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Employee retirement marks
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[OCT. 8, 2003]  This week dawns a new era in the history of a Lincoln manufacturer. The end of last Monday marked the end of a generation. The last original employee from Cutler-Hammer Inc. retired.

At the end of his last day Ward Brining was picked up in a 1956 car and taken to a party in his honor at the Lincoln Depot. It was in 1958 that Brining was hired as the 10th employee in the new plant. He walked into the plant the day the company opened its doors on July 7 and began his new career as a mailroom clerk.

As the years went by Brining built his skills and became a valuable asset to his co-workers and the company. In the 45 years from when he started, things changed a lot.

He went from clerk in the mailroom to key puncher in the tab department to information technician in data processing, and when he retired he was in what is now called information technology, working as systems analyst and network administrator.

While Brining was always noted as a good employee, IT manager Jan Taylor said that he was admired for his good work ethic. "He was always there, no matter what," Taylor said.

Brining would lead with the attitude "Let's just pitch in and get it done," and when problems arose he would say, "Let's go on and get it finished."

One of his noted contributions came in the early '90s as manufacturers across the country made a shift in management style. The plant operated on a piece rate, where employees came in and worked assembly lines doing one thing only (piecework) and then punched a clock and went home.

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Cutler-Hammer then went to a flat hourly rate with payroll and labor reporting. Brining helped the transition by developing "cell work technology." In cell work technology a group works as a team to increase the quantity and quality of production. If someone is falling behind, rather than hold everything up, the group is responsible to help them. They watch out for one another and the production output. It is a team effort.

Brining has a unique ability that co-workers relied on for work decisions, and it gained him favor socially. He can remember all kinds of information. He can recall people's names, events, addresses, how something used to be done, who did it, who moved where or bought what. "He was a stickler for details," Taylor said. It made him a great resource person, and people were always going to him even for little things because he remembered everything.

Brining has always had work to do away from work. He had six houses at one time that he was working on refurbishing. Those houses were recently finished and put up for sale. His future plans are to travel, see family (he's in Texas doing that now) and to work on his yard.

Taylor said, "We're going to miss having him around because he's always been here. We've seen so many people come and go, but he's the last original employee. We're definitely going to miss him."

Happy retirement, Ward Brining! It sounds like you've earned it.

[Jan Youngquist]

 

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