It was February 2003 when Albert “Al” Eike found himself entering the aviation field. Propelled by a natural love of math, numbers and organization, Eike left a customer service job renting condos in Gulf Shores, Alabama in search of something more in line with those natural interests. His search lead him into Certified Aviation Services (CAS) – Components’ stockroom.
“I began my career in February of 2003 on a three month temporary assignment to help gather paperwork files and spare parts for a large lot sale of old inventory. My personal requirement for organization provided me comfort working inside of a multi-million dollar aircraft inventory warehouse. I felt this place was my second home, because there were never questions or concerns about being ‘too organized’ in a stockroom environment. Organization was encouraged, so I knew this is where I wanted to be,” recalls Eike.
“After applying for this temporary position through a work-force agency, Al Eike began his career within the CAS Stockroom the next day. During the course of this three month temporary assignment, management quickly saw Al as not only a go-to employee, but someone who was hungry to learn more about the business. Al was hired on full-time the day after his contract was fulfilled. Within the following months, Al acquired direct responsibility for duties and tasks that spread not only within his own, but throughout multiple departments,” said Brad Caban, CAS Components president, and Eike’s Next Gen nominator.
Over the course of his 16 years with CAS, Eike has risen through the ranks to materials manager and along the way enhanced his training and skills with outside education. He has training certificates from the University of Tennessee, Boeing, AIDT and ATN.
“All of my advanced training courses have derived from lean manufacturing principles, which trains you how to eliminate waste from production processes,” Eike said.
That training is helping Eike work towards his career goal of seeing CAS Components become on the world’s elite and most respected component repair shops.
“I was one of five people set out to accomplish this mission many years ago. My goal is to see this dream unfold before my very eyes,” continued Eike.
And to help that happen, Eike is actively helping to mentor the next generation of aviation professionals – giving back to the industry in the same way it provided for him 16 years ago.
“Whether it’s training a new CAS employee, or providing guidance to our closest customers, passing along the things I’ve learned over my 16 years in the industry is the best way I am giving back to the industry. Every single idea and/or reason I utilize to execute my responsibilities, is a direct correlation to something I was shown how to do or found out through auditing processes over the years. It gives me great pleasure to share any and all of that knowledge to our employees during their first few days on site. Something that took me 16 years to learn, I will show them during their first week on the job,” Eike said. “The aerospace industry provides an abundance of platforms to prove how valuable your experience and skills can potentially become. If you are great with taking things apart and putting them back together, the sky is the limit for what you can build here.”
