Like any good interviewer, I went to my meeting with Brian Bendig, President and owner of Cavalier Tool and Sales Manager Tim Galbraith, thinking I would get the goods: What is the secret to their success?
I had read about their $9 million dollar, 22,000 square foot facility expansion that occurred in 2017, read about their high-tech equipment, their skilled, cross-trained team, and diversified roster of projects. The hits went on and on.
Then, I noticed something. On the Cavalier website. The secret to their success was right there on the home page. There was a photograph of a Cavalier transport truck, and the secret was printed on its side in 900 point font face: “People. Process. Equipment.”
“They are three legs of the same stool,” says Tim Galbraith.
Indeed, Cavalier Tool attracts the best people because it’s widely recognized as a high-tech company that operates with the best equipment. The best equipment is only useful in the hands of a highly skilled workforce. And Cavalier’s process directs these two powerful dynamics with particle beam precision, keeping the projects heading in the right direction.
Personnel and equipment can be purchased. The intangible key to Cavalier’s success can be traced to its culture of innovation and hard work.
“Growing up, I wasn’t interested in the business,” says Brian Bendig, whose father was one of Cavalier Tool’s founders. “I was into cars and wanted to do my own thing.”
Brian’s own thing involved running a thriving car dealership outside of Windsor. But there came a time when his father fell ill and Brian came home to help at Cavalier. There was no plush corner office waiting for him. Brian returned as a member of the sales team, visiting potential customers, drumming up business.
“I put 55,000 kilometers on my car, flew to 26 destinations my first year,” Brian says.
While on the road, Brian saw the projects and equipment used by other companies and brought that knowledge home. Travel continues to play a key role in Cavalier Tool’s evolution.
“We have partners around the world,” Brian explains, “and I make visits to see what they’re doing. We’re interested in ‘what’s next’, and that means not tying ourselves to one industry.”
Cavalier Tool has customers in various different industries: automotive, recreational, consumer, agriculture, heavy, to name a few.
Cavalier’s reputation for having the best technology attracts top trades people. Brand names and specs don’t tell the whole story. On a tour of the plant, I ran into an old friend named Larry who has worked as a CNC operator at Cavalier for the past six months. I asked for his honest opinion of Cavalier’s technology.
“I’ve been in the machining trade close to 25 years,” Larry says, “and I’ve never worked in a shop that’s had such dedication to implementing the best equipment. The five-axis CNC mills we use? When I first started out, these were science fiction. Imagine a master craftsman holding his creation in one hand and a Dremel in the other, shaping his work piece into his vision of what it should look like. These five-axis machines do that.”
Brian has traveled to Germany, Japan, China, India, Italy and Israel searching for next level machine and cutting tools. The asset number on one large machine tool is followed by “BB”, which stands for “Brian Bendig” – the vendor’s hat-tip to how thoroughly Brian had the machine customized for Cavalier’s needs.
The tools on the shop floor are only half the story. The solutions that Cavalier Tool designs require next level software and computers. As it solidifies itself as a leading Industry 4.0 company, Cavalier partners with innovators in different sectors and has commissioned custom software. This delves into propriety, blackbox stuff, which cannot be mentioned here. Suffice it to say, there is a home at Cavalier for digital geniuses who craft their visions in pixels.
Beyond the equipment, Cavalier Tool places high value on its workforce.
“We’re interested in our team’s ideas,” Tim says. “We have a ‘Bright Ideas’ initiative that invites anyone in the company to offer ideas to improve efficiency. When it began, dozens of ideas were submitted. Leadership vetted every single one. In the first two weeks, we implemented more than 40 ideas.”
In order to draw skilled, new talent, Cavalier Tool is active in dispelling the stereotype of the mold shop being a dark and dingy place to work. Today’s high-tech, precision equipment is sensitive to dust and airborne pollutants. Cavalier’s environment is air conditioned, brightly lit, organized and clutter free. And the design suite, where the solutions are born, utilize tools that would make anyone in Silicon Valley sit up and take notice.
As part of its outreach efforts, Cavalier took 500 young adults on tours of its facility last year. Cavalier also works with the Ontario Youth Apprentice Program and the St. Clair College Skilled Trades Regional Training Centre, bringing young people in and providing them with real-world experience.
Although Brian Bendig’s journey to the top of Cavalier Tool has been fortuitous and circuitous, his vision is firmly focused on the future.
“There is just so much opportunity out there,” he says. “Electric vehicles are coming and anyone who wants to get in on the ground floor has missed the boat if they’re not already tooling up to make these new parts.”
When asked if Brian’s father – one of the three original founders of Cavalier Tool – offered him any advice, Brian thinks about it, then rises from his chair.
“That’s a good question,” he says as he goes to his desk. “My father wasn’t really an ‘advice’ guy. My mother, however, gave me these a few years ago on Father’s Day.” Brian returns with a pair of old, black brogues. “These were my father’s shoes. She gave these to me and said, ‘You have big shoes to fill’.”
Learn more about Cavalier Tool at their website: www.cavaliertool.com
