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Best Places to Work in Northern Ontario: Miller Technology

Innovation in products and work environment
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Miller Technology in North Bay is a prime example of an innovative company. 

As a well-known global mining supplier, the company is a designer and manufacturer of mobile equipment including its namesake, the Miller MAX heavy-duty utility vehicle. 

About 85 per cent of its business is in the mining sector with the remaining 15 per cent in other industrial areas, including heavy construction.

Miller also sells, services, and provides parts for other brands in the industry including JCB, Champion, and its best seller, Toyota Land Cruisers. 

Currently, Miller has about 55 employees working in production, sales, maintenance and repair, customer relations, engineering, research and development, and other areas. 

In 2011, the company moved into its new 55,000-square-foot manufacturing plant and head office. The company prides itself on “building strong partnerships through an empowered workforce,” which is fostered through the culture that Miller promotes.

Melissa Nash, who works in administration, said the company offers many perks including Christmas parties, employee benefit packages such as dental and vision, tickets to the North Bay Battalion OHL games, and allowances for safety equipment, including boots and glasses.

“Safety is a top priority here,” Nash said. Miller received over 95 per cent in the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) Ontario’s Workwell program, she said. 

Mining companies, in particular, take note of that since Miller employees are often working within their mines to deliver or service mobile equipment.

Overtime is a reality of working at Miller Technology – though it’s never taken for granted, Nash said. “The manager will go down and have a meeting with them the next day to thank them for their time and show their appreciation.”

Another touch that shows the company cares is its rapid tool replacement policy. 

Technicians can be very particular about their tools. 

“If they use their own tools and it breaks, then the company is quick to replace it,” Nash said. “If they need a tool to get a job done, they can just go and get it.”

Nash said that while talking with other employees about their experience at Miller, comments ranged from talking about the variety and dynamics of the work – every day is different – to enjoying the freedom of experimenting with new ideas. One strong common theme was the camaraderie employees felt.

“It’s a family-run business so it’s family-oriented,” Nash said.

That care and commitment to its employees seems to translate to better customer service. Nash said that she feels the people at Miller Technology go above and beyond every day.

“Today, for example, we sold a machine and we had to take it apart, send it down the hole in the mine, and then rebuild it,” Nash said. That’s not the usual process, of course, and it shows how employees are willing to rise to the challenge. 

“It’s not just, ‘Here’s your machine; pick it up.’”

Being a manufacturer, Miller Technology’s employees can also create custom-made solutions when called upon. One innovation in particular came as a direct result of a customer’s need for better tip control for telehandler equipment such as boom-type forklifts. The engineers at Miller were inspired to create a stability monitoring system that warns the operator when the vehicle’s centre of gravity is veering too close to the tipping point.

The connection between these innovations and a great workplace may not be immediately obvious, but great ideas and products do tend to come from companies that allow their employees more creative freedom. It’s a positive feedback loop that breeds excellence.