Avant-garde retirees

Wednesday, February 20th, 2013
By: Vicki Bell

Last month I wrote a blog post about retirement, a term that some believe is becoming an anachronism. As early as 2008, financial consultants were writing about this possibility: “The word ‘retirement’ conjures up visions of leisurely days spent traveling, dining at fine restaurants, golfing, volunteering, and getting together with friends. Unfortunately, only very, very few of us are going to be able to live the dream.”

Larry Cohen, the author of this foreboding paragraph, went on to say in his article on investmentnews.com that the reason for his negativity was that “very few households have saved enough to be able to afford such a lifestyle for the 20, 30, or more years they are likely to live after they retire in their early 60s.”

Early 60s? Come on, Larry. Read the rest of this entry »

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New manganese exposure guidance

Friday, February 15th, 2013
By: Dan Davis

Metal fabricating companies that seek to provide the safest work environments for their employees might be interested to know that the job might get a little harder in the welding department. The leading industrial health and safety organization that regularly issues guidance for certain toxic compounds is recommending a dramatic reduction in manganese fume exposure.

The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has recommended a 10-fold reduction in the time weighted average (over eight hours) threshold limit value for respirable manganese particulate. The association reduced the TLV-TWA limit of 0.2 mg/m3 to 0.02 mg/m3. In other words, a person should not breathe in more than 0.02 mg/m3 of manganese over an eight-hour work period. Read the rest of this entry »

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Mr. Bureaucracy, tear down this wall

Tuesday, February 12th, 2013
By: Tim Heston

This morning I talked with Paul Luber, CEO of Milwaukee-based Super Steel, a contract fabricator on a serious rebound. In 2010 the company went into receivership. Now, the fabricator recently has completed a serious growth spurt--it doubled revenue in just 12 months--and is preparing for 15 percent annual growth during the next few years. Look out of the story in the April FABRICATOR.

This shop is one of many I wish more journalists and government officials would learn about--and I’m talking about more than the grip-and-grin coverage, like the “Good American Job” stereotypical photo op we continually saw during the presidential campaign.

Milwaukee is a highly competitive area for metal fabrication. Workers have plenty of options, but, according to company sources, they choose Super Steel because of its competitive pay and benefits. And it’s an engaging place to work, one that continually focuses on product and process improvements.

And, oh yeah, the company also sends its products to Mexico and other so-called “low cost” countries.

Read the rest of this entry »

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The effect of parental influence

Friday, February 8th, 2013
By: Dan Davis

I have a 14-year-old who's a freshman in high school this year. He's already 4 inches taller than I am and possesses more knowledge about Civil War history than I have after 44 years on this earth—with all of my schooling taking place in the South where the Civil War is still recalled almost every day. He's growing up fast, and his interests are pretty evident.

Recently when it came time to register for classes for the 2013-2014 school year, we had to have a little discussion. My wife, my son, and I all agree that he should take another year of Spanish and stick with band. He enjoys both, and the skills are something he can use the rest of his life. However, it doesn't leave much wiggle room for electives.

My son wants to take an honors-level history course. My wife and I want him to try introduction to engineering. That's when the 10-Minute War for Education Destiny ensued. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Industry Trends & Analysis | 1 Comment »

The scoop on U.S. worker confidence

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013
By: Vicki Bell

In the early days of 2013, January 3, to be exact, Randstad released the results of its December U.S. Employee Confidence survey that painted a rosy picture heading into the new year. The Confidence Index was 55.4, one of the highest levels of optimism recorded in 2012.

The Index, which measures employee insights on jobs, the economy, and their personal employment situation, found more workers believe the economy is not only getting stronger, but more jobs are available.

That was then. February 1, Randstad released its findings for January that indicate workers are more concerned about jobs and the economy as the index decreased 3.3 points in January to 52.1. Granted, the index has remained about 50.0 for the past year, but what’s to blame for this decline that’s steeper than any month-to-month comparison in 2012? Care to guess? Read the rest of this entry »

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Retirement: A quaint idea

Thursday, January 31st, 2013
By: Vicki Bell

Don’t you just love it when you read an article on a major news site that makes you go, “Well, duh!” Such was the case today when I read a feature story on nbcnews.com about how fewer Americans count on retiring by 65 (unfortunately, the link to this article no longer works). As reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the percentage of workers working beyond 65 has increased significantly from 1985’s low of 10 percent to 18.5 percent in 2012. My reaction is a result of seeing many of my peers among those who will be working until at least 70—some because they love what they do, but most out of necessity. Read the rest of this entry »

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The story behind the story

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013
By: Eric Lundin

The latest big-picture economic assessment is out, and the headlines don’t tell a pretty story. As measured by gross domestic output (GDP), the U.S. economy contracted slightly during the final quarter of 2012. A surprise? Yes, even for many economists. A reflection of the national mood at the end of last year, when the fiscal cliff was looming? Probably. A cause for panic? No, even for most people in manufacturing. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Industry Trends & Analysis | No Comments »

Taking control of training efforts

Friday, January 25th, 2013
By: Dan Davis

A&E Custom Manufacturing, Kansas City, Kan., isn't much different from other metal fabricators today. It is looking for the right skilled employees.

"If we could find the people, we would probably add four to five employees," said John Jaixen, A&E's general manager, in December. Specifically, he would bring on talented welders for the second shift and inventory help—if he could find the right people.

Needless to say, A&E isn't alone. In October 2012 the Boston Consulting Group issued a report saying that manufacturing companies had 80,000 to 100,000 open positions for skilled workers. That's dwarfed by the 600,000 openings cited in a 2011 survey from Deloitte Consulting and The Manufacturing Institute. Sure, that's a big disparity, but the fact is that the current manufacturing workforce isn't getting any younger; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the average age of manufacturing workers in the U.S. at 56. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Training and Retention, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Debt and equity

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013
By: Vicki Bell

A couple of weeks ago, my esteemed fellow blogger and close watcher of all things economic, Eric Lundin, wrote a post entitled “We’ve all fallen off the fiscal cliff.” Commenting on the last-minute deal Congress approved to avoid sending the U.S. economy off the fiscal cliff, Lundin said, “Yes, superficially, the new legislation prevented the U.S. economy from becoming the equivalent of a high-speed train wreck. However, it didn’t deal with the broad, deep, fundamental problems that are weakening the foundation of the U.S. economy. We have the same problems we had before this legislation passed, and the U.S. economy will eventually go off the rails. It won’t be sudden. It will play out like a painfully slow train wreck. Rather than a couple dozen freight cars piling up in a matter of seconds, it will take a decade or two, but it will happen nonetheless.”

This blog post became the lead story in January’s “Tube Talk” e-newsletter, and we asked readers to share their thoughts about the pending train wreck. Here’s what some of them had to say (the caps are all theirs): Read the rest of this entry »

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The real costs behind miscommunication

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
By: Tim Heston

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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