Posts Tagged ‘Manufacturing’

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Unemployment benefits or a factory job?

March 28th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

If you’re a regular reader of The Fabricator Blog, you may have seen the post about wages that drew comments from both employers and workers—both those who think current wages are fine and those who don't. 

These comments also offered opinions about why employers may be having such a difficult time finding workers, even with today's high unemployment rate. 

"C" said, "I will tell you why [workers aren't taking factory jobs]. It is because they can work at Wal-Mart or any number of warehouse or even office jobs for the same money that is being offered to skilled labor and work in air-conditioning instead of 115-plus degree welding shops. I personally worked at the local Wal-Mart making a little over $10 an hour and it was 4 miles from my home. (more...)

Tags: , ,
Posted in Shop Soapbox, Training and Retention | 2 Comments »

Learning from other fabricators

March 9th, 2012
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...)

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Industry Trends & Analysis, Manager's Desk, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Uncle Sam needs you

February 17th, 2012
By: Dan Davis

A metal fabricator knows the importance of diversity in business. A diverse customer base helps a company avoid the dramatic ups and downs that may come with being linked too closely to one industrial segment. A management team with diverse backgrounds helps a company prepare for a multitude of challenges, not just the ones identified by the president and his or her "yes" men. An employment base with diverse talents helps a metal fabricator respond quickly to myriad job orders because they can tackle numerous shop floor jobs, not just one.

That same scenario applies to all aspects of life. People acting of one mind with little tolerance for differing viewpoints is dangerous.

I see Washington, D.C., being like that. I understand the talents that lawyers can contribute to governing, but do an overwhelming majority of those public servants responsible for representing our interests in the nation's capital have to be of the same profession? Would it hurt to have a butcher, a banker, or a metal fabricator represent us?

(more...)

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

Manufacturing deserves special treatment

January 20th, 2012
By: Dan Davis

I apologize for being absent from the blog for most of the past six weeks. I guess I got wrapped up in Republican primary politics coverage.

That's a joke. I also was engrossed in "Storage Wars" and "American Hoggers" on A&E.

But it's kind of hard to ignore the political proceedings that are taking place all over the U.S. An election year means some sort of change is coming, and metal fabricators are no different from any other voters: They hope the change is consistent with their own political beliefs. To say that there is a little interest in this upcoming election would be a grand understatement. (more...)

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

'The devil is in the details'

September 21st, 2011
By: Vicki Bell

Earlier this month President Obama delivered a speech about the proposed American Jobs Act to Congress. His speech included these remarks: "... we're going to make sure the next generation of manufacturing takes root not in China or Europe, but right here, in the United States of America. If we provide the right incentives and support—and if we make sure our trading partners play by the rules—we can be the ones to build everything from fuel-efficient cars to advanced biofuels to semiconductors that we sell all over the world. That's how America can be number one again. That's how America will be number one again" 

These remarks were noted in the September 15 issue of the "Stamping News Brief" e-newsletter delivered to more than 10,000 metal stamping professionals. The newsletter asked readers to share their thoughts about the Jobs Act—whether it should and would be passed, and whether it could have a significant impact on revitalizing U.S. manufacturing and job creation. (more...)

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

Educating the workforce instead of training

April 1st, 2011
By: Dan Davis

"You train a dog. You educate a person."

That's the note an industrial technology educator sent to us after reading a recent "Fabricating Update" e-newsletter that contained comments lamenting the lack of skilled workers in the U.S. We received 10 or so responses, but that one sentence really has stuck with me. I think it captures the public's mindset about manufacturing. (more...)

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Training and Retention | 1 Comment »

Will metal fabricating activity continue to grow?

March 25th, 2011
By: Dan Davis

Financial writers are funny people. They make people laugh even when they aren't telling a joke.

For instance, read John Carney's CNBC story "Have Consumers Gone on Strike?" In the story he makes the point: "What seems to be happening is that businesses have been ramping up their production and hiring in expectations of strong consumer demand. Consumers, however, have failed to provide that expected demand."

He and his Wall Street-watching brethren actually are surprised by this turn of events? Does he bother to read anything or watch any show that goes beyond simple stock market performance? How can he be surprised that consumers are sitting on their wallets? (more...)

Tags: ,
Posted in Shop Soapbox | 1 Comment »

GE CEO cites need for manufacturing, innovation, exporting

March 17th, 2011
By: Kate Bachman

GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, the newly appointed chairman of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, outlined his vision for making the U.S. more competitive in the global marketplace in a March 8 speech to The Executive Club of Chicago, contributing writer John Kerastas reported.

It was good to hear that at the onset, Mr. Immelt asserted, “We’ve got to have an economy that’s balanced. It is not our destiny to be just a service economy. We have to have both a service industry and a strong manufacturing industry. It is not natural for a powerful and successful economy to have a trillion dollar trade deficit. We’ve got to export more; we’ve got to innovate more; we’ve got to manufacture more.”

Regarding his role on the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, he noted that the council has just started. “But I can give you a few of the big themes that I think are going to be important in a more competitive America:

“We need some real solutions for energy security and affordable healthcare. These are two pillars of infrastructure that can ensure long-term competitiveness. We need to open more energy supply, accelerate our investment in renewable, drive technology like nuclear power, and leverage our advantage in natural gas.”

(more...)

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Going Green | No Comments »

Value in metal fabricating

February 4th, 2011
By: Dan Davis

As sluggish as this economic recovery has been, it would be even worse if the manufacturing sector wasn't humming along. The Institute for Supply Management reported this week that its manufacturing index hit 60.8, well above what industry pundits expected. It's also the highest reading for the index since May 2004. Any number over 50 suggests that the manufacturing sector is expanding.

2011 looks to be a great year for manufacturing. Considering the depths from which it has risen, that's great news. It was only in December 2008 when the index was at 33.3, the lowest point since June 1980. That was only a month after fabricators gathered in Las Vegas for FABTECH, and everyone was still in a somewhat optimistic mood. To say that manufacturing activity dropped off a cliff is truly accurate. (more...)

Tags: ,
Posted in Shop Soapbox | No Comments »

U.S. No. 1, but for how long?

February 2nd, 2011
By: Vicki Bell

Yesterday I was happy to read an article that said the U.S. is No. 1 in manufacturing, out-producing China — No. 2 — by more than 40 percent. It's an interesting article that chronicles what's happening in manufacturing: U.S. factories are closing; American manufacturing jobs are reappearing overseas; and China's industrial might is growing each year. (more...)

Tags: , ,
Posted in Global Marketplace | 1 Comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »