{"504851":{"#nid":"504851","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Passion for engineering drives success in manufacturing","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESarah Daly considers herself fortunate to have found her calling early. Having a natural affinity for math and science, she has always loved being able to study things, take them apart and fix them. It\u2019s no surprise then, that she became an engineer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe spark came early. In a high school physics class, Daly, the youngest of three, so impressed her high school physics teacher on a project requiring that students build a catapult, that she encouraged her to pursue engineering. \u201cAfter class, my teacher stopped me and told me that I desperately needed to be an engineer,\u201d Daly said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDaly listened to that advice and followed her father and sister-in-law\u2019s examples to pursue a degree in engineering. Today, Daly is plant manager of FiberVisions\u2019 plant in Covington, Georgia. The company is the world\u2019s largest producer of polypropylene staple fiber for nonwoven consumer and industrial products.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDaly also is the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership\u2019s (GaMEP) February Face of Manufacturing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe and the other 365,000 Georgians who work in the manufacturing industry are critical to the success of the Georgia economy. Her story is one example of how those who have made a career in manufacturing help their communities remain economically competitive.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor Daly, her first few years in manufacturing centered around process engineering and managing capital projects \u2014 large-scale endeavors for process and product improvement. She partnered with many different groups across the company, including operations, engineering, maintenance, and safety.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI had great mentors and they wanted me to get project management experience,\u201d Daly said. \u201cOn the first project I led, my team came in so far ahead of schedule and under budget, the company started giving me larger projects to manage.\u201d That project management experience would serve her later in her career, when she moved to Atlanta and joined FiberVisions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs FiberVisions\u2019 plant manager, a role to which she was promoted 1\u00bd years after joining the company, Daly leads a team of 70 people, including 12 direct reports and four operating crews. \u201cI went from never managing anyone before to managing more than 70 people and many of them had been working at the plant longer than I\u2019d been alive,\u201d she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe promotion made her a little nervous; it would be a role unlike any other she held. And even though her bosses felt she was ready to lead the plant, it would be the first time she would have to manage people.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDaly reached out to one of her mentors for advice. \u201c\u2018This position is out of your comfort zone, but don\u2019t stick with something just because you are comfortable with it,\u2019\u201d Daly recounted her mentor saying. \u201c\u2018By staying on the same path, you may never learn where you can make the most difference.\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDaly continues to build a cohesive group across the FiberVisions plant and grow her team. \u201cI have extremely talented and capable people working at our plant and it\u2019s important for me to get them the resources they need, be an advocate for them to advance their careers, and just be their biggest supporter.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2014 P\u00e9ralte C. Paul\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Each month the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership profiles Georgians who play a critical role in the industry."}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2016-02-22 16:42:04","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:49","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-02-23T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-02-23T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"504691":{"id":"504691","type":"image","title":"Sarah Daly - February Face of Manufacturing 2016","body":null,"created":"1456340400","gmt_created":"2016-02-24 19:00:00","changed":"1476799173","gmt_changed":"2016-10-18 13:59:33","alt":"","file":{"fid":"204804","name":"image-0688-revised.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/image-0688-revised_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/image-0688-revised_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1769923,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/image-0688-revised_0.jpg?itok=ypUwWv5_"}}},"media_ids":["504691"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/facesofmanufacturing.com\/","title":"Faces of Manufacturing"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"}],"keywords":[{"id":"121581","name":"Faces of Manufacturing"},{"id":"169963","name":"FiberVisions"},{"id":"16331","name":"GaMEP"},{"id":"136201","name":"Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership"},{"id":"169964","name":"Sarah Daly"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EContact Information\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFor media inquiries contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaura Diamond\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFor more information about GaMEP contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKatie Takacs\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGaMEP Marketing Manager\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:katie.takacs@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekatie.takacs@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["peralte.paul@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}