WHAT'S IN STORE NEXT YEAR?

What will 2010 bring? At this point, nobody can say for sure.

BUT…most indicators are positive. And there are reasons to be very optimistic.

Fabricators & Manufacturers Association economist Chris Kuehl named several factors that should guide the business climate. First is international markets, which are already leading the economic recovery. Next is the U. S. consumer, who will start to relax…and spend. Also, government spending will begin to benefit the shop floor.

There are no guarantees, but optimism fuels confidence, and confidence helps create spending. And those are very good signals.

Read more in “Metal Fabrication in 2010: A Wildcard Year” from thefabricator.com

LASTING CHANGE COME FROM PEOPLE

When it comes to making manufacturing improvements, getting people involved is what drives long-term success.

At Dalco, we've been involved in Lean, 5S and other quality improvement initiatives and we're proud to say that it's been our people...and not just management memos...that have made those initiatives pay off.

A recent Industry Week article mirrored this, and went into more detail on how every manufacturer, large or small, can make sustainable changes. The focus? People above processes:

It takes your people at their workstations, using the right tools, to make change happen in your organization to achieve the desired results that will be measurable in your company's financial performance. It's only through people that your problems can be identified, and then your people select the appropriate tools to use in deploying countermeasures to correct them.

Here's a link to the complete article.