By Amy Lopp
M
anufacturing isn’t just a career for Lorry Parson‐
Jackson. It’s a family tradi on. As a na ve of
Buffalo, New York, Parson‐Jackson was no stranger
to the industrial side of life. Steel is big in Buffalo,
and a lot of her rela ves were employed in one facet of
manufacturing or another. She started on the shop floor with Ford
Motor Company, and a er the first day of hard labor, she informed
her mother that she wouldn’t be s cking around for long.
Something must’ve changed along the way though, because she did
s ck around, and within four short years at Ford, she was off the
floor and into a supervisory role. She con nued her educa on as
she went, earning an associate’s degree and a Bachelor’s from the
University of Buffalo and a Master’s from Buffalo State College. She
stayed with Ford Motor Company for 8 years before transi oning to
Georgia with the Eaton Aerospace division in their Toccoa plant.
When the opportunity to manage the Athens plant in 2010 became
available, Parson‐Jackson returned to her roots in the automo ve
industry and has led the Supercharger Division for Eaton here in
Athens for the past 5 years.
Between the Athens plant and its sister facility in Poland, Eaton is
producing 90% of the world market for superchargers – a high end
automo ve component for improved engine performance found in
vehicles like Audi, Land Rover and Volkswagon. Superchargers, and
the more commonly referenced turbochargers, are “forced
induc on systems” that improve engine performance by boos ng
the amount of air flowing into the engine. Though the outcome is
the same, superchargers and turbochargers deliver their power
boost in very different ways. Superchargers u lize a belt connected
directly to the car’s engine to deliver compressed air and a
significant boost. Turbochargers rely on exhaust to give the car a
li . Some vehicles are be er served by a supercharger, which can
improve engine speed at lower RPM’s and require less maintenance
than their exhaust‐driven counterparts. Parson‐Jackson explained
that superchargers are an exci ng product to manufacture, in part
because of their performance impact, but also because you can li a
hood on a car and actually see your work. That kind of tangible
sa sfac on is really rewarding to the folks on the shop floor, and it
shows in the company culture around Eaton.
The automo ve industry in the U.S. has seen a lot of changes in the
last few decades. The most significant impact has been the
incorpora on of technology into cars, both inside the vehicle and
within the manufacturing process itself. Manufacturing has become
more automated and robo c equipment is a common site on a
factory floor. Robo c equipment requires a more highly‐skilled labor
force to operate, and producers find that ongoing training is
necessary to keep up with innova on. Fortunately, Eaton has an
excellent con nuing educa on program and very low turn‐over.
Parson‐Jackson described their plant as a “family” and said her
employees are the ones who suggest improvements to efficiency
and produc on. Employees are invested in each other, and
invested i