How can a fabricator be successful these days? The common answer is that if a shop reduces labor costs, it can compete with the world. The story’s subtler than that--and a just-released financial benchmarking survey from the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association reveals these subtleties. This year, 36 fabricators anonymously shared some in-depth financial ratio data. Together, those responses helped FMA produce a valuable business tool: the 2012 Financial Ratios & Operational Benchmarking Survey.
Archive for the ‘Manager’s Desk’ Category
Metal fabrication financial benchmarking: The survival of the fastest
August 7th, 2012
By: Tim Heston
By: Tim Heston
Turnaround time versus on-time delivery rates
July 24th, 2012
By: Tim Heston
By: Tim Heston
For years economic growth has been stuck in neutral. Economists are lowering their already low GDP growth projections for 2012. Regarding this, Julia Coronado, chief economist at BNP Paribas, gave Bloomberg an intriguing insight. “Things are so lean and mean, there aren’t a lot of excesses that need to be reduced.” Although such efficiency hasn’t been able to pull the economy into high gear, it also has insulated the economy from a dramatic downturn.
That’s good news--sort of. Neutral is better than reverse, I suppose. But it does mean that the economy probably won’t be pleasant for companies that aren’t lean and mean. The good news: Plenty of fabricators I’ve seen are lean.
How fabricators are faring this summer
July 12th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell
By: Vicki Bell
It’s summer, a time when some companies (not ice cream and sno-cone vendors) experience a lull in business. Although a summer lull most often is a temporary situation, businesses worldwide fear any slowdown as being an indicator of a possible move back into a recession.
On its website and through its July “Fabricating Update,” thefabricator.com has been asking fabricators how their businesses are faring this summer. It appears it’s a mixed bag out there with little cause for alarm, just yet. (more...)
'Manufacturing is wealth creation'
March 14th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell
By: Vicki Bell
I've said it before, and I'll say it again … the very best part of my job is hearing from readers. It doesn't matter whether the reader shares my views or thinks I’m 'out to lunch.' What matters is that he or she feels strongly about the topic and takes the time to share his or her view. Each comment contributes to the ensuing conversation and provides further food for thought.
Responding to last week's "Stamping News Brief" e-newsletter, a reader from Oregon shared his views about technical training in the U.S.
The newsletter featured comments provoked by the blog post "Adding technical training back into high schools," in which a commenter took businesses to task for discontinuing apprenticeship programs and now looking to educational systems to ramp up training on the taxpayers' dime. (more...)
Learning from other fabricators
March 9th, 2012
By: Dan Davis
By: Dan Davis
Put two metal fabricators in the same room, and you might find a scene reminiscent of the Hatfields and McCoys. Those two individuals don't want anything to do with each other because one only wants to steal the other one's customers.
Thankfully, all metal fabricators don't feel that way. It's one of the reasons that The FABRICATOR's Leadership Summit has evolved into such a great learning experience for company leaders and managers in this industry. The metal fabricators in attendance aren't afraid to share winning strategies and difficult challenges with their counterparts from all over the U.S. because, more than likely, they aren't competing for the same customers and they actually can learn from the interchange. It's one of the reasons that some of these fabricators have formed formal groups—the Precision Sheet Metal User Groups (PSMUG), as the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association (FMA) has officially labeled these small groups. They know that they can learn the best lessons from others that may have been in similar situations. The FABRICATOR's Tim Heston covered the PSMUGs in December, and when reading it, you realize why those groups are so important. (more...)
Demand-pull manufacturing in its purest form
February 29th, 2012
By: Tim Heston
By: Tim Heston
An operator holding a tube checks the computer screen adjacent to his workstation, positions the tube just so against a backstop, checks the screen again, then initiates the cutoff operation. In less than 48 hours, that tube will be part of a finished golf club and in the hands of a customer who ordered it.
That make-to-order, quick-response environment has been a cornerstone to the success of Ping golf clubs. So said Nathan Tapp, product specialist, who brought a group of fabricators on a plant tour this morning. That tour kicked off The FABRICATOR's Leadership Summit, the 7th Annual Metal Matters, being held this year in Scottsdale, Ariz.
'Skilled labor standing right here, willing to relocate!'
February 7th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell
By: Vicki Bell
The January "Fabricating Update" included statistics and comments from the e-newsletter's recent survey about fabricator concerns. Some of the comments focused on the lack of skilled labor, an oft-cited concern in the fabricating industry and manufacturing as a whole.
This information garnered even more comments, such as a very thoughtful response from Todd, an Alabama reader whose signature included the aka: Skilled labor standing right here, willing to relocate!
Todd's response chronicles his experience as a skilled craftsman, paints a picture of what is happening in his part of the country, and raises a valid point about why employers might be having such a difficult time attracting qualified workers. (more...)
Metal stampers' take on unions: Part II
January 18th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell
By: Vicki Bell
Last week's post, Metal stampers' take on unions: Part I, revealed findings from a "Stamping News Brief" (SNB) survey about unions. It also featured comments from survey respondents—both those who believe unions are still necessary and those who don’t. Those who believe unions are to blame for lost jobs in the U.S., and those who think they are not—that corporate greediness and the government are the true culprits. As promised, here are some more comments from SNB readers about unions. (more...)
Metal stampers' take on unions: Part I
January 11th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell
By: Vicki Bell
Labor unions continue to make news. Today, sfgate.com published the article Twinkie-Maker Hostess Files for Bankruptcy Citing Pensions, which said that the baker's latest bankruptcy filing is being blamed on the weak economy and costs tied to pension- and medical-benefit obligations resulting from union agreements.
Also in the news, Oklahoma union workers are testifying against Indiana's "right to work" initiative.
Labor unions have been cited by some as major contributors toward U.S. automakers' woes and the outsourcing of jobs. Perhaps no industrial sector has suffered more from the automakers' travails than U.S. metal stampers. Last month, "Stamping News Brief" asked its subscribers—stamping industry professionals—to take a survey about unions. Some of the results may surprise you. (more...)
The choice of reading about greatness
October 21st, 2011
By: Dan Davis
By: Dan Davis
I once knew a gentleman in the metal fabricating business who said his favorite leisure-time activity was reading "business books." Wow. Nothing says "party" like a weekend with Blue Ocean Strategy or The Wisdom of Crowds.
Pardon me if I'm skeptical of such literary efforts. But I've met a bunch of people running metal fabricating businesses was don't have fancy degrees or the latest self-help book on their nightstands, and they do just fine. They know how to bend, cut, form, and join metal, and they run their businesses with an integrity that is often lost in the pursuit of "big hairy audacious goals" and "win-win strategies."
This comes to mind only after reading an excerpt of the latest book, Great By Choice, from management guru Jim Collins and his writing partner, Morten T. Hansen. You can read the excerpt here. (more...)
