Fabricating Classic Cars

Cass Nawrocki is kind of a classic character. His life has taken him from Communist Poland in the 60’s to Moose Lake, Minnesota, where today he hand-makes the frames of classic cars. He has built exact replica frames of Packard, Porsche, Ferrari and Mercedes models, each one from scratch, using equipment that he himself modified for metal fabricating and shaping.

His is a terrific story, and you can read it here in an article from the Moose Lake Star Gazette.

From Pipe Layer to Fabricator

Out of the need to change comes innovation and, sometimes, a whole new business. From New Berlin, Wisconsin, comes the story of how Underground Pipeline Inc. grew (and changed), and now also houses UPI Manufacturing, a fabricator of parts for the U S Government.

You’ll find their complete story in the most recent FF (Fabricating & Forming) Journal:

http://www.ffjournal.net/item/11302-moving-fabrication-in-house-step-by-step.html

What Does 2013 Look Like?

You can count the nation’s purchasing and supply management execs at the Intitute of Supply Management among those who are upbeat on 2013, predicting that the past year’s economic growth will continue.

The one weak spot, they point out in a recent report, is in employment. That’s where they expect growth to remain mediocre…less than 1%

You can read more about their analysis and opinion in this article from Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation (IMPO) magazine

5 Radical Ways to Rethink Managing the Manufacturing Line

Be creative in how you approach the floor.

Business author Steve Denning has some great ideas for improving the manufacturing floor, and reveals the details in this excellent article. It’s all about re-thinking the manufacturing line.

Some of his thought-provoking strategies may sound a little like ‘flavor of the day’ suggestions, but he then provides his reasoning and logic.

Some of his suggestions for managing people on the floor include:

-Forget output, focus on profits
-End the annual review
-Re-think ‘teamwork’
-Take a lesson from (video) gamers (No kidding)

Sound interesting? Then check out the rest in the full article here

WANTED: Women in Manufacturing

Manufacturing leaders from across the country met in Milwaukee last month with a single focus and purpose: attracting more women into manufacturing.

Their reasoning is strong: while women represent close to 50 percent of the U.S. workforce, only 30 percent of the 14 million Americans employed in manufacturing are women. What’s keeping them away? A recent survey offers several reasons, including a lack of quality science and math education programs, and the presence of persistent stereotypes that say careers in technology, engineering and manufacturing are simply not for women.

Enter the Precision Metalforming Association of Cleveland, OH, who launched Women in Manufacturing two years ago to help promote opportunities for women, and dispel some of the old stereotypes of manufacturing being “dirty, dumb and dangerous,”

Read more about the conference here http://www.biztimes.com/section/manufacturing_enews

…and here: http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/blog/2012/10/former-harley-davidson-exec-bridge.html

And find out more about the group here: http://www.womeninmanufacturing.org/

What it Takes to Stay "Made in America"

In the ever-changing global manufacturing arena, here’s a terrific article on some US small manufacturers (including KI of Green Bay) who kept their production onshore, and stayed profitable.

Although for some, off-shoring was a necessity, these companies, from textiles to high tech, chose instead to focus on the primary drivers of business…. efficiency, customer-focus and adherence to company values… to stay competitive while keeping home-town jobs at home. Some of their strategies are basic fundamentals, but others required more creativity…and guts. But you’ll like what you see.

Check out the full story here from Inc Magazine.

Growing Your Force!

Conventional wisdom says you hire people whose experience and training matches the skill you need. But, when those needs shift, productivity (and morale) tend to fall off.

It seems that every few weeks, we find another story about the challenges of finding qualified people for technical positions. Well here’s one with solutions that are low-cost and yielding high returns: Internal workforce development.

You may have a success story of your own, but you can also take the example of Diemasters Manufacturing in Elk Grove Village. They created an internal training program that gets their people “working on the system, not just in the system.” It may sound like a Lean initiative, but is far more focused on people than on procedures. The result is a better trained (and engaged) workforce. And it helps getting those specialty positions filled.

You might have success stories of your own. Read more about the new issue of MetalForming Magazine.