Surrounded by her fellow team members, Paulina Tompea of Wilo USA shows off her Faces of Manufacturing award.

THOMASVILLE — So much for being on vacation for Paulina Tompea.

Instead, the production manager for Wilo USA in Thomasville was surrounded by her appreciative crew Wednesday morning as she was honored with the November Faces of Manufacturing award. The Georgia Manufacturing Extension Program at Georgia Tech developed the distinction.

“We’re very honored for our recipient,” said Tim Ruppert, the Wilo USA president, of Tompea, who interrupted her time off to return to work for the award. “We always tell her she’s the greatest plant manager any company could ever have. This recognition proves that. She is always a bundle of energy and always has great leadership for the people in the shop and always willing to go above and beyond, not just for Wilo USA but for her people and that’s a pretty important aspect of leadership.”

“She’s an inspiration every time she walks int the room,” said Dr. Hank Hobbs, south region manager for the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute.

Tompea, a native of Romania, studied engineering in her native country, earning a bachelor’s and master’s. But when jobs in the discipline began to erode, she signed on as a manager for a growing company in Eastern Europe — McDonald’s.

“I found myself not knowing what I wanted to do,” she said.

Tompea worked as a manager with the fast-food giant for three years and there, she developed her managerial philosophy of giving her employees the tools and the standards to perform the work.

“Working as a team, we can meet the challenges,” she said.

She eventually went to work for Solectron Electronics, an American firm opening a branch in Romania. In time, she was promoted to lead a unit that employed more than 1,000 people.

Tompea moved to the United States and months later, got a job in Arizona. There she met her husband, and together they moved to southwest Georgia, settling in Cairo.

When she started at Wilo USA, which makes pumps and mixers, the processes to fill orders needed repair. Through projects with the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Program and a “spaghetti chart” drawn up on a napkin, the team made changes to the plant layout and also cross-trained employees.

“One thing you’ll find about Paulina is it’s not about Paulina,” Hobbs said. “She figured out a long time you win with people. Anytime you meet her, it’s not about Paulina, it’s about the team. She is a very humble individual. We’re just glad to be able to share this experience with her.”

Wilo USA moved into its Thomasville facility, a 60,000-square-foot plant, in 2007. The facility employs 33 people.

There are 10,000 manufacturers in Georgia, employing 365,000 people and providing a total manufacturing output worth $53 billion, according to GaMEP.

For more about Tompea and the Faces of Manufacturing, visit facesofmanufacturing.com.

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.