Valley Forge & Bolt Chief Operating Officer Bret Halley started his career in aviation but later switched gears.
Joining Valley Forge in 1994, Halley found his fit growing the company and its load-indicating fasteners. BIC Magazine recently spoke with Halley to learn more about Valley Forge's accomplishments and how a good team makes balancing work easy.
Q: What led to your position at Valley Forge?
A: My career began in aviation working as a mechanic. The cyclical nature of the business wasn't ideal for me, so I decided to pursue my bachelor's degree in finance. It was during this transitional period that Valley Forge happened to offer an opportunity in maintenance, and I went to work rebuilding equipment.
As I completed my degree, I saw an opportunity to grow the business - to build on its beginnings as an entrepreneurial, family-owned enterprise, implement new structures and take the company to another level. I'm proud of what we've accomplished. We changed the corporate model with systematic approaches to maintenance, sales and production. It has allowed us to expand without losing sight of what made us unique.
Q: What is the biggest news at Valley Forge right now?
A: Load-indicating fasteners, which give our customers the ability to verify the tension of bolted joints, are huge not just for us but for the world. When you're trying to figure out critical load on a joint, these fasteners provide the solution. Some of our customers have had leaks throughout their plants' histories and issues with restarts and maintenance outages. We've supplied load-indicating fasteners for their joints, and now these sites, for the first time ever, experience leak-free maintenance restarts.
As we continue to hone the wireless aspect, safety will continue to improve. We're beta testing in multiple sites to refine Wi-Fi and radio signals for our wireless modules. Some environments can only use one or the other, and we want to lead in both.
Q: Are you looking to grow in new markets?
A: We're working to grow the load-indicating fastener bolting market. If you can actually see a display of the bolt load rather than having to rely on a conversion, you have a safer joint. We're trying to expand to make them a cost-effective option for more customers. The ROI our customers are getting is already impressive. It's not unusual for customers to have savings in the millions.
Q: What has been the most pivotal moment of your career?
A: At the beginning of my career at Valley Forge, it was powerful to me when I realized we supply a product made in the U.S., and I had an opportunity to be involved with a growing American manufacturer - a company that makes the entire fastener. We forge, roll the threads and heat treat. We're bolt people.
Beyond that, we're making something special, something the world needs. The moment I began to focus on what our fasteners do for individuals was the most pivotal moment in my career.
Q: How do you maintain a good work/home life balance?
A: It all starts with the team you surround yourself with. A good team allows me to have that balance in my life, because the members are empowered to make critical decisions. Once the right people are in the right roles, with a focus and passion for what they're doing, you're poised for success. I'm a big believer in the power of a good team with a heart for customer service. If you have that, it helps everything in the organization; there are no longer factions, only a solid unit acting toward one goal.
