Why Manufacturing: Problem-Solving, Pride, and Purpose in Modern Manufacturing with Logan Hicks

Welcome to Why Manufacturing, a podcast series from the Southwest Virginia Alliance for Manufacturing, where we share real stories from the people powering our region’s most essential industry.

In this episode we sit down with Logan Hicks of Real Performance Machinery to explore what keeps him energized and engaged in his manufacturing career.

Logan shares how he went from exploring career options to finding a true sense of purpose in problem-solving, hands-on work, and continuous learning. He walks us through a typical day on the job, debunks common myths about the industry, and reflects on the mentors and moments that have shaped his journey so far.

Whether you're a student considering your future, a parent curious about career paths, or an educator guiding the next generation, Logan’s story is a powerful example of how manufacturing offers growth, pride, and opportunity—right here in Southwest Virginia.

SWVA Manufacturing Careers (open jobs / updated weekly): swvam.org/mfgcareers

Real Performance Machinery - www.rpmachinery.com

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to Why Manufacturing from the
Southwest Virginia Alliance forManufacturing.
Yep, we're SVAM, and one of ourgoals is to spotlight the
people, tech, and pathways thatkeep modern factories humming
right here in SouthwestVirginia.
Today, we're talking with LoganHicks from Real Performance

(00:23):
Machinery.
Logan grew up in Independence,Virginia, jumped into RPM's high
school apprenticeship at 16, andis now three years into building
custom sawmill machines thatship worldwide.
If you're curious about hands-oncareers, stick around.
Logan, thanks for joining metoday.
Let's just start with a briefintroduction.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself and your background.

SPEAKER_01 (00:46):
All right.
Well, my name is Logan Hicks,and I'm from Independence,
Virginia.
I was born in Galax, and now Ijust work at RPM because, well,
it's in Independence, and it's anew and upcoming company in our
area.

SPEAKER_00 (01:00):
Okay, so let's rewind.
What's the story behind how youlanded in manufacturing in the
first place?

SPEAKER_01 (01:06):
Well, I'm starting on my third year up here, but I
was in high school.
I was 16 years old.
And.
I was in auto shop and we gotpulled out of auto shop because
we had some kind of thing to golook at in the library.
And when we got there, it wasjust RPM.
You know, Jake was up there andthey were just telling us all

(01:27):
about the company.
And we had the chance to fillout this form paper for a chance
to have an interview.
And I got the interview.
And on the day of my interview,I went in there.
I'd been working on a car andthey just seen I was hands on
and I like to work on things andstuff.
So they offered me anapprenticeship job starting out
up here.

SPEAKER_00 (01:45):
Was there a moment early on when you thought, yeah,
this could actually be a careerfor me?

SPEAKER_01 (01:49):
I felt good about my work and just seeing how things
come together, like when we gotto put stuff together and just
seeing things complete andgetting to test them and how
they worked.
That was just, I don't know, Ijust really liked what I did.

SPEAKER_00 (02:02):
What's a typical day on the job look like for you?
I mean, what do you juggle?
What's the pace?

SPEAKER_01 (02:08):
Well, each day we get here, we have a morning
meeting and we all get on thesame page of what we're going to
be doing during the day.
I'm just in assembly.
You know, we put thingstogether.
We got to look at the model andstuff because we just build
everything completely from theground up here.
And so, you know, everything'slike a figure out as you go.
But we got models and stuffwhere we get to pull up the

(02:30):
pictures of the builds we'reworking on and It'll show us how
to put together.
That's what I do.
I just put the stuff together,and you've got to pay real close
attention to how it all goestogether because everything's
real particular on it.

SPEAKER_00 (02:42):
What's something that people might find
surprising about what you doevery day?

SPEAKER_01 (02:47):
Yes.
Whenever we go to send themachine out of the shop, we
actually have the semis pull allthe way in the shop so we can
load them with our cranes.
I think that's pretty cool.
That was something I hadn't gotto experience until I worked
here.
They let me load the trucks,too, every once in a while.
I get to load the trucks andstuff.

(03:07):
That's enjoyable.

SPEAKER_00 (03:09):
If you had to say, what's a skill or a part of the
job that you think you've reallygotten better at since you
started?

SPEAKER_01 (03:15):
Something I've gotten a lot better at is paying
attention to detail on somethings.
It could be just the smallestthing, like a little lip on a
hole that could be stopping youfrom putting the bearing in and
you just got to look for like alittle burr and stuff like that.
It's just a lot of attention todetail.

SPEAKER_00 (03:33):
Tell me about a moment where you looked at
something and you thought, Imade that.
I was part of the team that madeit.
It's here because of us.

SPEAKER_01 (03:41):
All the time, like every time we finish a build and
like if we've all been workingon it together, it's just, it's
really cool when we get thesemachines together and just
hooking them up to the power andrunning everything and making
sure everything works good andfiring all the little cylinders
that control each little thing.
I just have that moment aboutevery time we finish a build.

SPEAKER_00 (04:05):
What's one tool?
It could be a literal tool, amindset, but you rely on that
tool to get things done everysingle day.

SPEAKER_01 (04:12):
My hands.
Yeah, my hands are definitelythe big tool for me because if I
ain't got a tool, then I know acoworker who will let me use a
tool out of their box so we canget the job done.
But that and like payingattention to detail, like not
everyone's going to be doing thesame job because some people are
more watchful and careful thanothers.

(04:33):
So like I may get put on a jobthat you got to pay really close
attention to because He may besetting these heavy plates
against these bearings, and hedon't want the O-rings to fall
out of their pocket because theplate maybe moved a little bit
when he's putting the plate onthe bearings.

SPEAKER_00 (04:49):
Yeah, that's a great answer.
What's something that didn'tcome easy for you at first, but
you stuck with it, and youfinally got the hang of it?

SPEAKER_01 (04:56):
I wouldn't necessarily say there's been
anything super hard.
Like, really, if you can'tfigure something out, whenever
we run into a problem, we'reWe're all kind of scratching our
head and trying to figure it outtogether as a team.
So when we run into problems,that's just how we kind of
handle them.

SPEAKER_00 (05:13):
Logan, when you look ahead a few years, what's next
for you or what are you hopingto grow into?

SPEAKER_01 (05:18):
Hopefully I just kind of stay where I'm at, you
know, keep doing good work andmaking money and getting those
raises because that's whateveryone likes to get whenever
they're working at a place.

SPEAKER_00 (05:30):
So what's giving you energy these days?
What's keeping the spark in whatyou're doing?

SPEAKER_01 (05:34):
Well, I do work with a lot of great people and
they're all like, they're goodpeople.
I mean, they're always there foryou.
Like, they'll treat you likefamily.
But what's keeping me reallyexcited about work recently is
since I've started here, I'veheard talk of this one great
machine.
It's supposed to be the best ofthe best kind of machine,
nothing I've ever seen before.

(05:55):
And we finally got it in theshop, and we've been working on
it.
I'm coming on my third year.
I'm working on my third yearhere.
And I'm just now getting to seeit this year, and we're getting
to work on it.
And it's supposed to be like thebest of the best for sawmilling.
And no one will ever seeanything like this before.
It's going to be like arevolutionary speed of
technology.
what this thing can do.

(06:16):
That's pretty exciting for me.

SPEAKER_00 (06:18):
Okay, you're talking to a senior at the high school
in Independence, somebody youknow, or maybe it's somebody you
know at Withfull CommunityCollege who's just finishing up.
What would you say to them ifthey were thinking about either
maybe pursuing the internshipprogram at RPM or just looking
at a career in manufacturingaltogether?

SPEAKER_01 (06:36):
If they were looking for a job here, I'd tell them
don't come here unless you'regonna actually care about what
you do and want to do a good jobbecause we don't i mean i
wouldn't want a bunch of peoplegetting hired up here if they
just here to like oh i'm here tocollect the check and do the
bare minimum and put it togetherlike what makes this place so

(06:58):
good is there's a lot of peoplewho do care and want to do a
good job So, like, if you don'thave those things, then I
wouldn't even try to come here.

SPEAKER_00 (07:10):
Logan, once again, thank you so much for being with
us today.
If you'd like to learn moreabout careers in manufacturing,
check the show notes.
There you'll find links toSfam's career resources,
including over 130 currentopenings with Sfam's member
companies.
Until next time.