CENTRAL POINT, ORE—Microvellum recently wrapped up its Boot Camp 2024 event, held from April 23rd to 25th at the company's headquarters in Central Point, Oregon. The event underscored Microvellum's dedication to its team and core values: authenticity, creating positive outcomes, and delivering reliable service.
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Microvellum Hosts Boot Camp 2024: Cultivating Core Values and Collaboration
Bringing together team members from across the globe – including the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand – Boot Camp 2024 provided a unique opportunity for collaboration and growth. The event kicked off with an insightful opening presentation from Microvellum's President, David Fairbanks, who highlighted recent achievements, improvements, and the overall state of the business, setting a tone of optimism and determination.
Throughout the boot camp, participants engaged in a variety of activities aimed at enhancing teamwork, innovation, and personal development. From team-building exercises to product engineering challenges, every activity was designed to reinforce Microvellum's core values and foster a culture of excellence.
A special highlight of the event was the presence of guest speaker John Felkins, Executive Director of Entreleadership at Ramsey Solutions. Felkins shared valuable insights into how specific personality traits such as tenacity, invention, wonder, galvanizing, enablement, and discernment can influence how we work and collaborate within teams.
“One of the most impactful aspects of this year's Boot Camp was the opportunity for individuals who don't typically work together to collaborate and share knowledge.” Commented Brent Morris, Microvellum’s Professional Services Manager. “By leveraging the unique personalities and skills of each team member, we were able to work together to solve complex, out-of-the-ordinary engineering tasks in creative ways... and it was a blast!”.
The team challenge pushed the boundaries of creativity and innovation. Participants split into groups and were tasked with developing unusual products using Toolbox, Microvellum's AutoCAD-based design for manufacturing software. The challenge encouraged teams to think outside the box and explore unconventional ideas. From unusual items such as a pair of miter fold dice and a set of pyramid salt and pepper shakers to a parametric MDF BBQ tray, laundry basket, birdhouse, and a boomerang to mention a few, teams unleashed their creativity to produce products that would likely never be seen in traditional woodworking projects.
"We could have built custom cabinets, reception areas, closets, or other types of typical products, but why? We wanted to challenge ourselves using the software features used to build those typical products, just using them in new ways and have a little fun in the process."
Leveraging specific machining and parametric construction options, participants in the team challenges pushed the limits of what was possible, showcasing the versatility and power of Microvellum's software. This exercise not only demonstrated the capabilities of Toolbox but also fostered a spirit of experimentation, collaboration, and learning among team members.
"Boot Camp 2024 not only strengthened bonds within our company, but it also laid the groundwork for continued growth and success as a team on a mission to help woodworkers continue to streamline the way they work."
