Dordan Manufacturing is an engineering-based designer and manufacturer of custom thermoformed product and packaging solutions.
Woodstock, IL - August 2017 - 4th-generation Slavin, Julian Slavin, joins family-owned and operated Dordan Manufacturing as a production assistant this summer at the custom thermoforming company. Julian, 16-years-old, is interested in how things are made and spent his time at Dordan learning about operational flow as structured by Dordan’s ISO 9001:2008 certification. Slavin explains, “You learn a lot about thermoforming by spending time in the plant and observing the workflow from mold prep through production. I can’t wait until next summer when I get to learn more complex skills, like machine set-up, though this will definitely take more than one summer to learn!”
At Dordan Manufacturing, all family members are required to start their employment at the company in production, spending time in tooling and shipping and receiving, thus learning how the company is structured. Only when they have an understanding of Dordan’s services, all housed underneath one roof in Woodstock, IL, are they promoted to other roles at Dordan, like Quality Management, Marketing, and Sales.
Dordan CEO & President Daniel Slavin explains, "While it may be considered old school, that’s how my Dad taught me and that’s the only way to learn: through doing. You can’t be an asset at this company without starting at the bottom, and through hard work and discipline, working your way up. We always promote from within. That’s how I want this company run; with fundamental respect for the entire process and all of the positions, because everyone is an important part of the whole that makes Dordan Manufacturing a great place to work.
Julian’s Dad, Aric Slavin, Sales Manager at Dordan Manufacturing and son of Daniel, comments: “It was nice having him here. It’s great to see another generation showing interest in the family company. And he worked his butt of—working full time, his first real job—it gave him a new appreciation of how hard people work and the value of a dollar. He learned how difficult it is to earn a paycheck and ultimately, saved every penny he made; I couldn’t be more proud.”
And it’s not just the Slavin family who want to continue the multi-generational family-operated legacy at Dordan Manufacturing. This summer, Production Manager Juan Najera’s daughter, Yesenia, also joined Dordan as production support. Our employees’ support of their children’s employment at Dordan speaks to the respectful environment the custom thermoformer has curated through the generations of business.
Above: Left, Julian and Daniel Slavin, 2003; right, Julian, summer 2017
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Learn more about Dordan's history.