Santa Clarita, California
Meir Alkabaz is a man of many talents. Meir comes from a family of winemakers in Italy, and is a fantastic cook. He tries to go back to visit at least once a year, but it is hard to take time off to make the trip. In his limited free time, Meir likes to ride his motorcycle all over the Southwestern United States. Meir has worked in several different industries, but was exposed 3D printing industry close to 10 years ago. 3D printing itself only became popular about 10 years ago when 3D printers became commercially available.
Meir Alkabaz, thank you for everything that you do. Your enthusiasm for life and desire to share knowledge are so special.
How did you get started in maintenance?
I started my career by spending eight years in the Italian Air Force. I graduated as an Aerodynamics and Electromechanical Technician and went into the CNC industry. I left that CNC company and started working for 3M, which is where I was first exposed to lasers and the same type of 3D printing technology that I work on now with Stratasys Direct Manufacturing.
Today, Meir has been with Stratasys for nearly seven years. When I first got to Stratasys, the maintenance department was made up of contractors who we would call to do everything. I worked with the Director of Maintenance at the time to develop the department internally so we could give support to all the technologies that we use. The maintenance team now has to travel at least once a month to other facilities and service their needs – we became the contractors.
I also helped write and build Stratasys’ first CMMS. We couldn’t find anything that could relate to our needs and what we do, so we had to make our own. We needed flexibility in inventory and tracking and assets’ history to be able to centralize everything.
What is one of your proudest achievements?
One of the things in my personal life that I’m most proud of is being a single dad of three daughters. It was rough at times, but the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done and it’s made me who I am today. At work, I came up with a way to change the lighting in the manufacturing plant, and we were able to save $8,000 every month in electrical bills. I’m glad we saved money, but I’m more proud that I improved everyone’s efficiency.
What is one thing you wish people knew about your job?
It’s the little things that matter. I have so many ideas about how to change things to save money and become more efficient and shorten downtime of the machines and I want the opportunity to share them all. It’s not even about the money, I just want the appreciation for the small things we do to help the whole operation run smoothly.
I treat this place like it’s my home. I would just love to be able to pass on my passion and to share my experience. I want to share everything I know because I know that it can benefit the team.