Aimee Todd Daigle's role as operations manager for Grand Coteau, La.-based Noble Plastics Inc. means she manages all the business units that create value: engineering services, automation and production molding (including maintenance, quality control, scheduling and shipping) for both of its locations. She is also responsible for long-term planning of future capital investments to facilitate growth with customers.
Daigle earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She interned for one summer at Noble, where her brother worked at the time. Post-graduation, she went into the oil field for tooling design, then she returned to Noble. At the time, the company was one-third of the size it is now.
"The problem with a job [at a big company] like that is that it can be somewhat rigid. … A company that large has different types of goals than constant minute improvement, and I was definitely much more interested in that," she said.
Career highlights for Daigle include speaking at industry events such as the Manufacturers Association for Plastics Processors' Benchmarking and Best Practices Conference and being selected as a finalist for Fanuc America's Innovative System of the Year.
"Even though we're a relatively small company both in general and in our industry, I've been able to participate in a lot things that I think wouldn't normally be available to people in similar situations at another company," she said.
"Any time I think about things that are really exciting or that I care about in my career or that I'm proud of, it's usually people that I've worked with. I myself am not a value creator; I've almost always been managing or selling. So sometimes it's being able to see other people accomplish things that you feel like you've been able to help them get there," Daigle said.
Since joining Noble, Daigle has been involved in various industry-specific courses and certifications, such as RJG training, Fanuc robotics training, Sigmasoft, Dale Carnegie course in effective communication and human relations, and the Thayer Leadership course.
Daigle said she enjoys the diversity of her work. "I like helping other people find ways or try things they've never tried before," she said.
She takes pride in feeling like her insight and experience are valued and that others want her involved: "People are like, 'Well, if we're going to talk about that, Aimee needs to be involved.' I'm never the subject matter expert, so it's nice that I have enough time in this industry, in this business and at this company that I have value that I feel like people specifically look for. And that's something that I've always kind of wanted to accomplish. … Being able to be a person like that at our company and in our industry, that people see me as a resource is exciting."