Tyler Johnson claims he was just a naive, “snot-nosed senior in high school” when he approached representatives from Thogus Products Company at a LCJVS school fair and asked for a tool and die apprenticeship.
“As kind as they were, they told me they didn’t have a program for that just yet, but they would start one,” recalls Johnson, who became the only tool room machinist at the time hired by Thogus. “They had to assemble a machine shop and hire a journeyman tool and die maker who I could work under before I could start. I am so grateful to them for giving me a start.”
That beginning turned into what Johnson calls “a rocket ship career.” He stayed with Thogus from 2012 to 2016 and then, like a maturing child in any family, struck out on his own.
In 2019, Johnson became the owner of Origin Tool Company, where he advises clients with their manufacturing formation needs. That includes being a business consultant, network provider, engineering process developer and more. He can take an idea “from a sketch on a napkin to a finished product,” he explains.
Johnson is also an engineering manager for Blade-Tech Industries, a holster manufacturer specializing in injection molding. Working for this vertically integrated company has allowed Johnson to utilize all of his skills.
“When I first started in manufacturing, I thought of it as a job. But now I know it is more of a mindset,” says Johnson. “I can sit in a room alone and just look at the things in there and know how they were made.”
