Manufacturing Journal

SCHOOLS vs SKILLS

2007-08-05T14:23:00.000-05:00

To quote Peter Drucker (Post-Capitalist Society, p. 24), saying: a skill "could not be explained in words, whether spoken or written. It could only be demonstrated." And, "the only way to learn a techne [skill, in Greek] was through apprenticeship and experience."

Would you want a fresh graduate from med school to operate on you, or would you prefer for him to have at least successfully finished an internship ( a form of apprenticeship ) at a hospital first?

What we need is a Technical Center, ( ie:a teaching college/factory ) where we may obtain the experience needed.

What should this "Tech Center" look like ? Please share your vision of what this Center could be.

ALMOST TWO YEARS LATER !!!

2007-08-05T13:59:00.000-05:00

Well folks, there has been almost no change as to the peril of our manufacturing companies in need of skilled workers here in NEO.
Yes, we have had a few name changes, a few more promises, a few more people saying, "We are doing that already", and still the want ads and all the head hunters are frantically trying to poach skilled labor from the guy next door!
Guess what? The guy next door does not have them either!

More to come at regular intervals.

ROBOTS, AUTOMATION, JOBS??

2005-12-04T17:49:00.000-05:00

We are in the 21st Century. The notion of robots taking jobs is totally absurd. Innovation and technology can only add prosperity.

Productivity not creation of jobs is where it is at.

Here are a few views from the web.

Robots costing jobs is nonsense. Technology merely increases productivity (thus increasing the standard of living), increases in technology does not take away jobs.

This is from: Atanu Dey

Employment is a good thing but one should remember that employment is not the goal of an economic system—it is an instrument for the real goal of the economy which is to produce goods and services for the population and to distribute them in some reasonably fair way. I for one would be happy to be unemployed if only I get the stuff that I need to keep b and s together.

What would we do if we resisted the computer and left the short hand, punch cards and typists in jobs?

A virtual tour of a glass factory:
VW' s Phaeton assembly plant robots & people. Today's manufacturing!

SHORTAGE OF SKILLED WORKERS !!!

2005-11-22T18:58:00.000-05:00

We have been saying this for the last 10-15 years. We need skilled people, now !

Read More:
Tom

OFFSHORING BENEFITS ALL

2005-11-15T19:39:00.000-05:00

Offshoring is to the benefit of all. It is a mutual understanding that is thousands of years old. It should be beneficial to all parties involved.

The current problem in offshoring is that offshoring is happening to fast with too many people, at a time that the US is most vulnerable. Vulnerable because of the rate of domestic savings and huge deficits.

In order to combat or compete in this huge arena, we must have strong leadership in the government sector, the corporate world as well as the average citizen. The government servants should not worry about whose votes or money support they are not going to get in the next election. The corporate CFO must look beyond the next quarters’ dividends. The average citizen must save.

Back to basics! You can and you will be replaced for a more productive and less expensive model. All it takes is $500.USD for one H-1B visa and you are history, and if your personal motor skills are not needed it is simpler and less expensive, just offshore it.

DOOM OF THE DOLLAR - 6 min. video

Tom

How Do We Diffuse or Slow Down Offshoring?

2005-11-13T11:39:00.000-05:00

Projections are that in the 21st century, 60% of the new jobs will require skills held by only 20% of todays' workforce. ( Senator Lieberman )

In the report, by the Philadelphia Task Force on Workforce Development, warned that the skills base of the U.S. workforce will continue to erode without concerted efforts to train and retrain employees. Pressures from global competition, technological change, the pending retirement of the baby boomers create constant imbalances in the supply and demand for skills that our current workforce system is addressing inadequately. Local partnerships are key to helping communities, employers and employees confront these pressures. ( read more. )

There is a growing skills gap. More than 80% of manufacturers say they are having trouble finding qualified employees. Sixty percent of manufacturers typically reject half of all applicants as unqualified because of the lack of basic skill. Moreover, entry-level skills in manufacturing have become more sophisticated, requiring more education and training to get to the first rung. ( read more. )

By having an educated and the highest skilled workforce we can overcome the offshoring. By superior products, productivity. We have to invest into the people and technology. Education and skills training are a good start towards curbing offshoring. Investing in people and infrastructure are the keys.

Tom

THE IMPORTANCE OF MANUFACTURING IN THE US ECONOMY

2005-11-04T09:30:00.000-05:00

It is difficult to underestimate the importance of manufacturing in the US economy. According the 1997 U.S. Economic census, the payroll of the American manufacturing sector is 14% larger than the next two largest sectors (finance and insurance, retail trade) combined, despite having 15% fewer employees[2]! Some have said that other industries, such as financial services and trade will replace manufacturing in the future. An examination of the economic sectors refutes this argument. There are only four economic sectors that generate material wealth: agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and construction. Other sectors, such as services and trade, redistribute this wealth, and are built on the products created by the wealth generators. Of the four wealth-creating sectors, manufacturing plays a unique role because, unlike agriculture and mining, it is not directly limited by natural resources and, unlike construction, most manufacturing products are easily transferable across national and international borders. As a result, manufacturing is and will continue to be the fundamental base for the economic health and security of the United States.

The economic impact of the manufacturing sector is not limited to direct employment of manufacturing employees. A recent University of Michigan study concluded that more than 6.5 “spin off” jobs (including trade, service, and indirect manufactuirng) were created in 1998 for every direct automotive manufacturing job.

Read more:
Tom

CHAIRMAN ALAN GREENSPAN ON SKILLS

2005-11-04T08:51:00.000-05:00

All industry is saying we need practical skills not just 4-yr english degrees. This article is a history of education since 1920's, how we got where we are at. We rose to the task in the 1920's and 193o's, the question is how are we going to compete globally today and tomorrow?

"Colleges have been in the forefront of teaching the types of skills that build on workers' previous experiences to create new job skills . Currently almost one in three of their enrollees are aged thirty or older, a statistic that suggests that these individuals have previous job experience. The impressive expansion of these learning centers attests to their success in imparting both general and practical job-related learning. A rising proportion of the population is also taking advantage of both general adult education and work-related instruction. The fact that, over the years, more than 94 percent of the workforce has been employed, on average, indicates that U.S. workers apparently have been sufficiently skilled and motivated to learn the new tasks that enable them to earn, on average, an ever-rising real wage."

Greenspan and education, read more:
Tom

" THE COST OF OFFSHORING"

2005-11-03T14:51:00.000-05:00

According to Richard C. Peters, CMfgE, PE, of Bucyrus, Ohio, is the president of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) for 2004. Peters is chief manufacturing engineer at The Timken Co.

One thing is that the cost of offshoring is more than just the loss of jobs. When products are no longer made in the United States, the skills necessary to make them will disappear. Resurrecting those skills is in many cases impossible. Technological innovation springs from research. And manufacturing—which accounts for 60 percent of the U.S. economy and about 62 percent of exports—still supports nearly two-thirds of all research and development. Lee Iacocca once reasoned that ideas spring up from plant floor and assembly lines. If you don’t see things being made, you’re less likely to think up better ways to design, engineer and manufacture them.

Personal Skills and Innovation Top Survivor's List

THE REAL SCOOP IN THE US MANUFACTURING EMPLOYMENT DECLINE

2005-10-06T06:46:00.000-05:00

A lack of investment in companies by their management is one of the biggest concerns for the future of the manufacturing industry. Whether it’s a lack of investment in capital equipment or employees, manufacturing companies need to invest in the future of their organizations.
We need to invest in people, invest in the latest equipment and embrace all the technologies that have been created in the past by us in the USA.

READ MORE:
Tom

CAN AMERICA MAKE IT?

2005-09-26T07:07:00.000-05:00

This was a post from Ed Morrison, Edpro web blog. Ed is an economic consultant in the USA. We know that there is a problem in manufacturing, are we going to wait for Katrina to strike and be complacent in all rescue efforts? It is the same in manufacturing, do we wait untill it really hurts or do we address the problem now? We should head it off before it is too late.
Read More:
Edpro weblog
Tom

Outsourcing Our Manufacturing At Its Best !

2005-09-20T20:31:00.000-05:00

This is by far one of the more embarassing news notes I have read recently. We know in the US we are lagging in manufacturing, but to broadcast and to lay blame on someone else is really poor of Ford's COO. The tip of the iceberg is when we start to shift blame for our complacency! Perhaps Mr. Padilla should just plain purchase Toyotas and rebrand it Ford? Just one more sign of where manufacturing or should I say outsourcing of manufacturing in the US is headed. Since when does Ford have to rely on made in Japan parts. Henry is rolling in his grave about now.

Read More:

Tom

IMPORTANCE OF MANUFACTURING IN CHINA?

2005-09-15T09:13:00.000-05:00

It seems that in China it is very important to MANUFACTURE. Is China and Germany, and the rest of the world wrong on manufacturing, or we in the US are being complacent or above it all?

Read more:

Tom

Innovation

2005-08-08T09:31:00.000-05:00

The sooner we get rid of the dangerous notions that manufacturing isn't innovative and that innovation is only the job of the scientists and engineers, the better.

Kenan Jarboe, president
Athena Alliance
Washington, D.C.
This comes from IW
Read more:
Tom

Rhode Island's Manufacturing Importance

2005-08-06T10:18:00.000-05:00

Even Rhode Island did a study of how manufacturing is vital to their economy !

Read more:

Tom

What Does a Skilled Workforce Do For The Economy?

2005-07-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

Back to education, skills? This is a perfect example of what education and training is all about. It seems that Canada opted for well trained skills than they would go to bio-medical influx at a later date. Which tells me get the basics down and grow from there.

Read More: The Skill Impact on the Economy !

Noteworthy

2005-07-05T06:24:00.000-05:00

Here is a nice excerpt from the UK.
Mike Page, Editor, writes:Time to look at robots - many industries are under pressure from FarEastern competition. It has been said many times that the way forWestern manufacturers to compete is to reduce direct labourinvolvement in production. One gets the impression that somemanagements are still a bit 'scared' about robots. They are an unknownquantity, they are complex. They are prone to occasionally 'throw awobbler' - to use a cricketing term. Robots are also a very effectiveway of reducing direct labour.There is nothing 'scary' about today's robots or their programming.Programming robots - coupled with the extensive back-up that robotsuppliers offer - has never been easier. Some robot suppliers willcome and do the production engineering layout, proving-out andcommissioning for you.The common 'pick-and-place' robot can do wonders for production costsas well as raising consistency levels. It will always stack parts inthe cradle, stillage, box without getting tired or 'forgetting' andnor will it need the lights on at night. The robot can take thingsoff conveyors and put them in machines, paint plants, washingmachines and pallets - or onto other conveyors. Specialised robotscan deburr, fettle, polish and even carry out light machining,welding, riveting and nut-running as well as painting and - if thedevelopment work has finished - rubbing down and sanding.I always thought robot application stories interesting, which bringsme on to two 'Industry News' items this week - 'Captivate teenagers'and 'Manufacturing is not exciting enough'. The two items seem to go'hand-in-hand'. Older engineers will tell you that a lot of the 'fun'and 'excitement' has been removed from manufacturing. I would havethought there is plenty of both still around. The problem is the'media'. There is still not enough shown or said about manufacturing- particularly in television programmes aimed at young people. Maybewe need some computer games based on manufacturing? Academics candebate all the pro's and con's about why youngsters all want to beaccountants, insurance salesmen, lawyers or just load baggage at anairport. No-one in manufacturing or the 'academic ivory towers'really wants to admit that the biggest problem in attractingyoungsters to manufacturing is money! And particularly in the UK -status!I hope you find this issue of our weekly newsletter useful. Inaddition to the new products, news and ideas featured here, there arehundreds more on our website and dozens more being added daily, so dotake a look if you can.Alternatively, the full stories behind all the summaries andheadlines in this newsletter can be retrieved by email alone: seedetails below.In the meantime, if you have any suggestions as to how we might makethe site or the newsletter better, email me directly.Best wishesMike Page, Editormailto:news@ manufacturingtalk.com

Manufacturing labor pool lack skills !!!

2005-06-07T07:31:00.000-05:00

Everything comes back to education & skills.

Read more: Skills

Competing with China?

2005-06-02T16:24:00.000-05:00

A pretty good article in Tooling & Production, June, 2005.

Read More:

Back to Basics

2005-05-24T10:40:00.001-05:00

Well at the least Boston University is partnering up to the factory floor. It is too bad that the idea had to come from the Germans. No matter how we get there as long as we get there! When will academia admit that we need skills to go along with the teaching. Germans as practical as it can be, simply get our engineers to have practical experience and the research needed to stay competitive in this world.

Back to Basics

Should We Compete with China?

2005-04-19T19:28:00.000-05:00

One of the best ways to compete with "China" is to educate and increase skill levels. This country was built on manufacturing with high skills. To stay in competition we must have highly skilled workers. Facing the low wage of the likes of China is very frustrating, to say the least. Large corporations are investing huge sums of money in China for the lure of the 1.3 billion consumers that they may eventually sell to.
I don't think the Chinese government is giving millions of dollars to relocate manufacturing facilities like we give to foreign firms in the US. Our Fortune 500 firms should be investing their dollars in educating and skill building in America first, not taking the trade secrets of "how to manufacture" to China, or any other foreign country for that matter. Without the dollar or the euro, China would not have a chance. We educate them with management and how to manufacture techniques.
In some aspects it almost comes to be an act of treason. Why the big companies do not invest in automation, robotics and the skills of Americans than go abroad for the extra dollar to be earned by selling to the 1.3 billion consumers of China. Get your own house straight first. If we invest in education and skills at the same rate our bigger companies are investing in new factories in China there would be no competition.
Automation is actually infrastructure. We must have the roads, the transportation systems and the IT to deliver goods being produced. We have the best except for automation.
Global competition is like waging war. The war is .50 cents per labor hour at this time in China. Very soon it will be 2.00/hour, perhaps within a couple of years. The wage has tripled in the last five years in China and their appetite is growing fast. The resistance of automation and robotic use in the US was viewed as loss of jobs and is still to this date.
The US does not have a robot manufacturing company. Adept on the west coast comes close, mainly in chip manufacturing and small assembly. Germany has two big ones. Japan has at least seven major ones. France and Switzerland also have them. Italy uses half as many robots as the US does. Germany, which is one fourth of the population of the US, employs more robots. Japan uses more than all of us combined.
For instance, in Germany, a company that produces cakes, (Yes the same chocolate cakes we like) from the batter to the final package is produced totally with robotics. In Germany the new question is not to employ the robot but how fast is the next generation of the robot. A Japanese company doing business in Ohio boasts robots making robots. Now that we know it can be done from cakes to robots, why are we not using them? We know that we need a B-1 bomber to deliver the payload, we know nuclear subs get the payload delivered, obviously we know how to wage war with all the smart bombs, star wars, etc, etc.
We must engage in the war of the low wage countries. We have the expertise but our government is not stepping up to the plate.
Some of our biggest companies would rather take the short route to expanding their bulging pockets. If the government and the big companies are selling us out, what can we do? As a last resort, we must come together as citizens and demand their help. We may need to impeach them, not vote for them, or not buy their foreign made goods. Then the next big question is, what do we need?
We must educate, we must teach the skills needed to be competitive. We must innovate, collaborate, come together in this unusual new warfare. This type of warfare is a slow, degrading death of a great country.
Building infrastructure is not a subsidy, it is called building a country. If the US can send men to the moon we certainly should be able to build robots to do our .50 / hour manual tasks. I am sure this is not the complete solution, but it would be a great start.

Thomas

Don't touch our "black Box"!
What can Western education systems learn from a Malaysian experiment in vocational training?
The debate goes on!

04/25/05
Quote of Note
"Today, because of their massive surplus over the United States, China has dollars and they are paying for things like the Sovremenny Class missile cruiser, which is a carrier- killing machine designed by the Soviet Union to destroy American aircraft carriers. They are purchasing submarine capability from the Soviet Union. They are purchasing weapons technology from around the world and they are doing it with American dollars that are accumulating as a result of this massive trade deficit, which to a very large degree is a function of this new species of illegal subsidy that is being given to exporters by China's government -- this currency manipulation."
-- House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter as quoted in Manufacturing & Technology News

What does this have to do with manufacturing??

We Have 50 Top Notch, Best Skilled Manufacturing Types in the US: Their Resumes Below:

2005-04-17T21:45:00.000-05:00

PO Box 33
Cleveland, OH 44110
Phone: 216-628-454517
Fax: 216-628-454516
Email: Otto@mation.com

Resume for
Otto Mation

Career Objectives: To find a Machine Tending job that will satisfy my insatiable appetite for repetitious work.

Summary of Qualifications : I can continuously and accurately lift heavy loads without a break, and I will never get tired! You will not have to pay me any benefits. I will not come in late (in fact, I’ll never leave the shop floor!) I expect to be locked up in a cage in front of your machine, and forgotten about for hours at a time. I will never complain, even though I expect to get the toughest and most boring jobs in the company!

Education: My memory has been uploaded with all the logic and capabilities I will ever need. Once you tell me the specifics of the job you want me to run, I will never forget them or miss and operation.

Interests and Activities: I have no family life, social life, or any life for that matter, outside of working 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Languages: I speak most any language required to communicate with any machine tool, programmer, operator, computer, scheduler, web site, network, etc.

Work Experience: I am the product of decades of experience passed on by my predecessors. I have accumulated the latest in technology and have been designed specifically for companies that require flexible automation.

Hobbies: I especially enjoy monotonous, strenuous, and tedious jobs. I am also perfect for unsafe working conditions, and expect do the work that most operators dread!

Extracurricular Activities: Besides tending machines, I like to de-burr, wash, inspect, package, assemble, polish, and just about anything else you require of me.

References: Any innovative manufacturer that has seen the advantages of automating their machine tools. They will tell you that I can reduce your labor costs considerably, while increasing productivity and quality.

Compensation: For about $1,000 per month for five years, I will agree to work 24 hours per day, 364 days per year (I need about one day a year to keep in shape). I will also agree to work for FREE after the 1st five years! (I am expected to live 10 to 15 years with proper care!) I will never quit, and promise to work just as hard until my retirement! (No pension, watch, or party required!)
Thomas

Click here for more: "Save Your Factory"

Does Your Company Need Skilled Workers?

2005-04-17T18:48:00.000-05:00

How much would you pay for an experienced set-up person and programmer delivered to your doorstep first thing Monday morning?
Yes I know, the first question would be "Do you have two or three?"

Just the thought or wet dream of hiring an experienced applications engineer sends a tingle down the old spine! You know, somewhat the same tingle about 35 years ago, being at the beach looking at some attractive ladies /or hunks, whichever is your preference these days.
Well, it is thirty years too late and the chances of getting an experienced application person is just about as remote as you going back in time. The question is: What are we doing, or should be doing to get that tingle back? (I mean the experienced applications engineer?)

It seems that our local educational institutions are too worried about fuel cells, nano-something, bio-chemical infusion/diffusion, etc..
All we manufactureres are asking is to give us the skilled workers that we can use in our plants today.
It seems that we make a point of not talking to our educational institutions, while in fact, we should be demanding of them to give us the people with the skills needed in manufacturing.
Collaborating, working together towards a solution, would seem like a good start. The global competition is going to pull us together, in numbers we gain strength. Whether it be changing the laws or changing the curriculum in schools, we must join together and continue to be a global manufacturing might.

The media tells us that the American manufacturing industry is dead.
Manufacturing by far is not dead, but it is changing, and for the better.
It seems safe to say if manufacturing is dying, so is the country. Without manufacturing we will not have a country, at least not the way we envisioned America the Great. Instead we will be America the Land of Paupers.

Thomas

More:
Connecticut Business & Industry Association Survey
Shortage of Skilled Workers in Asia Also !!
Manufacturing is "not dead", it is changing.
Huntsville, Alabama is saying we need more skilled people.
Making Manufacturing "SEXY"!!
Shortage of Skilled Workers Imperils the Industry

Productivity's Role in the Future of Manufacturing

2005-04-17T14:22:00.000-05:00

What key competitive ingredient has China sold to Corporate America? Infrastructure? Worker knowledge/skills? Logistics? Value added? State-of-the-Art technology? Quality?
How about CHEAP Labor, period!
What can the small to mid sized manufacturer do to remain competitive?
How about Automation?
The idea that automation is expensive, complicated and not ready for the small shop is a notion that keeps many shop owners from pursuing automated solutions. This is important because today’s competition for the small shop is not the guy down the street. Today, it’s the shop in another country, even across an ocean. When faced with problems with low-wage, global competitors, solutions can seem too expensive, too complicated and out of reach.
Ask yourself this, if you reduced your labor costs by 80%, what would that do for the next job you quote?
In the Business Week article below (web link), reference is made to what a 5% improvement in productivity here in the U.S. will get you… not much!
What would an affordable automated system get you? Throw in the people needed to get it designed, set-up and running?
It may be true that today, automation is not entirely viable for the little guy. We’d like to change that.
Dave
"The China Price"

The Minority is the Majority

2005-04-16T09:01:00.000-05:00

The simple fact that 98% of all manufacturing companies in the USA have fewer than 200 employees, and have the least say so in the laws that are regulating them, is the biggest obstacle and hindrance of all in today's manufacturing industry.

We make up less then 15% of the workforce, and at the same time, we deliver about 50% of America's economy, yet no one is helping the smaller manufacturers. We know in the manufacturing industry, when one customer supplies us with 50% of the yearly income, we get out the white gloves and embrace this customer with open arms. Why aren't the lawmakers, bankers, educational institutions embracing the manufacturer with open arms and asking, "What else can we do for you?"
We must work together, collaborate, and innovate.

We are no longer competing with each other, we are competing against the global economy. We must come together to make this nation the might that it so deserves.

Thomas

Click here to read more.