Things aren't so rosy in southern Ontario...
May 11, 2007

1. Does this count as lost jobs? Well, another manufacturer has announced it is moving its manufacturing operation to a foreign country in an effort to consolidate operations, costing manufacturing jobs. Only this time, the folks losing the jobs are Brantford, Ontario and the folks gaining the jobs are in Georgia. Blue Bird, the company that manufactures school buses, will shut its Brantford plant in July and move jobs closer to its Georgia base of operations.

And there is a telling quote in the local newspaper story from a local legislator: "Instead of rolling over and assuming, 'Well, it's always been like this,' maybe we should be thinking about these things, The concern, of course, is that we are losing the manufacturing sector slowly but surely. The federal government should no longer assume everything is rosy in southern Ontario.”

2. But Canada is concerned, too… And with some justification. The Canadian Labour Congress reports Canadian manufacturing has shed 52,000 jobs since January. It’s an interesting analysis of what’s going on north of the border.

3. And another perspective on the issue: Here’s a think-tank expert with an analysis of manufacturing profitability and productivity. It not only calls some on the carpet for their single-minded view of the world, it offers one further point of view on where we should be pointing fingers – or whether we should just roll up our sleeves.

4. Editors seem to understand: Bruce Vernyi of American Machinist has a very strong on-the-ground view of some of these issues as well. Rather than bemoaning Toyota’s move past GM as the top global automaker, he views it as a success story for Lean and a wake-up call to the few manufacturers unwilling to embrace the concept. As Bruce did, we’re going to be calling on our readers to update us on “The Changing Role of the Plant Engineer” in a study we’ve co-sponsored with IBM. Look in your email box over the next couple of weeks and share your thoughts with us.

5. Got a Tip for us? How about a Trick? The annual Tips & Tricks issue is in August, and we’re looking for your favorite low-tech plant-floor solutions to common problems. There will be prizes for those entries chosen this year (details on that to follow) but it’s never too early to start sharing. Send me the Tips & Tricks entries, and we’ll do the rest.

Posted by Wolseley on May 11, 2007 | Comments (3)