Wal-Mart: Engineers Needed for Manufacturing Resurgence

We all know about the shortage of skilled workers for key positions on the manufacturing floor. But here’s another that is quickly rising up the list.

At a recent manufacturing summit, Wal-Mart President and CEO, Mike Duke, addressed the dramatic drop in students with STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills and the effect its having on the industry. He told an Orlando audience “we need more science and more engineers to help us build the foundation for a manufacturing resurgence.”

While Wal-Mart is known for their offshore buying, Duke has been outspoken on issues like this, which he considers to be of "national significance" for all business.

Read more about his comments here

Manufacturers Know How to Throw a Party

Friday, October 4th is “Manufacturing Day.”

It started out a few years ago with a few companies holding special “open houses.” This year, it has grown to more than 500 companies hosting tours and working with schools to show the critical nature of manufacturing in our economy, and the opportunities for both hands-on and high tech careers.

The site mfgday.com has a searchable map of participating companies and their events

In Wisconsin, Governor Walker has proclaimed October “Manufacturing Month”

Manufacturing Month happens in concert with Manufacturing Day on October 4th, a nationally recognized day sponsored by the national Manufacturing Extension Partnership, National Association of Manufacturers, and Fabricators & Manufacturers Association.

In Minnesota, the Statewide Tour of Manufacturing happens October 24 – 26th.

Details, including participating manufacturers and events are posted on Minneosta's “Dream It, Do It” website

In Illinois, the Illinois Manufacturing Improvement Specialists has a list of participating manufacturers, events and dates. Find out more here.

More on 3-D Printing

3-D printing is quickly emerging as the next great disruptive technology for consumers and businesses across the globe.

In ‘3-D Printing,’ a devices manufactures, or ‘prints’ objects from the bottom up, one ultra-thin layer of material at a time. In the article “3-D Printing: The Next Disruptive Technology,” recent examples of its use include:

• NASA has successfully tested a part of a rocket engine made through 3-D printing, has plans to send a 3-D printer to the International Space Station in 2014 and is even working with a private company to 3-D print a pizza.
• Companies are developing ways to 3-D "bioprint" human tissue such as blood vessels and organs.
• A startup company in Missouri is developing ways to 3-D bioprint meat.
• A Dutch firm is in the process of 3-D printing an entire house

Read more about the latest in 3-D Printing from BizTimes here.

Skills Gap? Maybe Not

The U.S. skills shortage will be far less of a problem than many people believe in the short term, and it is unlikely to prevent a resurgence in U.S. manufacturing in the next few years, according to a report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The report is titled “The U.S. Skills Gap: Could It Threaten a Manufacturing Renaissance?”

A key quote from the report: “Our research finds little evidence of a meaningful and persistent skills gap in most parts of the U.S., including in its most important manufacturing zones. The real problem is that companies have become too passive in recruiting and developing skilled workers.”

You can read more about it here in Modern Materials Handling magazine

Skill-Building + Team Involvement = Dramatic Improvement

We’re all on the lookout for ways to improve performance, costs and bottom line.

One program, successfully in-use by many of our customers, is LEAN. Of course, there are cases where lean manufacturing efforts don’t stick, even when there is initial success. Part of the issue is that we sometimes don’t do a good enough job of training supervisors and getting the shop floor people involved.

In this month’s WMEP (Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP) Newsletter, Senior Manufacturing Specialist, Jerry Thiltgen writes an incredible piece on “TWI.” TWI is not just another system or acronym, but is widely considered to be the genesis of modern manufacturing philosophies, such as lean manufacturing and kaizen. The success of TWI is in the fact that it not only changes process, but also impacts a company’s culture.

If you, like most companies, want to find ways to boost productivityy, team morale and bottom line outcome, then this is a ‘must read,’ and can be found here

It's a Plane...It's a Toaster....It's FOREVERTRON!

Sometimes scrap metal winds up in recycling dumpsters. In Tom O. Every’s case, it winds up a work of art.

Very bizarre art.

Mr. Every, better known by his nickname “Dr. Evermor,” is a welder sand fabricator by trade in North Freedom, Wisconsin (near Baraboo). Since childhood, he has also been a ‘collector’ of sorts, scavenging all things meta. In a new article, his work is described as "...carburetors and generators, early x-ray machines, theater speakers, river barges and hamburger signs." But his 'art' is not casually thrown together. "His aim is to blend these objects while preserving their individuality and unique form."

Take a minute and take a visit to Forevertron for yourself in this month's FFJournal (Fabricating & Forming) Magazine.

Building a Strong Workplace (Generation by Generation)

The large degree of cross-generational workplaces has created need, interest and focus on the values, differences and similarities among baby boomers, “millennial” and others in today’s workplace.

This month’s Metalforming Magazine takes a look at generational differences, and how machine shops and fabricators are using it to their advantage.

Find out more about the differences among millennials, boomers and veterans, and how they’re working together more effectively here.

And for more on generational differences, click here.