News

Why Team Members are the Biggest Obstacle to Success in our Heat Treatment Facilities

He didn’t have the ability to heat metal to thousands of degrees Fahrenheit, but Henry Ford understood a challenge every heat treatment business faces. He famously said when giving advice to leaders, obstacles are the frightful things seen when we take our eyes off a goal. That advice is... Continue Reading

Digging Into The Shifting Sands of Supplier-OEM Leverage

Bring a bigger bat’ won’t work during this supply chain crisis, says one CEO. [Editor's note, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Producer Price Index, a monthly read on what suppliers are charging their customers, after this story was posted. With a 1% gain in January,... Continue Reading

How to Ensure Your Heat Doesn’t Burn Customers

There’s an old saying in business: “We’re only as valuable as our last mistake.” It’s normally used when referring to client relationships; and as we well know in heat treatment, one mistake can ruin an entire batch of a client’s materials and destroy years of... Continue Reading

IN MEMORIAM: Bill Cleary

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you of the passing of Bill Cleary from Surface Combustion. William "Bill" Joseph Cleary passed away peacefully in his home at the age of 61, surrounded by loved ones, on February 7, 2022 after a courageous battle with cancer. Bill was a very active... Continue Reading

Get Out Into the Field with Customers

Fresh, unique and valuable insights about how to get ahead are available to you — if you get out into the field with customers. Business leaders need get out of their offices and get into the field to glean customer insights. When did you last spend time with a customer? You personally,... Continue Reading

6 Hiring Strategies for 2022

How to attract the talent you need in the new year. Your hiring strategy for 2022 faces a host of challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, talent has never been so essential and so elusive. The December JOLTS reported 10.9 million job openings in December, and 4.3 million quits, both near... Continue Reading

Americans Face Record Metals Prices as Shipping Costs Surge

Surging prices of the raw materials needed for your refrigerators, automobiles, window frames, and plumbing show no signs of abating as America’s supply-chain crisis spills into another year. John Gillespie is seeing the issues continue to mount across the country. The commodity manager... Continue Reading

In Leaders We Trust: How to Build and Inspire Trust in 2022

Good leadership is about trust. Trust is the essential factor for success and is foundational for an organization to evolve, flex, pivot, adapt, and ultimately thrive in times of continuous change. Consider this research published in Harvard Business Review from Paul J. Zak, a Professor at the... Continue Reading

A Normal Supply Chain? It’s ‘Unlikely’ in 2022

The chaos at ports, warehouses and retailers will probably persist through the year, and perhaps even longer. With the havoc at ports showing no signs of abating and prices for a vast array of goods still rising, the world is absorbing a troubling realization: Time alone will not solve the Great... Continue Reading

Prospectus: After a 'Gray Tsunami,' Manufacturers Have Acute Need for New Workers

R.J. Watson anticipates a busy year. But the Alden manufacturer knows it could be tough to find more employees to hire to share the workload. In addition to advertising job openings and offering referral bonuses to its employees, the company is exploring whether to invest in robotics as a way to... Continue Reading

MTI Designing Purchase Order Best Practices Video

Every commercial heat treater has been in that place where you get a purchase order from a customer, and guess what? It’s missing numerous pieces of vital information to perform the heat treat services needed. Various elements are left blank or omitted including: Current state of... Continue Reading

Northern California Manufacturers Employ Automation to Help Reduce Repetitive-motion Injuries

As news of one Sonoma County manufacturer’s issues with workplace safety made headlines, North Bay production plants point out the benefits of automation in reducing repetitive motion injuries on assembly lines. “Automation is not a job killer, it’s a job creator,”... Continue Reading