Scaling Through People
Host Company:
Skutt Ceramic Products is a family-owned manufacturer in Portland, Oregon, that builds ceramic kilns, glass kilns, and pottery wheels. In 1953, father and son Ralph and Neil Skutt created the industry’s first multi-sided hobby kiln, a lightweight design that made firing ceramics at home practical for the first time. Today, Skutt’s American-made products are sold worldwide through distributors to potters, glass artists, schools, studios, and manufacturers. More than 70 years in, the company remains focused on quality and service, recognizing that everything fired in a Skutt kiln, from a child’s first project to a professional’s commissioned piece, matters to its maker.
Tour Summary:
Over the last 20 months, Skutt Ceramic Products has experienced significant growth and has worked deliberately to scale their operation to meet it. Their challenge was how to increase capacity quickly while also facing a significant turnover problem. With production heavily dependent on skilled assemblers and machine operators, they needed to look at new ways to invest in their people.
That commitment has changed how they recruit, how their production teams are structured, and how they train. It led them to build a dedicated training department around Training Within Industry (TWI), along with clear skill progressions and a new skill-based pay program. They’ve made real progress, increasing capacity significantly in nine months, though they’re not without the growing pains that come with scaling quickly.
This visit isn’t a showcase. It’s a candid look at what they tried, what’s working, what isn’t working yet, and what they’d do differently. You’ll walk the floor, see training in action, hear directly from their team members, and join an open conversation about the challenges many of us share.
Who should attend? Anyone curious about how cultures are created and the importance of committing to executing your strategy. HR leaders, manufacturing leaders, CI professionals, and change leaders within your organization can all benefit.ssionals, project managers, process engineers, and leaders.
Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Time: 8:00am – 11:30am
Location: Skutt Ceramic Products, 6441 SE Johnson Creek Blvd, Portland (map link)
Registration: Email jennifer@nwhpec.com, include name, email, job title. Initially limited to two attendees per company.
Cost: no cost (available to NWHPEC members only)