Todd Rima | Vice President of Sales and Operations
For decades, Universal Engraving (UE) has been a world-renowned leader in the engraved die manufacturing industry. Two contributors to our success include Austin Hutchison and Todd Rima. Austin is our Vice President of Manufacturing, and Todd is our Vice President of Sales and Operations.
Austin’s role at UE is to make sure we have the materials, people, resources, facilities, and equipment required to produce our products at the level of quality our customers have grown to expect. Austin grew up alongside the company and has assumed several positions over the years, including CNC operator, rotary manager, and director of manufacturing.
Todd, on the other hand, looks after both operations and sales aspects of the company. This is no small feat, as UE serves clients in several countries and continents, including Australia, New Zealand, China, Thailand, Russia, mainland Europe, England, and South America. Todd has also worked in several areas throughout his tenure with UE, such as operations, purchasing, sales, and international market growth. With Todd’s wide range of experience, he champions the oversight necessary to effectively have sales and operations run in parallel.
At UE, we run a very “lean” operation. We utilize all of our resources, including our employees, equipment, and materials, in the most efficient manner possible to produce the high-quality products that we are known for across the globe. We hold ourselves to the highest standards when getting our customers their products on time. Our turnaround times are the greatest in the industry, and because you can find our clientele all over the globe, we have to accommodate vastly different time zones.
Our copper dies typically leave the facility within six hours of receiving the order, and our brass dies leave within two to three days. Thus, we have had to adjust our operations to mimic our customers’ order patterns. Our busiest time is from 3 PM to 8:30 PM, so the majority of our workforce operates from around noon to 9 PM to keep up with this demand. “We are extraordinarily proud of the entire UE team for helping us achieve our 98.65% on-time delivery rate,” said Austin.
Austin Hutchison | Vice President of Manufacturing
According to Austin, there is no such thing as wasted time, wasted resources, and wasted processes; these are merely opportunities to improve the company and serve our customers more effectively. It is our culture to improve our processes and achieve operational excellence by recognizing missteps and seizing opportunities. We have always seen ourselves as the yes company, and our previous and current customers echo this sentiment. Whatever our customers need, we will do everything in our power to try and make that happen.
Companies seek out our products and services because they want to increase the visual presence of their products and gain an advantage over their competitors. We help them do this through the use of product enhancements like engraved textures, UnifraxionⓇ, embossing, and eye-catching foil-stamped images. Wine and spirit labels, greeting cards, packaging, playing cards, CBD and marijuana packaging, stationery, health and beauty packaging, and pharma are just a few of the markets we serve.
Studies have shown that products have a fraction of a second to capture the attention of consumers. Our industry-leading enhancements can add flash and flair or subtle eye-catching effects to your products to help achieve attention-grabbing success.
Another pillar of the operational excellence that we have constructed over the years is our world-class customer support team. Our customer care truly helps elevate us over other engraved die manufacturers. From the moment they place their order to after we deliver the die and beyond, our customers receive the best possible care the industry has to offer. The incredible members of our customer service team are well-trained and focus on the right details and they play an integral role to ensure customer satisfaction. We cannot thank them enough.
Of course, a significant way we have maintained operational excellence, since the company’s inception, is our constant drive to improve the products we offer to our customers. We have developed numerous time-saving and process-improving technologies that we sell to our customers to improve their own operations. We are also constantly refining our own operations to improve the service we provide. We devote a lot of time and resources to our research and development team so that they can continue to develop revolutionary and innovative products.
At Universal Engraving, we set our expectations based on our customers’ demands and wants. We hold ourselves to uncompromising standards because that is what our customers have come to expect from us. Anything less would be unacceptable.
Partner with Universal Engraving!
Universal Engraving, a member of the UEI Group, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of engraved dies, including copper and brass sheet-fed dies, solid and flexible rotary tools, and narrow web flatbed dies. In addition to our state-of-the-art dies, we also offer advanced lock-up technology to quicken the hot stamping process.
With decades of collective industry expertise, we have forged ahead as leaders, creating countless solutions and opportunities for our customers. Our engraved metal dies and die lock-up systems are used to enhance and add value to thousands of diverse products. Reach out to us today if you are interested in our products!