Dan Murunga 
Industry: Roofing Materials
A CertainTeed Roofing Products Division manufacturing facility in Ennis, Texas, utilizes the Weavix platform and walt Smart Radio for enhanced communication. But that’s not all Weavix does for their operation. It has helped them improve productivity and accountability across their 100-plus-employee facility. We sat down with Donald Isidor, the facility’s plant manager, to discuss how Weavix has impacted their workday.
Quote
“I’ve had to manage radios in different roles over 20 years at different plants, and I had a conversation with Motorola at a trade show, and their response was, ‘Hey, it’s a consumable, it breaks, you buy another one,’ and that kind of disappointed me. So now, every employee has their own walt Smart Radio. We plan to have as many radios as we have employees going forward.” — Donald Isidor.
Business Challenge
Donald saw very early that he needed a change when it came to the radios they were using, especially from a cost and convenience perspective, and he saw the value in giving every worker a voice. When they had employees using their personal cell phones inappropriately at work, they decided to implement a cell phone ban, and Weavix was ready to fill that gap. The ban wasn’t only personal, they also needed to protect their proprietary information around the plant.
“We took steps to go ahead and institute a cell phone ban. We have to be careful because our bread and butter is right there. If someone puts out a video of our process, our competitors are going to learn very quickly how we outperform them.” — Donald Isidor.
Why They Chose walt Smart Radio System
The Weavix platform allowed CertainTeed to build accountability not only for their workers but also for their management. In many ways, they were able to give their employees more freedom while also providing the tools to be more efficient.
“We’ve been really happy with the devices. They continue to add value, and it’s good to know the company behind it is committed to innovation and improvement, so it’s going to get even better as we go on. The responsiveness from a customer service standpoint, it’s been really seamless. Unfortunately, it seems to be in short supply. It’s good to see a company stand behind their customers.”— Donald Isidor.
Solution
Donald became an early adopter of the Weavix platform. His love of tech and his need to improve his facility with greater communication compared to traditional radios and cell phones ultimately brought him to the Weavix platform.
Walt vs 2-Way Radios
“We’ve got a young plant, and I love technology, so we jumped in first. It’s a very good device that allows you to communicate in ways that existing two-way radios don’t. Then you get the productivity and safety. We’re using it more and more to communicate when we have plant-wide events like spills or emergencies.”— Donald Isidor.
walt vs Cell Phones
“Many employees were being responsible, using their personal devices that do things that benefit the company. walt allows them to continue to do these value-added things without the distraction of personal cell phones.”— Donald Isidor.
Results
CertainTeed found value in the weavix platform because it added instant accountability, boosted safety, and helped make their entire team more productive.
“The foolishness that can be heard over the radios, the non-value-added talk, immediately stopped. The accountability of knowing that what you’re saying is being transcribed. You aren’t hiding behind it. That changed behavior right away.”— Donald Isidor.
