Her Best Day Yet: Leading Manufacturing with Courage and a Focus on Culture
Interview with Jody Richards, CEO and President | Process Technology
When people think about semiconductor innovation, they usually picture Silicon Valley. Clean rooms. Tech giants. West Coast headlines.
What they don’t picture is Northeast Ohio.
And they definitely don’t picture a woman who once worked in a government office in Japan, did IT consulting, excelled in international business, and never planned to work for her dad... now leading a manufacturing company whose equipment touches nearly every semiconductor in the world!
But that’s exactly the story of Jody Richards, CEO of Process Technology.
And it’s not just a story about a woman leading a manufacturing company. It’s a story about a woman who transformed the culture, the systems, and the people inside a manufacturing company and happens to run one of the most globally impactful operations in our region.
Jody didn’t grow up dreaming about running Process Technology. She grew up around it. Trade shows with her dad. Familiar with the surface finishing industry. But her career path went a very different direction. She worked in a city hall in Japan doing translations and interpretations. She worked in international sales. She moved into manufacturing. Then IT consulting.
When she finally walked into Process Technology, it wasn’t with a plan to take it over. It was to help.
“I was told they were struggling with manufacturing and inventory. And when I saw their computer system, I thought, why are we doing it this way?”
She thought she would fix a few things and leave. She never left.
Since then, the company has grown five times its size, acquired two additional companies, and continues to scale.
When Jody joined the company, the challenge wasn’t technology. It was mindset.
“That’s not a plan,” she says plainly.
Changing that required more than a new ERP system. It required changing how people thought about their work, about each other, and about the future.
“I don’t like the word employee. I call it the E-word. We’re a team. Every position is important. If we don’t all work together, we won’t win.”
That shift from protecting “your area” to working as a team is what she’s most proud of.
And it’s what allowed Process Technology to truly scale.
Process Technology is a family business, but not in the way you might expect.
Her father had largely retired by the time she joined. No siblings work in the company. Today, she works alongside her husband, who leads new product development and strategy, while she focuses on operations, systems, and leadership.
“He has what he’s good at. I have what I’m good at. And the things we’re both good at… we switch.”
It allows both of them to lead smaller teams well. It allows them to travel as a family to trade shows and conferences. It allows work and life to blend in a way that actually works.
“People think semiconductor innovation only happens in Silicon Valley. We’re doing super cool things right here in Northeast Ohio.”
Process Technology’s equipment is used to process nearly every semiconductor in the world. The chips powering NVIDIA technology. The devices we all use every day. The applications we never think about.
Indirectly, everyone is their customer. And most people have no idea it’s happening here in our backyard.
Ask Jody what she’s most passionate about, and it’s not a product. It’s people.
She regularly asks her direct reports about their personal goals… not just professional ones. What do you want to learn? What class do you want to take? How can we build that into your work here?
She’s excited about AI and process improvement, not because it’s trendy, but because:
“How do we make things less boring for people? How do we streamline things so people can do interesting work?”
That’s leadership through culture.
Her advice to women considering manufacturing, engineering, or entrepreneurship is simple.
“Don’t do it because you heard it pays well. Do it because you love it. You have to be passionate about what you do. That’s what carries you through.”
And then she adds the piece that feels very Jody:
“Lifelong learning. If you like to learn, keep learning. That puts you ahead of everyone else.”
At the end of the conversation, Jody shared something that perfectly captures how she leads and how she lives.
She talked about people who live in the past. The “glory days” mindset. Wishing they could go back.
“I don’t want to go back. Today is my best day yet!”
That outlook, that forward focus, is exactly what transformed Process Technology from a company with legacy habits into a company with global impact.
And it’s exactly the kind of leadership shaping the future of manufacturing in Northeast Ohio.
Manufacturing works for women who lead. And sometimes, they’re leading companies that the whole world depends on -- even if no one realizes it yet.