Posts Tagged ‘manufacturing jobs’

A race to the bottom

April 4th, 2013
By: Vicki Bell

“Wal Mart is the death knell for small business everywhere they open shop. Wal-Mart is good for small business in the same way amputation is a successful weight-loss program. Wal-Mart is killing America, and if you shopped there this week, here’s hoping the American job you just shipped overseas is yours!”

So reads a comment about the money.cnn.com article “The Wal-Mart economy’s big winners,” which focused on four small U.S. businesses that “hit the big one” by securing Wal-Mart orders. There are some lessons to be learned from each of these businesses, lessons that are as basic as any in business: Listen to the market; find a need and fill it; and be persistent. There also are lessons to be learned from the comments left for this article. But it doesn’t appear that these lessons are getting through. (more...)

American business success: Optimism peppered with pragmatism

March 19th, 2013
By: Tim Heston

So said Don McNeeley, president and COO, Chicago Tube & Iron Co., and professor at Northwestern University, speaking Feb. 27 at The FABRICATOR’s Leadership Summit in Palm Harbor, Fla.

After conversations with various fabricators since then, most tend to agree with him. Business is OK, not great, but big things may be on the horizon. One attendee said she was working through a massive pile of request-for-quotes and was wondering how she was going to get through them all. That’s not a bad problem to have. The recession purged many local markets, and fabricators that performed poorly (or were just unlucky) fell by the wayside. Now OEMs and top tier suppliers are calling on top-performing fabricators to deliver the goods.

Meanwhile, before this week’s troubles thanks to the mess in Cyprus, the stock market pushed into uncharted territory.

“The markets are nuts.”

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The effect of parental influence

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. (more...)

Vocational training a good bet

November 28th, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

Among my job duties is scouring the Internet for news of interest to the metal fabricating community. Hardly a day goes by when I don’t run across items related to a topic of particular interest to metal fabricators—the shortage of skilled labor. It seems that every notable publication nationwide has addressed and continues to address the subject that cannot be resolved expediently enough for many manufacturers. So old, yet still timely news.

What’s relatively new in my searches—say in the last year or so—is the proliferation of news items from local media about expanded technical training programs in high schools, community colleges, and universities all across the country. I see these almost daily. It’s a far cry from what I was seeing almost a decade ago when these programs were being decimated. (more...)

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...)

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...)

The sure path to economic success?

August 1st, 2012
By: Vicki Bell

No one would argue that postsecondary education is the most likely path to greater earnings and a better quality of life. However, just how much education and what type is debatable.

For decades, parents and educators have preached fervently that a college education—preferably at a top-tier school— is the way to wealth, happiness, and security, and advanced degrees offer even more assurance that you will achieve these prized goals. And for decades, that message proved to be true for many who chose that route.

Things have changed. Having a college degree no longer guarantees that you will find a job in your chosen field, much less be wealthier, happier, and have more security than someone who chose a different path. In fact, it may be a liability. (more...)

Manufacturing on the rise; pay not so much

April 20th, 2012
By: Dan Davis

Leave it to the guys at Yale University to screw up a simple headline.

I came across this article--"U.S. Battle to Revive Manufacturing—Part I" in YaleGlobal Online Magazine—but really didn't get sucked into it until I read the subhead "Job growth urged by U.S. presidential candidates may not support high standard of living." Now that's burying the main point.

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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?

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Manufacturing and the State of the Union

February 1st, 2012
By: Tim Heston

For the past two years Mary Isbister, president of Wisconsin fabricator GenMet (one of The FABRICATOR’s past Industry Award winners), had a friendly bet with colleagues of the Manufacturing Council, a group that meets to propose ideas to Commerce Department Sec. John Bryson, who in turn reports those ideas to the president.

How many times would the president mention manufacturing in his State of the Union address?
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