After 19 Years Full of Accomplishments, Connie Palucka Cuts Back to Part-Time

Connie Palucka, Catalyst Connection’s Vice President of Consulting, has transitioned into semi-retirement as of January 2. For Ms. Palucka, semi-retirement means working only 8 to 12 days per month, allowing her to expand her travel adventures, revive her artistic skills, and hopefully get back in shape. It will mark a substantial change for Ms. Palucka, who started her career as a bench chemist and has led Catalyst’s Consulting and Regional Grants Initiatives teams. These teams help small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) in southwestern Pennsylvania through consulting and training services. The Consulting and Regional Initiatives teams collaborate with clients and the manufacturing community to boost revenue, growth, and productivity.

Looking back on the past couple of decades, Ms. Palucka is most proud of several accomplishments: Getting her New Product Development Professional (NPDP) Certificate from the Product Development and Management Association, helping to write a pair of successful grant applications totaling more than $8 million for Powerex, Inc. and Conspec Controls, Inc., and helping a dozen SMMs develop and implement an Export/ITAR Compliance Programs.

The Department of Energy grant for Powerex helped the company build a 34,000 square-foot facility on its existing site in Youngwood, PA, to house an integrated Electric Drive Semiconductor Manufacturing Center capable of producing more than 100,000 electric drive semiconductor devices annually. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health grant for Conspec Controls helped fund the development of a Post-Accident Atmospheric Monitoring System, which was a robust, intrinsically safe system incorporating atmospheric monitoring, two-way communications, and miner tracking, all in a single network.

Her export compliance-related work was acknowledged by Allegheny Technologies, Inc. (ATI) management during the due diligence phase of ATI’s acquisition of Crucible Compaction Metals. Since then, Ms. Palucka has helped a number of companies implement export and ITAR compliance programs which ultimately helped them secure new contracts.

A Mid-Career Shift

Ms. Palucka joined Catalyst Connection after seeing a job posting for a consulting position to help SMMs meet their business goals. The organization created the position based on SMMs’ feedback that they needed assistance to help them grow top-line revenue. Given Ms. Palucka’s 25 years of experience in engineering, global sales, and operations with Westinghouse, General Electric, Callery Chemical, and other manufacturers in southwestern Pennsylvania, she was intrigued by the challenge and has no regrets about making the jump from the client side of the fence to the consulting side.

“The first year was a bit stressful,” she recalls. “Companies would be describing their challenges, and the only thing running through my mind was, ‘Man, you need to hire a consultant.’ It would take a split second for me to remind myself that I was the consultant.”

Insights Into the Future

Since Ms. Palucka joined Catalyst Connection, she believes the most significant development in the world of manufacturing has been the use of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) intelligent digital technologies in manufacturing processes. Those technologies include Internet of Things networks, artificial intelligence, Big Data, robotics, and automation.

“Although I4.0 has been around for over a decade, many small- and mid-sized manufacturers are still in the early stages of adoption,” says Ms. Palucka. “Catalyst Connection helps companies evaluate how these technologies can help their organization improve operations, or achieve specific goals, and then works with them to help ensure the adoption is successful and that they achieve the desired return on investment.”

“I think all of our I4.0 initiatives and workforce initiatives have the potential to significantly benefit our region and local manufacturers. The manufacturing sector needs to accelerate I4.0 technology adoption and Catalyst Connection is a valued resource to help companies succeed.”

In semi-retirement, Palucka will continue to be involved with helping SMMs use the most effective strategies and modern technologies to best compete in a business environment that becomes more dynamic each day.

###