Archive for the ‘Shop Soapbox’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Thankful for the people of metal fabrication

November 19th, 2012
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.

(more...)

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Shop Soapbox | No Comments »

Fabricating real value

November 9th, 2012
By: Dan Davis

As I was watching Hurricane Sandy coverage on Oct. 29, I flipped on CNBC only to find a reporter lamenting the fact that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) might be forced to close for a second day due to inclement weather, marking the first time since the Blizzard of 1888 that weather had forced the Wall Street institution to be closed for two consecutive days. Additionally, this closure was coming at the end of the month when traders typically price financial portfolios. Oh, the horror!

Meanwhile, I was just thrilled that my 401(k) actually might not lose money for two consecutive days.

Beyond my self-centeredness, however, I couldn't shake the thought that so much attention was being placed on the NYSE while the area police officers, firefighters, public service crews, electrical workers, and storm recovery specialists were working around the clock to get New York up and running after Sandy blew through town. Certainly, financial trading is important to a modern economy, but life doesn't stop if financial traders can't make a phone call or send an e-mail. You can't say the same about the people who restore power and clear roads; if they don't show up, no one else can show up for their jobs. (more...)

Tags: ,
Posted in Shop Soapbox | No Comments »

Letter to the President

November 7th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

Dear President Obama:

Congratulations on your reelection. Although I did not vote for you, I sincerely wish you the best of luck and fervently hope that you are able to work with our gridlocked Congress to enact measures that will help our economy. Frankly, I am discouraged by the past four years, and I don’t believe our country can take four more years of the same.

Today, nbcnews.com ran a post-election piece entitled “Now that he’s won, the six splitting headaches waiting for Obama”: Automatic spending cuts; taxes going up, by a significant amount—and not just on the rich; debt limit; confirmation of pivotal Cabinet members (replacements for Tim Geithner and Hillary Clinton) and regulatory chiefs; implementing the Affordable Care Act and appointing the members of the Independent Payment Advisory Board; and chaos in Syria, WMD—and don’t forget Iran.

And then there’s the small matter of the economy, supposedly the No. 1 concern among voters in this election. (more...)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Shop Soapbox | No Comments »

Putting the storm into perspective

October 31st, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

Despite all of the advancements of mankind, we are not—and likely never will be—a match for Mother Nature. Whether it’s an earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, tornado, typhoon, drought, flooding, volcanic eruption, or some other natural disaster of epic proportion, Mother Nature has a way of showing us who’s boss.

Her children, Katrina and Sandy, certainly put us in our places. The images of the aftermath of Katrina were riveting, as are those of Sandy. And Sandy’s timing is interesting, to say the least. Even Oliver Stone, a force of nature of a sort, agrees. (more...)

Tags:
Posted in Shop Soapbox | No Comments »

No votes for education?

October 24th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

The current survey on thefabricator.com’s homepage asks which issue in the upcoming presidential election is most important to site visitors. It’s no surprise that the economy, including taxes, debt and deficit, and jobs, is the No. 1 concern with 55 percent of the votes.

Of the 13 remaining choices listed, 12 have earned one or more percent. The only choice that hasn’t received a single vote as of this writing is education.

Setting aside the fact that education likely may be among the choices of those who selected the option “several are of equal importance to me” (24 percent), it honestly concerns me that not one person chose it as most important. Have we simply become comfortable with the status of education in the U.S.? (More about this later.) Do we think that unless the others issues are addressed—for example, job creation—education doesn’t matter all that much? (more...)

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Shop Soapbox, Training and Retention | No Comments »

Just answer the question, please

October 17th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

Today’s subject is pet peeves—more specifically, those that struck a nerve with me in last night’s presidential debate.

Let me begin by listing a few of my pet peeves: Tardiness; the phrase “my bad” uttered by anyone over the age of 4; negativity; rude behavior, such as interrupting and finger-pointing (literally); dishonesty; obfuscation; and the failure to answer a question. To paraphrase the title of a Meat Loaf song as it applies to last night’s debate and these pet peeves: Five out of seven is bad. (more...)

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Shop Soapbox | 1 Comment »

Magical fabricating tour

October 12th, 2012
By: Dan Davis

If you weren't a part of The FABRICATOR's Technology Summit in early October, you missed a great learning experience. About 50 attendees visited six fabricating operations, two manufacturers of laser equipment, and one systems integrator of custom laser machines. If the event didn't "ignite innovation"—as its tag line suggested—it certainly got some people thinking about how they might change their own operations.

What exactly did attendees see as they traveled around Minnesota's Twin Cities? They got to see everything, from the automated manufacturing processes used to fabricate Hoffman boxes—one of the most recognizable brands in the metal manufacturing industry—at Pentair Technical Products, Minneapolis, to the manufacturing might needed to construct giant grain handlers at Schlagel Inc. in Cambridge, Minn. At those stops and others they saw the latest in automated storage and retrieval systems that feed material to laser cutting machines with no human intervention; specialty laser cutting devices tailored for industries such as medical device and aerospace parts manufacturing; and even a fiber laser that ripped through tubes, cutting shapes in a matter of seconds. (more...)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Industry Trends & Analysis, Shop Soapbox | No Comments »

Yes, Virginia, low-skill factory jobs still can be found, but

October 11th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

Tuesday’s “Fabricating Update” e-newsletter featured comments by Ed Youdell, president and CEO of the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International®, about the first annual Manufacturing Day. The event, which was co-sponsored and -produced by FMA, was a big success as more than 200 manufacturers nationwide opened their doors to students and the public.

In a Q&A in the Rockford Register Star, Youdell explained the impetus behind Manufacturing Day: “The most important thing we wanted to do is build awareness of manufacturing as a viable career. We feel if we can get kids inside plants that they’ll see it’s clean, it’s safe, it’s high technology. (more...)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Shop Soapbox, Training and Retention | No Comments »

Make Manufacturing Day a memorable one

September 21st, 2012
By: Dan Davis

"Want to come out to St. Francisville this Saturday and take a tour of the plant?" my dad asked me one night during dinner back in 1986.

Knowing that such a visit would cut into my sleep time over the weekend, I declined with the grace and panache of a teenager. "Not really," the response might have come out.

I still wince when I recall that short-lived conversation.

(more...)

Posted in Industry Trends & Analysis, Shop Soapbox | 1 Comment »

Evolution and politics

September 19th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

(Warning … this is a personal rant. Feel free to rant back.)
I love the U.S.—the principles on which our country was founded, our constitution, freedoms, and diversity. I hate politics. Never have these statements been truer for me than in this political season. On second thought … I recall feeling much the same in presidential election years past.

Why is it that candidates can’t simply release documents—fact-checked, of course—disclosing their backgrounds, qualifications for president, and their positions on the issues; disseminate this material to every U.S. household; and let voters study the documents, decide which candidate’s beliefs coincide most with their own, and then vote accordingly? (Of course, you’d have to count on the politicians to commit to positions and give up flip-flopping according to which way the voting wind is blowing.)

Why, oh why do we have to have all of this worse-than-counterproductive, down-and-dirty, schoolyard fighting, and name-calling? Frankly, I find it embarrassing. The U.S. supposedly is a developed, civilized, cultured nation, but our politicians behave as if they are ready to go outside, duke it out, and let the best fighter win. Where is the theory of evolution as it applies to politics? Nothing seems to change.

(more...)

Tags: , ,
Posted in Shop Soapbox | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »