ITW Tomco Case Study

I used to work at ITW Tomco, before my first daughter was born. I worked there as a unit operator for about three years. I was on second shift for a little over a year then moved to first shift after building up enough seniority. I worked other jobs too but they were all in the Philippines. They were all contractual so they didn’t last longer than six months. Because ITW Tomco is my longest work history so far, I will be discussing its communication climate here.
Tomco is a manufacturer of automotive parts, doing different sensor components. It is located in the East Industrial Park of Kendallville, Indiana, about half an hour northeast of Fort Wayne. A multinational company, Illinois Tool Works, bought out Tomco a few years back and thus it became to be known as ITW Tomco. ITW, or Illinois Tool Works, has 49,000 employees worldwide with reported revenues of $14.5 billion in 2014. When I quitted in 2011, there were about 60 employees working for the Kendallville plant. (About ITW, 2015)
For a company the size of ITW, hierarchy and bureaucracy in the organizational operation is to be expected. And so, ours was a very tall organization. Our plant manager answered to another manager stationed in Bryan, Ohio. The Bryan, Ohio manager answered to another manager from Illinois. Who the Illinois manager answered to, I

I started work on second shift and the atmosphere there was quite relaxed. Todd, the shift supervisor, was approachable. He was trustworthy and he seemed like he knew what he was doing. He made communicating issues with him easier because he acted like he was willing to listen. All the other employees felt more open to each other and more honest. Every one worked harder. From the quality lab to the production floor, it felt like everyone was on the same page. There was less friction. Perhaps this was owed to Todd and the atmosphere that he has set for his slice of the