Blog Archives – Universal Metal Products

UMP Celebrates Our American Values This Independence Day

Alayna Quiles on July 1, 2025

Independence Day is a time to reflect on what it means to be an American and the values our country was founded on. At UMP, we believe greatly in freedom, American ingenuity, and equality. We embody these values through our dedication to our workforce, our focus on inclusivity, and our ability to continue to evolve and adapt to changing trends and industry standards.

Supporting American Workers

As we have facilities throughout the United States, we are able to support American workers by providing them with employment opportunities that are rewarding and enriching. This employment, in turn, helps to support local economies.

Equality for All

At UMP, we greatly value equality and providing people of all backgrounds with the opportunity to not only find employment but grow and develop. We cherish the unique perspectives each and every one of our employees brings to the table.

We are proud of our dedication to creating a culture of inclusiveness.

Made in America, Global In Focus

While we are proud to be an American business, we also have a global focus and are happy to service overseas clients. We believe clients all over the world deserve the best, and our American manufacturing plants live up to the “Made in America” label that is synonymous with quality, attention to detail, and durability.

About UMP

Universal Metal Products is a female-owned company that helps with the creation of metal components for the automotive, appliance, and industrial industries. We are able to design a variety of custom and standard components for vehicles, HVAC units, refrigerators, electronics, sub pumps, and much more.

Along with volunteering, championing noble causes, and charity, we value equality. This is why we focus on creating a culture of inclusivity. We do this by offering equal pay for equal work and a dedication to providing a positive and harassment-free workplace environment.

UMP believes in a healthy work-life balance, and we understand it’s important for people to spend time with their loved ones. Because of this, we offer family-friendly policies and work shift hours. We always strive to create a healthy work environment for all of our employees.

UMP also believes in sustainability, and we have implemented eco-friendly policies to reduce our environmental impact.

Happy Independence Day!

If you are looking for metal stamping services or you are curious about open positions, contact us! We’d be happy to speak with you. We proudly work with female-led and operated companies and people of all backgrounds and ethnicities.

To learn more about our employment opportunities visit our Careers page today.

Getting with the Times: Embracing Technology for Competitive Advantage

Alayna Quiles on June 6, 2025

As Bob Dylan once said, “The times, they are a-changing.” Of course, he wasn’t talking about the business world, but it’s still very applicable. With technological innovations advancing at an incredible rate, it’s more important than ever to keep up to date with modern technology and practices.

If you want to succeed, you need to not only understand what technology is available and applicable to you but also how to implement this new tech in your own business.

The Risk of Not Embracing New Technology

The main risk of not evolving and embracing new technology is falling behind. Unless your entire industry is stuck in the stone age, there is a good chance that your competitors are taking full advantage of all the advancements not only in your field but in business overall. This may include manufacturing, customer relations, marketing, office technology optimization, and more. In today’s competitive marketplace, even the smallest advantages can make a major difference.

The Topic Everyone is Talking About…

AI is the big topic of discussion in every industry, and that includes yours! Even if you aren’t a major tech firm, AI can help in so many ways. AI can now help with everything from drafting emails to keeping your schedule current and everything in between. Need a sounding board for ideas? AI can help. Chatbots? Yep. Logistics, data entry, lead qualification…there is so much AI can do to help.

With that said, it’s always important to have human eyes on each step of the process. Still, this can significantly and exponentially increase your productivity without needing to bring on new people. It can even help you to brainstorm new ideas you may have never considered.

Are You Caught Up?

Consider the advancements in your field and what you are doing to stay with the times. If your competitors are using new systems and/or new technology, it may be a good time to take a look at how these new advancements may help you to get the competitive edge and provide your customers with the best products or services possible.

About UMP

UMP also believes in sustainability, and we have implemented eco-friendly policies to reduce our environmental impact.

To learn more about our employment opportunities visit our Careers page today.

Creating a Culture of Wellness: How to Improve Mental Health in the Workplace

Alayna Quiles on May 1, 2025

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which is the perfect time to consider workplace wellness. While you may have a positive, friendly, and collaborative workplace environment, there may be some additional steps you can take to improve the overall atmosphere of your office. This, in turn, will enhance productivity, retention, engagement, and employee satisfaction.

Here are some quick tips for creating a culture of wellness in your office:

Set Realistic Expectations

While it’s important to meet deadlines and provide excellent customer service, it shouldn’t be at the expense of the mental health of your employees. It’s important to set realistic goals and expectations that your team can hit. This will help to reduce stress and dissatisfaction in the workplace.

Encourage Work-Life Balance

Times have changed. While people were expected to be “married to the job” years ago, now working professionals focus on balance in their lives. By encouraging work-life balance, you can attract top talent and avoid burnout. Actually, Employees who rate their work-life balance highly are 10% more likely to stay at their company. A little extra time off goes a long way.

Encourage Employees to Get the Help They Need

Some employees struggle with mental health and addiction and may need a sabbatical to address these issues. It’s important to be supportive of their struggle and provide them with the opportunity to get the help they need. Even if you are unable to provide an assistance program for your employees, consider PTO for mental health days or possibly even pausing a position should an employee need to check into a treatment center for a short period of time.

Train Management to Recognize Mental Health Struggles

No one is expecting your managers to become certified mental health professionals. With that said, a little training in signs to look for can go a long way. From there, your management team can recognize the signs of struggle and work with employees to get them the help they need.

By following these steps and even working with professionals that specialize in helping workplaces support the mental health of employees, you can create a positive, healthy, and productive work environment.

About UMP

UMP also believes in sustainability, and we have implemented eco-friendly policies to reduce our environmental impact.

To learn more about our employment opportunities visit our Careers page today.

4 Eco-Friendly Strategies for Earth Month Your Business Can Start Implementing Today

Alayna Quiles on April 2, 2025

April is Earth Month, which is the perfect time to consider the environmental impact of your business, embrace sustainability, and consider what can be done to ensure you are as eco-friendly as possible.

Below are 4 quick tips to help you implement environmentally sustainable practices in your office.

Take Action to Reduce Waste

The first step is to reduce the amount of waste your office produces. This can be done in a few ways. One simple thing you can do is encourage recycling. To do this, make sure there are clear signs about what should and shouldn’t be recycled and create awareness within your office. This can be as simple as sending out an email.

You’ll also want to cut back on single-use items. Encourage your team to bring their own coffee mugs and cups and offer cupboard space for them to store their reusable items safely. You may even want to consider providing mugs and glasses for your office.

Become More Energy Efficient

By simply turning off lights and electronics after use, switching to more energy efficient lightbulbs, and adjusting your thermostat, you can actually make a huge difference not only in your environmental impact, but also in your electric bill!

Source Sustainable Materials

From your office paper to your sticky notes, try to supply your office with as many sustainable items as possible. You may also want to consider moving to a paperless option for file storage. While it may take some time to implement, you’ll find your office has a lot more space and creates a lot less waste.

Give Back

Whether it is by pulling together a donation pool for a non-profit that helps to plant trees or setting aside a (voluntary) day to clean up trash from a local park, find ways for your office staff and you to do your part in helping to create a cleaner, more sustainable world.

About UMP

UMP also believes in sustainability, and we have implemented eco-friendly policies to reduce our environmental impact.

To learn more about our employment opportunities visit our Careers page today.

Spring Cleaning in the Office: Getting Organized and Decluttering Your Workspace

Alayna Quiles on March 17, 2025

Spring is on the horizon, and with this comes new beginnings. Why not embrace the spirit of Spring by giving your office space a fresh start?

Here are some helpful tips for cleaning, decluttering, and organizing your office space so it is more comfortable, functional, and attractive to clients.

Empty Everything Out

The first place you should start is emptying out your workspace. This means your desk, shelves, drawers, etc. From there, you can assess how much of what you have in your workspace is actual clutter (or even trash) and get to work properly arranging the space.

If your entire office needs a Spring cleaning, consider taking this one room (or even smaller space than that) at a time. The important thing is to make progress without getting overwhelmed.

Categorize

Once your space is emptied out, you can get to work categorizing the different items. Start at the highest level possible—sort things into keep and throw away. When you are sorting, consider when you last used or looked at each item. Consider whether it is helpful or necessary to keep. Anything that isn’t necessary to keep and doesn’t add value to your workspace, you can discard.

Whatever documents you decide to keep, place them into appropriate folders. For your office supplies, store them neatly and even consider labeling any containers where you keep your supplies.

Clean and Inspect

If you don’t have a regular cleaning team, now is as good of a time as any to really clean your office space from top to bottom. Even if there is a cleaning crew that takes care of your office, inspect your workspace and clean any areas they may have missed.

Declutter Your Computer and Phone

Once your physical space has been taken care of, it’s time to work on your digital workspace. Start with your desktop. Are there any icons you don’t use? If so, delete those shortcuts from your desktop screen. Then, go through your folders and make sure your files are where they belong. If there are any documents you have no use for, delete them.

For your email, get rid of any junk mail and unsubscribe from any mailing lists you’ve found yourself on. If you keep getting emails from salespeople and they won’t listen to your request to stop, block them.

Finally, go through your work phone (or phone in general) and delete any unused apps or bloatware. If you haven’t used an app in months, it’s probably safe to delete it. If you need it in the future, you can always re-download it to your phone.

Follow these tips to create the peaceful, productive workspace you deserve.

About UMP

To learn more about our employment opportunities visit our Careers page today.

Your Valentine’s Day Gift to Your Team: Stronger Workplace Relationships

Alayna Quiles on January 28, 2025

What better month than that of Valentine’s Day to discuss the importance of building a stronger team through the encouragement of positive, healthy, and productive workplace relationships?

While it’s important to employ people that are self-starters and are capable of completing tasks on their own, you also want to foster an environment in which employees feel comfortable asking for assistance and working with others to achieve common goals.

Here are some tips to help build a strong team made up of employees that are not only productive, but excited about working with others.

Encourage Idea Sharing

It’s important that everyone on a team feels heard. Not only will they feel more valued as team members, but they will also be more open to sharing great ideas. Create an environment in which your team members feel comfortable with sharing their ideas, big and small. You never know, your employee may have a ground-breaking idea that can really help you to meet your business goals.

Keep Lines of Communication Open

While we all need personal time to focus on tasks, make sure you keep the lines of communication open. This includes not only their ability to reach you, but also each other. A collaborative environment with open communication can help to increase problem-solving, while decreasing errors that can be caused by a lack of communication.

Goal Setting and Roles

In order for your team to work together, it’s important for everyone to be on the same page. This means setting understandable and achievable goals and assigning roles. This helps to alleviate any confusion and ensure everyone is working towards the same common objective.

Conflict Resolution

No matter how amazing your workplace environment is, there will always be times of friction and conflict. When two parties are involved in a conflict, it’s important to have a trained mediator resolve the conflict. You should also encourage an environment in which team members feel comfortable with bringing up conflicts (in a polite fashion) so they can be addressed. You don’t want conflict to fester and long-term grudges to form.

By following these tips, you can encourage a strong bond to form between your team members, leading to a happier and more productive workplace.

About UMP

UMP believes in a healthy work-life balance, and we understand it’s important for people to spend time with their loved ones (including during Valentine’s Day!). Because of this, we offer family-friendly policies and work shift hours. We always strive to create a healthy work environment for all of our employees.

To learn more about our employment opportunities visit our Careers page today.

Setting Achievable Business Goals in the New Year

Christina Balint on January 1, 2025

It’s a new year and, just like with your personal goals, it’s time to start considering your business goals for the coming year. While it’s always good to dream big, success is also often incremental. So, in order to succeed and hit your business goals for 2025, you’ll want to set achievable goals that you can start striving towards ASAP.

Here are some tips for setting achievable business goals, and a little more about Universal Metal Products and our outstanding metal component creation services.

Set “SMART” Goals

If you haven’t heard of “SMART”, it’s actually an amazing goal-setting system that helps you to achieve realistic goals and maximize your success. “SMART” stands for:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-oriented

So, you will want to create clear and specific goals, quantify what hitting your goals will look like (so you can track your progress), make sure your goals are achievable, ensure your goals are aligned with your business objectives, and set realistic deadlines that you can hit throughout the year.

At UMP, we make sure that we set goals that allow us to grow without sacrificing our outstanding service, quality, and commitment to our clients.

Brainstorm with Your Team

It’s very important to get input from your team members (at all levels) to better understand where your growth opportunities and sticking points are. Various members of your team have different viewpoints and may be able to identify areas for development that you didn’t consider. This allows you to put together a growth plan that is all-encompassing and more effective.

Consider Your Core Values

Before setting off on completing your new business goals, take a moment to consider the core values of your company and how your business goals align with these core values. While growth is important, you don’t want to sacrifice what is most important and the values your business stands on.

UMP has strong values, and we make sure our yearly business goals don’t impede our ability to maintain the principles we were founded on.

About UMP

To learn more about our employment opportunities visit our Careers page today.

With the Holidays Comes an Opportunity to Give Back to Our Community

Christina Balint on December 1, 2024

The Holiday season is here, and International Volunteers Day (December 5^th) is on the horizon. It’s the perfect time to reflect on all of the amazing gifts we have in our lives and consider how we can benefit the lives of others. There are so many ways that you can help over the Holiday season. Here are some options for how you can volunteer your time and/or resources over the Holidays and bring joy to those who are in need.

Volunteer and Charity Opportunities

Serving meals for those in need. There are so many organizations that help to feed the homeless and those that are in desperate need of food. Consider local charitable organizations and national charities that help feed the needy. There are also services that deliver meals to those who are unable to leave their homes. If you have a vehicle, this is another excellent way to get involved.
Toys for Tots. Every kid deserves gifts over the Holiday season. A simple toy donation can bring an incalculable amount of joy to the life of a child in difficult circumstances. It can also help lift the burden from their parents, allowing them to focus on other important needs.
Donate to your favorite charity. What better time than over the Holidays to donate to your favorite charity or even fundraise? Many charities offer the ability to donate through Facebook and other channels that make it easier than ever to fundraise for those in need.
Host a Holiday celebration. Not everyone has a family to share the Holidays with. Consider hosting a Holiday celebration for your friends, allowing everyone to feel involved and cared about over the Holidays.

UMP believes strongly in helping those in need by volunteering, championing noble causes, and giving to charity.

About UMP

At UMP we value equality. This is why we focus on creating a culture of inclusivity. We do this by offering equal pay for equal work and a dedication to providing a positive and harassment-free workplace environment.

UMP also believes strongly in customer service, and we do whatever it takes to meet the needs of our clients.

We at UMP would like to wish your loved ones and you a Happy Holiday Season!

If you are looking for metal stamping services, contact us! We’d be happy to speak with you. We proudly work with female-led and operated companies and people of all backgrounds and ethnicities.

To learn more about our employment opportunities visit our Careers page today.

UMP Would Like to Show Our Gratitude to Our Clients and Employees This Thanksgiving

Christina Balint on November 29, 2024

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on all of the amazing blessings we have in our lives and be thankful. We would like to take a moment and say, “thank you,” to those that have helped us get to where we are and continue to make our business great…

To Our Employees

You are the backbone of UMP, and your continued dedication has allowed us to grow and thrive in this competitive market. From our manufacturing team to our engineers, front office workers to upper management, each and every one of you are an integral part of our success. You have taken the dream that UMP was founded on and made it a reality. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication. We see you and want to recognize your continued excellence. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

To Our Clients

We have some of the best clients in the world. The relationships we’ve built with our clients over the years have been special, and we are so happy to continue to work with you and meet your metal component creation needs. We started off with a vision, and with your support we have been able to grow to the company we are today. We are grateful for your business, and we promise to continue to meet your needs with the standard of excellence you have come to know us for.

About UMP

Universal Metal Products is a female-owned company that helps with the creation of metal components for the automotive, appliance, and industrial industries. We are able to create a variety of custom and standard components for vehicles, HVAC units, refrigerators, electronics, sub pumps, and much more. Along with volunteering, championing noble causes, and charity, we value equality. This is why we focus on creating a culture of inclusivity. We do this by offering equal pay for equal work and a dedication to providing a positive and harassment-free workplace environment.

UMP believes strongly in customer service, and we do whatever it takes to meet the needs of our clients.

Thanks again to everyone reading this! You’re what makes UMP great, and we are thankful for each and every one of you. Happy Thanksgiving!

If you are looking for metal stamping services, contact us! We’d be happy to speak with you. We proudly work with female-led and operated companies and people of all backgrounds and ethnicities.

To learn more about our employment opportunities visit our Careers page today.

UMP Celebrates Our Amazing Hispanic Clients and Employees During Hispanic Heritage Month

Alayna Quiles on October 1, 2024

A large part of the success of UMP is due to the contributions of Hispanics from not only the United States, but also Latin America. From our amazing clients to our wonderful employees, UMP owes a lot of our success to the Hispanic community.

We would like to take a moment to honor our Hispanic friends, and we welcome everyone to join us in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. We are so grateful for all of the members of the Hispanic community who enrich our lives with their diverse and unique cultures and traditions.

At UMP, we happily employ many members of the Hispanic community. From our plant workers to members of management, many outstanding members of our team come from Hispanic and Latino descent. As we ship internationally to Mexico and Latin America, their language skills and cultural knowledge are greatly appreciated and helpful in maintaining our relationships with our Hispanic clients.

Thank you to all of our Hispanic employees for all that you bring to the table, and to our Hispanic clients for being so wonderful to work with.

About UMP

UMP offers career opportunities in different areas of the country, and we encourage bi-lingual job seekers to apply!

Thanks again to all of the amazing Hispanic people in our lives. Have an amazing Hispanic Heritage Month!

If you are looking for metal stamping services, contact us! We’d be happy to speak with you. We proudly work with female-led and operated companies and people of all backgrounds and ethnicities.

To learn more about our employment opportunities visit our Careers page today.