family. I’m referring to the Mercer County area of Ohio where my wife and I were both raised. I found an opportunity with Midmark and was fortunate enough to make the team. I began my career at Midmark in 1996 as an IT Business Consultant working in the Applications Development group. From there I began to lead IT projects, became the Manager of Applications Development, then Director of IT. My current responsibilities include establishing the strategic direction of the IT department, partnering with the business leaders to ensure alignment and added value, and collaborating with IT teammates to help them build successful careers at Midmark.
How does Midmark use IT to improve its business?
The Midmark IT vision statement: “IT will be an accountable business partner committed to adding measurable value to the Midmark enterprise.” We leverage this IT vision statement and our corporate Midmark Production System training, which is based on the Toyota Production System, to partner with the business areas to identify opportunities to improve the business. These opportunities present themselves in many ways, from very small, quick enhancements or “kaizens” to larger, more complicated projects that return value to the company. All while keeping an eye toward the overall corporate strategy and vision to ensure alignment.
You are a manufacturing company in a relatively remote part of the state. How do you find the workforce that you need?
From an IT recruitment standpoint, Midmark’s location is both a benefit and a challenge. On the benefit side, our corporate headquarters in Versailles is a modern, attractive facility located in a rural, quiet setting. This is usually appealing to potential teammates once they get the opportunity to experience it through the interview process. However, a challenge is attracting initial interests and responses to our openings as candidates realize we are located approximately 50 minutes northwest of downtown Dayton in a rural location. I believe Midmark overcomes this challenge via its corporate culture, family friendly, modern environment, and commitment to improvement and growth.
What projects are you and your team working on in the next couple of months?
We’ve got some nice challenges ahead of us in 2007. Midmark implemented Oracle as its ERP software back in 2004. We are currently in the middle of working with our business areas on an Oracle application upgrade that is taking a good portion of our time. Once this is complete we will be looking to implement additional Oracle modules to replace some remaining legacy systems and add value. IT will also be working on upgrading or replacing our existing PBX and voicemail systems by the end of the year. In addition, we will be formulating an IT disaster readiness plan that we’ve been putting off for a long time. We’ll also be working with the business areas to develop an EBusiness strategy which will identify opportunities for years to come.
What is your IT Department’s biggest challenge?
Focus. Like all IT departments there is no shortage of things to do. Our biggest challenge is to make sure we are meeting the needs of the business by focusing on the items of work that will bring the most value to Midmark.
In your opinion, what is the most overrated and underrated technologies?
I believe the most underrated technologies are the ones that are essential to sustain the business, but most people seem to take them for granted, such as email, phones, networks, operating systems. They are expected to work all the time and that level of availability doesn’t happen magically. Another technology that we’ve gotten a lot of value from is virtual servers.
If you had a magic wand, what kind of IT environment would you create for Midmark?
No users… just kidding of course! I really like the environment we’ve got right now. We’re moving in the right direction, have great IT teammates that are motivated to grow and improve, and the support of Midmark teammates and executives.
