New VP of Engineering at HE&M Saw
Joe Purtle has been promoted to vice president of engineering for the saw manufacturer.
Posted: April 9, 2016
As the new vice president of engineering, Joe Purtle will assist company management in moving HE&M Saw forward, designing new models and using new processes that will enable the company to meet the evolving needs of the metalworking industry.
HE&M Saw Inc. (Pryor Creek, OK) is pleased to announce that Joe Purtle has been promoted to vice president of engineering. He has been a long time employee of the company, originally hired on March 10, 1976 in California by Gerald Harris, the company founder. Purtle moved from California to Pryor when Harris moved the company to Oklahoma in November of that same year.
Purtle has been a very prolific and integral part of the company, starting as an all-around manufacturing worker that was responsible for all welding, sheet metal, and sawing for all the models being manufactured at that time. He had experience in manual mills, lathes, and drill presses that made him a super fit for all the fabrication needs of the operation. This proved to be exactly what the company needed when it moved to Oklahoma and business exploded.
He was then promoted to fabrication supervisor and was pivotal in designing all of the sheet metal configurations that were used on the saw product lines. Purtle was so successful in this aspect that Harris asked him to start designing saw prototypes, which is where he learned how to use SolidWorks design software and 3D modeling.
If one area of the plant slowed, Purtle would be moved to another area, which broadened his experience and enable him to constantly learn new business operations. He learned machine maintenance and, in 2008, was put in charge of the machine shop as supervisor. Two years later he was named the engineering manager, where he was supervising not only processes and employees, but also contributing to the future of the company by designing new systems and saws.
Since his experience and knowledge of HE&M Saw had become so diverse and extensive, in 2013 Purtle was promoted to plant manager, a position he has held successfully until this month, when he was promoted to vice president of engineering. In his new role, he will be assisting Doug Harris, the president and chief executive officer of the company, along with other department heads to move the company forward, designing new models and using new processes that will enable HE&M Saw to meet the evolving needs of the metalworking industry.
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