At the last FABTECH® show, I ran into an engineer who works for GE Appliance & Lighting, looking for products that would speed that all-important art-to-part time--that all-important product-development time. Their comments make sense in light of recent growth of the company’s Louisville, Ky., Appliance Park. After years of decline, the massive industrial campus has njoyed a welcome rebound in recent years, as described in great detail by The Atlantic magazine last month.
Author Archive
Focusing on information waste
January 15th, 2013
By: Tim Heston
By: Tim Heston
Yesterday the Brookings Institution, along with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, proposed a program that would involve the federal government designating 20 “manufacturing universities” to prepare students for the sectors that need engineering help. Most intriguing, perhaps is its proposed Ph.D. program for engineers:
“Ph.D.s would be transformed into high-level apprenticeships (as they often are in Germany), where industrial experience is a requirement for graduation. Likewise, criteria for faculty tenure would be reformed to include professors’ work with industry and the connection of research with industrial applications, as much as their number of publications.” According to the report, this would help bridge the wide divide between academia and industry.
Metal fabricating with focus amid chaos
January 8th, 2013
By: Tim Heston
By: Tim Heston
Early last year, I recall eating lunch in the break room at Atlanta-based Metcam, which hosted a press brake training seminar run by Steve Benson and organized by the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association. Sitting across from me was a press brake supervisor, we chatted a bit about his tours of duty in both Afghanistan and Iraq. He told me some intense stories.
He had gotten a job at a local metal fabricator and had climbed the ladder quickly. His military training, it seems, helped. He could focus. He paid attention to detail. He showed up to work like clockwork, and he was totally engaged in company’s improvement processes. To me, he sounded like a model employee. This is why I wasn’t surprised when I read an article in Forbes describing this as a trend that may abate, at least to some extent, our country’s skilled labor crisis.
A thanks to you all
December 17th, 2012
By: Tim Heston
By: Tim Heston
When I visit a contract metal fabricator, often the focus really isn’t about the metal parts or the fancy machinery. It’s about co-workers, who often happen to be family members. Some aren’t blood relatives, but they might as well be. There’s a real sense of community at these shops. I’ve met brothers as business partners, married couples as entrepreneurs. Something about these close working environments grounds people.
The competitive cluster in metal fabrication
December 13th, 2012
By: Tim Heston
By: Tim Heston
A recent Wall Street Journal article pointed out the strength of U.S. manufacturing when it comes to--get ready for the technical jargon--“big stuff.” By that the Journal reporter meant mining equipment and heavy machinery.
Economist Chris Kuehl pointed out this fact in a recent edition of Fabrinonics, an e-newsletter from the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Intl. Both Kuehl and the Journal article brought up the benefits of “clusters,” a group of like companies in highly collaborative supply chains. Taiwan has it for semiconductors. We’ve got it for extremely heavy equipment, like mining trucks.
Unions, right-to-work laws, and technical training
December 12th, 2012
By: Tim Heston
By: Tim Heston
On Dec. 20, 1936, workers at a GM plant in Flint, Mich., had enough--and sat down. Many consider that sit-down strike in 1936 as the impetus for the modern labor movement. That made yesterday’s news more poignant--when Gov. Rick Snyder’s signature made Michigan a right-to-work state.
People can debate endlessly about the pros and cons of unions, but the issue isn’t simple. A decade ago I recall talking to a few lean manufacturing consultants who told me they wouldn’t work with a union shop, because of the work rules in place. In a high-product-mix situation, workers need to adapt, cross train, and work when and where needed to meet ship dates.
I still hear complaints, but not as often as I used to. Some unions are great to work with, while others adhere to the old, inflexible-work-rule stereotypes.
Skills gap, or education gap?
December 11th, 2012
By: Tim Heston
By: Tim Heston
Government officials are paying more attention to manufacturing these days. It’s now politically prudent to preach the merits of reshoring, near-shoring, and the return of the “good manufacturing job.” Of course, this also puts more scrutiny on manufacturing as an industry. Are these good companies, are they really providing good jobs, and are they helping communities grow?
Thankful for the people of metal fabrication
November 19th, 2012
By: Tim Heston
By: Tim Heston
This Thursday my family will continue a long, albeit corny tradition. We go around the table and tell people what we’re thankful for. It’s a refreshing respite from all the dreary news--about China, the European mess, the Fiscal Cliff, and all the uncertainty and dysfunction from our nation’s capital.
So what will I give thanks for? Yes, family and friends top the list, as usual, but I’m also one of those odd people who mentions his day job. Every day, I get to talk to people in metal fabrication. I enjoy conversations with few if any corporate buzzwords. They get to the point. They have great character. And when it comes to the productive economy, they work where the rubber hits the road.
At FABTECH 2012: Two people manufacturing will need
November 12th, 2012
By: Tim Heston
By: Tim Heston
What a crowd in Las Vegas. Official attendance numbers, which are audited, aren't released yet, but early estimates are that today may have been one of FABTECH's most well-attended opening days.
Vendors I spoke with were happy with the crowds, and attendees said their shops were busy. Some have seen a little softening of late. Some are very worried about what will happen in Washington. But for the most part, people say business is good.
Admittedly, show attendees may not be the best representative sample of the industry. Businesses in dire situations probably don't bother attending the show at all. Regardless, the metal forming and fabricating niche remains a bright spot in manufacturing and the economy overall.
Today, two booths, coincidentally adjacent to one another, really showed what manufacturing may look like a generation from now.
Busy or slow, manufacturer never stops improving
October 28th, 2012
By: Tim Heston
By: Tim Heston
If tragedy has a silver lining, it is that it brings everything else into stark clarity. Those who suffer usually either wallow or emerge triumphant. Chesterfield, Mo.-based Cambridge Engineering did the latter.
As Vice President of Manufacturing Michael Mueller put it, “We had a new spirit, and we had to survive.”
