Sarah Daly is an engineer. The Kentucky graduate is plant manager at FiberVisions, helping to produce fibers for products such as diapers, wipes, tea bags, air filters and Swiffer Dusters, at the Covington plant. She says she is 70 percent like her father, also an engineer.

The Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) says Daly is one of Georgia’s Faces of Manufacturing.

GaMEP regional manager, Larry Alford, was at the FiberVisions plant at 7101 Alcovy Road Tuesday to present Daly with the state-wide award.

The award isn’t just a physical object for Daly and FiberVisions to display but it’s also a way for GaMEP to illustrate the array and value of careers in manufacturing.

“It’s about helping the community understand the importance of manufacturing,” Alford said.

“That’s why we started it, to introduce people who found this to be great career through their stories to see what’s possible and the opportunity it provides.”

Daly’s story was highlighted on the faces of manufacturing website [facesofmanufacturing.com/portfolio/sara-daly/] telling how her love of solving problems led her to the University of Kentucky. There she entered in a work co-op in manufacturing, where she enjoyed working in a team atmosphere. When her husband moved left the Army, the couple moved to Atlanta, where she took on the position of process engineer at FiberVisions.

Now, as plant manager, she leads 69 people, 11 of whom directly report to her.

“I just love manufacturing and I love polymers,” Daly said. “These guys are all fun people to work with. It’s great getting to have a tangible thing that you make, and getting to see it on a daily basis.”

She came to the attention of GaMEP, a program operated by the Enterprise Innovation Institute out of Georgia Tech through FiberVisions work with Lean Six Sigma.

The Lean Six Sigma program helps companies learn how to reduce waste, therefore raising their margins by working more efficiently.

The Newton County Economic Development Office has been a champion of the Lean Six Sigma program, helping it spread throughout the area.

“Too many people thin manufacturing is Drury, Indiana in the 1960s,” said Dave Bernd Vice President of Economic Development said. “It’s to the point today that you can eat off the floors. That’s what Lean Six Sigma brings: organization, structure and a step-by-step process. If you can eliminate waste from the system, it helps you to meet your margins.”

Bernd said the program will help companies compete worldwide.

“It’s the industries that haven’t taken on Lean Six Sigma that are failing,” Bernd said. “We are a global competitor now. We need to compete against China, Russia and Mexico. The work Sarah is doing is driving that manufacturing, so that we win, not only in Covington but the United States and worldwide.”