News

Heat Treat Aerospace Engine Parts? You Need to Understand AS13100

The AS13100 standard was released by the AESQ in March, 2021, with the intent of simplifying and harmonizing the Aerospace Engine Manufacturer requirements to its share supply chain. As suppliers work through learning the requirements of the standard and how it applies to them, there are some key... Continue Reading

Companies Added 455,000 Jobs in March, Slightly More than Expected, ADP Says

Companies added jobs at a solid pace in March, indicating that hiring is strong despite signs of a tightening labor market, payroll processing firm ADP reported Wednesday. Private payrolls expanded by 455,000 for the month, the firm said, about in line with the Dow Jones estimate of 450,000... Continue Reading

Competing for Talent: Recasting Perceptions of Manufacturing

Manufacturers continue to bridge the perception gap and enhance the workforce experience A call to action There is good news to report in the Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute 2022 Manufacturing Perception Study (hereafter referred to as “the study”). Compared with our 2017... Continue Reading

Are the Risks of Global Supply Chains Starting to Outweigh the Rewards?

Historically the focus of supply-chain managers has been sourcing: managing the flow of materials and resources as they move through value-adding stages until they become finished products and services all the way to the point of delivery to customers. But the multitude of shocks caused by the... Continue Reading

The Move from Old-School Manufacturing to Smart Manufacturing

The goal of smart manufacturing is to help the manufacturing industry become a driving force in the economy once again. That said, smart manufacturing is completely different from old-school manufacturing and has completely changed the manufacturing landscape. In order to understand how smart... Continue Reading

The Next Supply Chain Crisis is Hiding in Plain Sight

Automakers everywhere are all in on electric vehicle (EV) production. Whereas dates like 2035 or 2030 used to be thrown around by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for the shift to all-EV models, the blockbuster success of cars like the Tesla 3 has moved those timeframes up. Carpe diem is... Continue Reading

Optimism Fuels Manufacturing Industry’s Leadership

The manufacturing industry in the United States is optimistic, our fundamentals are strong and we know exactly what’s needed to mitigate our vulnerabilities. In my positions as CEO of Greenerd Press & Machine Company and a member of the board of directors of the National Association... Continue Reading

Bluster Buster: How to Bring Your Values to Life and Strengthen Your Culture

Years ago, we helped an international mining company transform its safety culture from good to outstanding. Their 65% reduction in injuries over a three-year period vaulted them to become a benchmark company in their industry. A delegation of senior leaders and safety professionals from another... Continue Reading

Makers of Basic Necessities Face 'Tradeoff' Supplying Russia with Cookies, Soap

Makers of everyday staples from Pampers diapers to Dove soap are walking a fine line by continuing to sell their products in Russia, as pressure grows on multinational companies to take a stand against Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine. McDonald's Corp. said on Tuesday it was closing its... Continue Reading

Does the War in Ukraine Increase the Risk of Russian Cyberattacks?

Will Russian state-sponsored cybercrime, already a tremendous problem for American companies, get worse? In January, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a CISA alert, co-written with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency, reiterating the... Continue Reading

A Secret Ingredient for Competitive Advantage? Good Jobs

Call it a great resignation, a great inspiration, or a great rethinking, it’s clear that with respect to work life for many people things are never going to be the same as in the ‘before times’. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because far too many jobs were awful then,... Continue Reading

Want to Prepare Future Heat Treat Leaders? Don’t

Across dozens of industries and hundreds of interviews, I hear a recurring theme: “We’ve done a crappy job preparing our junior leaders for success.” When leaders of heat treatment plants ask what they should be doing to train their junior employees to step into leadership... Continue Reading