Quality and Confidence: How Jana Bernard is Making Her Mark in Manufacturing

Quality Inspector, Elyria Plastics

Every weeknight, Jana Bernard spends at least two hours doing quality certification, trigonometry, and calculus homework before going to bed at 9pm. This Lorain County Community College (LCCC) student cannot afford to pull all-nighters, because at 7am the next morning she begins an eight-hour shift as a quality inspector at Elyria Plastics. She started working there the day after graduating from high school.

“At work, I'm doing the rounds on the production floor checking everything. I do that about four or five times in that eight-hour period,” described Bernard. “I do a walkthrough with third shift in the morning and then a walkthrough with second shift so that we check up on each other’s work. And then I'll put that in the logbooks where everybody can read it, every shift can read it, and the supervisor can read it too.”

By studying quality certification in college, Bernard can be hired by almost any manufacturer in the United States. None of this would have been possible without joining MAGNET in her sophomore year of high school in 2017. When a teacher told her about the program, she decided to try it out to see if she would like it. Her brother is in an apprenticeship program at LCCC, training to get his journeyman's card, which made her want to study manufacturing even more. "He inspired me by telling me all the cool things he was doing at work," Bernard said. They studied in the same engineering class during their junior and senior years of high school, where she was again inspired by some of the projects that he was working on. When her teachers saw that she was good at it, he encouraged her to complete the program. Today, they both work at Elyria Plastics.

Bernard acts as the eyes and ears for the company’s customers. In her role, she makes customers feel confident that the company will produce parts according to their standards. “Quality is the last stop before it gets to the customer,” she said. “We’re the final say on whether a part is good or not. If it’s not, we save it from being sent out the door.” Indirectly, this vital role makes Bernard part of the marketing department, because damaged or unacceptable parts will hurt the company’s reputation.

As one of three women in Elyria’s quality assurance department, Bernard knows how challenging it can be for women in the industry. “It's not just about being a woman, it's about being a 19-year-old woman, in a predominantly male field,” Bernard said. Her mother worked as a shipping and receiving manager for Shiloh Industries for 12 years. “She gave me a fair warning about the struggles when I first entered.She was actually really worried about me when I first started in manufacturing, thinking that it would hurt my self esteem, and that I would be just dragged through the mud.”

Being so young, Bernard has found it difficult to earn the respect of some of her peers, most of whom are men. At first, many thought she was a dilettante fresh out of high school just looking for money. However, once they saw that she was really good at her job, they realized that she may have been fresh out of high school, but she knew her stuff. Still, Bernard admits that she has to be very strategic in how she does her job so that as many coworkers as possible continue to respect her.

“If a 19-year-old girl is telling you how to do your job when you're 60, that’s not my fault,” quipped Bernard. “If you did the job right the first time, I wouldn't need to tell you to fix anything.”

Observing how hard her mother worked as a single parent to support the family is one of the reasons Bernard is so focused on excelling at work and at school. “She worked 12-hour days pretty much my entire life. So I saw the struggle. I saw the exhausted woman plopping herself on the couch every night. I’d hear her complain about how her male coworkers treated her,” recalled Bernard. “It just makes me want to go in there with bull horns and kind of just pave the way so that nobody else can be treated like that. I don't like seeing people get treated like that. So that's why I work so hard and diligently.”

Every weeknight, Jana Bernard spends at least two hours doing quality certification, trigonometry, and calculus homework before going to bed at 9pm. This Lorain County Community College (LCCC) student cannot afford to pull all-nighters, because at 7am the next morning she begins an eight-hour shift as a quality inspector at Elyria Plastics. She started working there the day after graduating from high school.

“At work, I'm doing the rounds on the production floor checking everything. I do that about four or five times in that eight-hour period,” described Bernard. “I do a walkthrough with third shift in the morning and then a walkthrough with second shift so that we check up on each other’s work. And then I'll put that in the logbooks where everybody can read it, every shift can read it, and the supervisor can read it too.”

By studying quality certification in college, Bernard can be hired by almost any manufacturer in the United States. None of this would have been possible without joining MAGNET in her sophomore year of high school in 2017. When a teacher told her about the program, she decided to try it out to see if she would like it. Her brother is in an apprenticeship program at LCCC, training to get his journeyman's card, which made her want to study manufacturing even more. "He inspired me by telling me all the cool things he was doing at work," Bernard said. They studied in the same engineering class during their junior and senior years of high school, where she was again inspired by some of the projects that he was working on. When her teachers saw that she was good at it, he encouraged her to complete the program. Today, they both work at Elyria Plastics.

Bernard acts as the eyes and ears for the company’s customers. In her role, she makes customers feel confident that the company will produce parts according to their standards. “Quality is the last stop before it gets to the customer,” she said. “We’re the final say on whether a part is good or not. If it’s not, we save it from being sent out the door.” Indirectly, this vital role makes Bernard part of the marketing department, because damaged or unacceptable parts will hurt the company’s reputation.

As one of three women in Elyria’s quality assurance department, Bernard knows how challenging it can be for women in the industry. “It's not just about being a woman, it's about being a 19-year-old woman, in a predominantly male field,” Bernard said. Her mother worked as a shipping and receiving manager for Shiloh Industries for 12 years. “She gave me a fair warning about the struggles when I first entered.She was actually really worried about me when I first started in manufacturing, thinking that it would hurt my self esteem, and that I would be just dragged through the mud.”

Being so young, Bernard has found it difficult to earn the respect of some of her peers, most of whom are men. At first, many thought she was a dilettante fresh out of high school just looking for money. However, once they saw that she was really good at her job, they realized that she may have been fresh out of high school, but she knew her stuff. Still, Bernard admits that she has to be very strategic in how she does her job so that as many coworkers as possible continue to respect her.

“If a 19-year-old girl is telling you how to do your job when you're 60, that’s not my fault,” quipped Bernard. “If you did the job right the first time, I wouldn't need to tell you to fix anything.”

Observing how hard her mother worked as a single parent to support the family is one of the reasons Bernard is so focused on excelling at work and at school. “She worked 12-hour days pretty much my entire life. So I saw the struggle. I saw the exhausted woman plopping herself on the couch every night. I’d hear her complain about how her male coworkers treated her,” recalled Bernard. “It just makes me want to go in there with bull horns and kind of just pave the way so that nobody else can be treated like that. I don't like seeing people get treated like that. So that's why I work so hard and diligently.”