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Faces of Interface Featuring Bobby Calleja

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Throughout his career in the manufacturing industry, Interface Planner Bobby Calleja has seen it all, from the aerospace industry to beauty products and circuit boards. His knowledge and experience in manufacturing has made him a critical member of the Interface family and we’re glad to share his story.

Bobby’s professional journey began in Long Island, New York, where he worked for his father at his machine shop. Being around his father and seeing his work ethic for the job, along with a passion for the industry, made Bobby realize that it’s what he wanted to do with his professional career.

Bobby worked for his father for six years before deciding it was time to do his own thing and get far from the cold New York winters. When he moved to Arizona, he began working at a small mom and pop aerospace facility that was eventually bought out by Goodrich Corporation. He began as a machinist and working his way up to night supervisor where he would oversee the repair and build of F16 fuel injectors. When his position was being moved to Iowa, Bobby was offered a job to move with it, but he opted to stay in Arizona.

His next move was with a manufacturer called Philosophy that made beauty care products. At Philosophy, Bobby served as a second shift supervisor where he managed that production from start to finish on the floor. After five years of working at Philosophy, the company was bought out and Bobby moved around to a few different manufacturing roles, including a circuit board facility for a few years.

In 2018, Bobby joined Interface. He began as a shipping clerk and then became a shipping manager a year later. In 2020, he was promoted to planner. Today, his role includes scheduling and planning parts to the floor for the Mini Load Cell product line, one of Interfaces most popular products.

“I enjoys the new role because of the challenge it provides. No two days are the same and the role is like working on a big, complicated puzzle. You have to fit the pieces in the right place to meet customer demand.” – Bobby Calleja, Product Planner at Interface, Inc.

When he’s not solving the day-to-day challenges of planning mini production, Bobby enjoys time spent his wife of 25 years and their two kids. His son recently graduated from Arizona State University and his daughter is going into her Junior year at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. The family are huge Disney fans and Bobby is not ashamed to admit he’s first in line to take pictures with Mickey Mouse. Bobby is also an avid softball and baseball player and fan. He is also big music guy. Back in New York, Bobby spent his free time DJ’ing around the city.

We’re proud to have Bobby’s experience and talent on our production floor here at Interface and hope you enjoyed reading his story as much as we did sharing it. To learn more about our outstanding team, check in to the IQ blog each month at www.interfaceforce.com/blog/.

Faces of Interface Featuring Garland Hawkins

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Faces of Interface is an important series because it highlights the talented team members that keep Interface going strong. In this new ForceLeaders feature, we interviewed Garland Hawkins, our production planner for Interface’s most popular LowProfile load cells.  A key member of our operations and Navigators teams at Interface, this feature highlights Garland’s professional history and a few of the things he’s working on today.

Growing up in the home of a mechanical engineer, you are bound to develop a kinship with the engineering and manufacturing world. For Garland Hawkins, he remembers fondly the time spent with his father building and tinkering with different mechanical objects. While a career in the manufacturing industry wasn’t necessarily planned, he’s thrilled that it’s where his career has taken him.

Garland’s path to the manufacturing industry is a little different than his father’s trek. After high school, Garland’s career began in the logistics industry as an order filler for Lineage Logistics. He enjoyed the work and quickly showed off his talents rising through the ranks over six years from order filler to trainer and eventually the supervisor. After leaving Lineage, Garland continued his career in logistics as the shipping and receiving manager for S&G.

After two years at S&G, Garland was ready for a change of scenery. He had spent his whole life in California and wanted something new. In 2016, Garland moved to Arizona because he preferred the desert landscape and knew that growth opportunities in Arizona were on the rise. Garland began working at the airport for a consolidation company, but he knew it was just a temporary gig before getting back into the field he knew and loved of logistics.

Then an opportunity came about with Interface. Garland began with Interface in the shipping and receiving department. As he became acclimated and comfortable in this new role in the engineering and manufacturing industry, he caught his stride. Shortly after, Garland was recognized for his hard work with a promotion into the planning department and eventually into his current role as Production Planner for Interface’s LowProfile Load Cell line.

In this role, Garland is tasked with managing the supply chain and planning. Basically, everything related to shipping and logistics for LowProfile Load Cell products. This includes, monitoring parts, maintaining inventory, addressing works orders with the production floor, scheduling machine shop and production orders and aligning capacity with customer demands and requirements.

Garland notes what he loves about Interface is the opportunity for success within the company. Most importantly, Interface is hyper-focused on growing into new markets and new regions and Garland knows that this will translate to career growth and opportunities to contribute to the company’s growth.

In addition to taking advantage of opportunities to grow at Interface, Garland is also working on his own to grow his skillset and knowledge during his time at Interface. Garland recently completed his degree in Operation Management and Analysis at Ashford University.

Garland’s drive and hunger are certainly not lost on Interface either. The company recognized this ambition and nominated Garland into its prestigious cross-functional Navigators program, which is designed to take rising stars and put them through development activities that expose them to every department of the company. This working team is essential in providing ideas and plans to drive positive change with critical thinking and problem-solving throughout the company. Garland is thankful for this opportunity because it provides the ability to see the company from every angle. It is helping him better understand the impact and importance of his own role while giving him insight on growth opportunities within the company.

While he’s not working at Interface, Garland likes to relax by enjoying his relatively new hometown of Phoenix, Arizona. He’s recently taken interests in hiking and exploring the outdoors in the desert. He’s also a big sports fan, especially basketball. He enjoys playing and watching NBA games while checking out the local food scene. However, he has not adopted the Suns as his home team yet, he’s a loyal Lakers fan through and through.

We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to shed some light on one of our committed team members. Garland Hawkins is star in the making with plenty to offer and a drive to take action.