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The Company
Kent Elastomer Products has been manufacturing in Northeast Ohio since 1960. The company produces precision tubing and dip-molded products for the medical, dental, food and beverage, and industrial markets, and it holds a distinction no other American manufacturer can claim: it is the only manufacturer of natural rubber latex tubing left in the United States. Across three Ohio facilities, its people keep that six-decade legacy running.
The Challenge
Kent Elastomer had ambitious plans: grow revenue 40 percent over the next seven years, diversify its offerings, and modernize its technology. But leadership knew growth like that depends on people, and many of the company's leaders had been promoted from the floor without formal leadership training. The company wanted leaders who were more people-focused: leaders who build trust, motivate in a productive way, and shift a culture that had grown comfortable with the old way of doing things.
- Promoted, Not Prepared: Plant managers and supervisors had stepped into leadership from strong individual roles, without development in the people side of the job.
- An Old School Mindset: A culture resistant to change meant leaders needed to motivate their teams through it, not just manage around it.
- Manufacturing Realities: With production running around the clock, including a third shift, training had to fit the plant floor, not the other way around.
The Solution
Kent Elastomer partnered with Bundle to develop its leaders, a mix of existing managers and new managers spanning plant management, supervision, and accounting. Each learner worked one-on-one with an expert trainer through a structured pathway covering skills like motivating people for performance, coaching and feedback, managing change, and leading difficult conversations. Every session was live and built around practice: real scenarios, role play, and feedback learners could apply on their next shift. Scheduling flexed around plant operations, so even third-shift leaders could participate, and Bundle handled onboarding, scheduling, and engagement throughout.
The Results
The first group delivered, and Kent Elastomer launched a second cohort before the first had even finished.
- Full Completion: Every learner across both cohorts finished their entire pathway.
- Skill Growth Above Benchmark: Measured through built-in pre and post assessments that learners complete, Cohort 1 posted 33 percent overall skill gain and Cohort 2 posted 46 percent, both well above Bundle's 27 percent average.
- Consistently High Marks: Learners rated the program 4.8 for overall experience and relevance to their role, 4.9 for trainer effectiveness, and 4.9 for engagement.
- Practice That Stuck: In their feedback, learners kept pointing to the same things: role play, real workplace scenarios, and practical tools they could use with their teams the next day.
The Future
With both cohorts complete, Kent Elastomer is evaluating its next round of leaders for training, including plant managers and other rising leaders across the company. What started as a pilot is becoming part of how the company builds the leadership it needs to grow.
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