LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A family-owned company has turned to tech to meet the growing manufacturing demands in Kentucky.

Winston Industries, located in Louisville, manufactures equipment that'll eventually land in commercial kitchens. Instead of instructions on pieces of paper, the process is now digitized to help employees work faster and more efficient.

"I like being on my feet. I like moving around," said Angel Stoll, a Winston Employee who joined the team last year. "I didn't think I could do it, you don't usually see women in manufacturing, and that kind of held me back for a little bit. But just go for it."

The floor at Winston Industries includes employees with varying degrees of experience and training.

"There's so many, so many variations on the ovens we make, and the fryers we make. Each one requires specific parts. So it's hard to keep the track right off, but I'm trying to keep up and that that really helps. The PICO really helps," said Rick Hoffman, a Winston Industries employee.

PICO helps maximize efficiency for mid-sized manufacturers.

"It's really a good thing. It's easy, user friendly. It's a great software program," Hoffman said.

The software digitizes the shop floor.

"Every day we're fighting to find a solution for labor. And the reality is, the boomers are retiring, and there's no one to train the people coming in. And basically the technology is allowing me to get Gen Z in really quick, get them trained really quick, and get them running," Shaun Tanner, the CEO of Winston Industries, said. "A paper that they're reading through is not going to give them the tools to succeed."

Winston Industries t-shirt

Winston Industries utilizes new technologies to help employees work faster and more efficient.  

Now work stations can follow directions step-by-step on a screen.

"Being Gen Z, technology is a big part of my life. I use technology everyday," Stoll said. "It makes things easier, especially, again, with PICO, because you have a whole step by step."

Since October 2022, Winston Industries has digitized over 700 processes.

"Automation has this reputation for displacing workers, and it will shift them. But in this factory, for example, as they've added more and more automation in their sheet metal forming, it's driving even more work into the assembly processes that happen on the other end," Ryan Kuhlenbeck, the CEO Co-Founder of PICO, said. "So you're displacing the lower wage work that was just loading machines with higher wage work that is putting together full systems. It's more rewarding. It's more satisfying. You can see your products at the other end."

In other words, the new technology is a solution to attracting more Gen Z workers into the field of STEM during a labor shortage.

"When I train people, I feel like it's easier for them to see on the computer as well, and then I show them," Stoll said.

Tanner also has a different approach to recruiting the next generation. For the most part, his team will train new employees who have zero manufacturing experience.

"One of our pillars of our culture as being authentic and real. We don't believe in corporate ladders. We have about 250 employees. I know most of their names. We have a high turnover rate depending on what month it is, but generally, I want to know everyone's name, and we want every person that comes in to be their true self, because that is the best self, and that's what we push and that helps us retain people," Stoll said. "We have jobs like if you run a press break, you have to have experience running a press break, but if you want to come in and you want to learn manufacturing, we'll get you in. We'll teach you. You don't have to come in with any prior experience and you want to grow."

PICO started in 2019. The software gets updated monthly.

"Every time we make an improvement or a new feature, they get to take advantage of that," Kuhlenbeck said.

The full digital PICO suite costs $1,000 for the software and $1,000 a month for the support services.

"So two grand total, and it covers all of their stations," Kuhlenbeck said.

There is free PICO software for companies with 10 or less workstations. For more information about PICO, click here.

Winston Industries is known for creating the first KFC pressure fryer. For more information about Winston Industries, click here.

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