Juan Munoz is part of the leadership team at EIM, More than that, he is the master of technical solutions; the creative adhesive that holds our product innovation together! This month marks his 20th year aboard the Electronic Imaging Materials train, but let’s back that train up for just a minute!
Before Juan landed at EIM with a mind full of creativity and aspirations to be an innovative collaborator, he had amassed almost a decade of experience running printing presses. He had been away from the industry for a few years when he happened upon a newspaper ad for a Lead Flexo Press Operator at EIM. This was right in Juan’s wheelhouse, with his breadth of experience in lithographic and flexographic printing presses! At the time, Juan had an affinity for the fine-tuning and problem-solving required when working with an analog press. It is all about that high-quality print, and for Juan, attention to detail is everything! Of course, he was a shoo-in for the job and the rest is history!
Starting as the lead Flexo Press operator exposed Juan to countless varieties of label stocks and adhesives. That always sparked an interest for him! Juan held that title for 7 years. Over that time, he brought many improvements and insights that helped us significantly improve our operations and practices. We were lucky enough to get it right from Juan’s mouth! “Learning the adhesives and how they worked allowed me to participate in brainstorming sessions, where we would get together as a team and develop solutions to complex labeling applications. Recognizing that innovation is important to both our customers and our organization, I was promoted into our Product & Innovation Department where I eventually became the Product Manager. I like to say that over the years, I traded inks for adhesives.”
Today, Juan is EIM’s Director of Technical Solutions, managing IT, Estimating and Product Innovation. Without Juan’s expert knowledge and collaborative attitude, we would not be able to tell our story, sell our products, or offer the outstanding level of customer service that we do today!
Juan is an inspirational leader within the walls of our company. He is approachable, kind, creative, and always willing to be part of creating sustainable solutions, be it for people or products! Juan is often the first to recognize when someone has gone above and beyond, and he takes immense pride in his team.
Chiming in on 20 Years . . .
When we asked our company President, Alex Henkel, about Juan’s time at EIM he had some truly wonderful things to share. One of those fun facts is that Jason Wilder, Alex and Juan all collaborated on a label patent together in their early years at EIM! We won’t go into all the details on that one, but suffice it to say, without Juan, our labeling innovation would not be where it is today.
Alex also clued us in on Juan’s secret history of mischievous pranks here at our Forge Street location! We had to shake Juan down about some favorite past pranks! He wouldn’t give us the play by play, but he did give us snippet of a prank:
“My favorite was ‘reorganizing’ a coworker’s desk area while they were out on vacation . . . “ But he will save the full enchilada for behind closed doors because he says, “There’s a new era of employees that don’t know!“ We may have let the cat out of the bag on that one ever so slightly with this post!
Speaking of enchiladas, Juan is also a crock pot king around these parts! You can often find a crock pot meal cooking in our break room, and you might even be invited to share (now we are hungry)! He truly enjoys spending time with his colleagues inside and outside of work. “I really enjoy the company picnics, potlucks, community involvement events, and such. We see each other Monday through Friday week in and week out, yet we’ll get together voluntarily on a Saturday for an event.” There is nothing quite like community, and the one at EIM can’t be beat!
On the Horizon
Juan’s hopes and dreams for the future of EIM are to help continue its legacy of innovation through product research and development, as well as fostering new connections with our local business community, like New Hampshire Life Sciences, a network for biotech startups and labs. He further hopes to help preserve EIM’s culture of allowing people to be their authentic self and to have a voice in their work life. He considers this to be central to creating a relaxed and enjoyable work environment. It is why so many of EIM’s employees love working here—Juan included! He even mentioned, “This is what keeps me coming back after all these years!” 20 years to be exact! Let’s wish Juan a Happy 20th Anniversary and cheers him to the road ahead!
> Liked getting to know Juan? Meet the rest of the Electronic Imaging Materials team!
