NES February Employee Spotlight
Alex Harris
Alex Harris sat at home, quietly, but attentively watching YouTube videos on his phone, which happened to draw his wife’s curiosity.
“What are you doing,” she asked?
“I’m like, ‘I’m learning how to code,’” he responded. “She’s like, ‘Oh, have fun.’”
Harris was, indeed, enjoying the process, calling it a “fun learning experience.” (“I’m nowhere near a professional level,” he noted, “but I’ve definitely gotten better.”) And, of course, he was using his free time to learn how to write code. …
Because Harris has always been willing to accept – and succeeded in – every role that Napoleon Engineering Services has given him.
The Portville native, who recently celebrated his 10th work anniversary, began at NES as a bearing inspection engineer, writing inspection reports and facilitating routers. Six years ago, he transitioned into bearing modification engineering, helping with design work and drawings (“taking existing components and fashioning some kind of feature into it,” he explained.)
In 2024, with NES in need of a more comprehensive safety policy and procedures plan, Harris added a second title to his existing designation of bearing engineer: safety manager, the company’s first official such position, for which Harris now oversees safety program development, training and implementation.
AROUND THAT same time, Harris was approached about shifting away from modification work and into a position where he could help better organize an increasing number of job orders, enhance efficiency and streamline task lists:
Database engineering and development.
And so it was that the 10-year NES veteran took on yet another new focus, one he maintains to this day. Accordingly, Harris began developing a new Complete Bearing Manufacturing (CBM) Entry Database – the reason he initially began to learn coding and an incredibly thorough and valuable tool now used by all NES bearing engineers.
It was the first in a series of databases that Harris both created and presently supports.
“It kind of makes me learn all the facets of the business and not just focus on one department,” Harris said of his database engineering duties. “Our CBM engineers will give me a start-to-finish through the entire process (from the time an order is placed through when a router hits the plant floor), and I have to try to design something that fits that and helps them do their job better and speeds up some of those tasks.
“It’s essentially a checklist for each job.”
Harris enjoys seeing his fellow engineers, with whom he shares space just off NES’ main office, benefit from this still-fledgling program.
“At the end of the day, I want this company to succeed, and if I can do something that helps people make that happen, then I’m all for it,” he said, before deflecting much of the credit to his co-workers by adding, “Yes, I built it. I may have done the actual coding and formatting in the database and put it together, but most of the ideas have come from these guys that do the work, our engineers.
“I just make it happen, but most of the ideas start there.”
Modesty aside, it’s the significant impact he’s made through these efforts – plus his safety management duties – that earned the University of Buffalo graduate NES’ February employee spotlight.
Harris was thankful for the accolade, saying, “that means everything coming from the Chrises (President Chris Napoleon and Vice President Chris Truman).” He’s been equally grateful, over the last decade, to have garnered the opportunity to contribute here, noting of his NES origin story:
“I was working at Armond’s (a local men’s clothing store), Chris Napoleon walked in for a suit and I kind of got to talking to him,” Harris recalled. “I told him I had just finished my engineering degree and was helping out (at Armond’s, his uncle’s business). I had just finished school and was still kind of looking for a job and wanted to stay in this area.
“I hadn’t really heard of NES before Chris walked in. But I told him this and ended up sending him my resume. He called me in for an interview a couple days later and offered me a job fairly soon after.”
HARRIS HAS formed a fulfilling personal life, marrying his wife, Brittany, in 2020 and welcoming two children since. He said that spending time with his family is “the most rewarding thing I can ever do.” Also rewarding, from a professional standpoint, is the quality work he’s done – for both his co-workers and NES customers.
“Seeing people take what you’ve built and have success with it or utilize it in some capacity,” he said. …” Or, back when I was in inspection/modification, talking to customers and receiving their thanks or feeling their appreciation of the detail you put into certain things is rewarding.
“Honestly, it’s been nice to be at a company that really strives for that excellence in everything. It starts with Chris and works its way down. (It’s nice) that you could be valued at a company that strives for that.”
Said Truman of Harris, “It’s great to see Alex stepping up into that (safety manager) capacity. After bouncing around and helping out with a variety of different jobs, it’s good to see him landing in a role where he can really make an impact.
“Safety is an important part of what we do every day and having someone willing to take ownership and help keep it top of mind for the team is greatly appreciated. His willingness to take on the responsibility and support the group helps create a safer environment for everyone.”
Added Napoleon of Harris’ database development efforts: “Without Alex’s support of database programming, which is mining critical data, we wouldn’t be able to operate our business the way that we do.”