HIGH SCHOOLERS DISCUSS MANUFACTURING

This 2-minute video will give you a student’s eye view of the future of manufacturing. Of course, early perceptions don’t always hang on as those same students sample more and more of what the working world has to offer (including the incredible opportunities in manufacturing). But it’s definitely worth a look. They offer some interesting insight.

As reported by Jeff Engle in the Milwaukee Business Journal,many manufacturers agree that manufacturing has an image issue, and needs to reach out to young people to get them interested in the industry. As reported by Jeff Engle in the Business Journal, Waukesha County Business Alliance has set its sights on high school students with its Schools2Skills program, which shows them it isn’t your grandpa’s “dumb, dirty and dangerous” business. Click the video above. Plus, you can read the complete article here

SKILLS A HOT TOPIC AT MANUFACTURING MATTERS

While there are more things facing manufacturing than the ‘skills gap,’ it has been the hot topic this winter, and it was also front and center at the Manufacturing Matters Conference, put on by the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

In his follow up story, WMEP’s Rich Rovito reports on coverage given to the topic by Dan Ariens of Ariens Co, and Jeff Clark of Waukesha Metal Products and others. During a lively, no-holds-barred session, they discussed specific strategies each company is using to address the problem.

The full article, “Manufacturing Leaders Emphasize the Reality of the Skills Gap” is a great read. Check it out here

Americans Push for More Manufacturing Support

With the high number of jobs tied to manufacturing, it’s really no wonder that American’s maintain their belief in the need for a strong manufacturing base.

Proof can be found in the annual “Public Viewpoint on Manufacturing” survey from Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute. The survey studies public perceptions on a wide range of manufacturing topics.

Here are a few examples:

90 percent of respondents rated manufacturing as ‘important’ or ‘very important’ for their economic prosperity and America’s standard of living

84 percent either “strongly agree” or “agree” the US “should cultivate a more strategic approach to developing its manufacturing base.”

And 82% support further investment into the U.S. manufacturing industry.

There’s an excellent article summarizing the report in Modern Metals magazine. You can read it here.

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