Five Fast Things

May 2, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

1. Jobs data a mixed bag of news: Manufacturing jobs cuts hit 46,000 in April, and while overall U.S. unemployment slipped to 5%, wages fell and fewer people were earning full-time jobs. It’s further indication of the recession taking hold. But the stock market kept climbing over 13,000 in early trading Friday, May 2.

2. Not everyone is happy: Certainly not the Alliance for American Manufacturing, a union-supported group. “The economy is top of mind for voters in Indiana, North Carolina, and all over America,” said AAM president Scott Paul...Read More

April 22, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

April 10, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

1. Hope springs in Ohio: They’re making windows again, in Malta, OH. The Malta Windows plant closed in 2001, but economic development has reopened the facility and 40 employees of the new ABC Manufacturing and Malta Windows and Doors celebrated the reopening this week, the Zanesville Times-Record reported. After receiving a check for $3 million from a local bank, ABC Manufacturing president Wade Benjamin said, "We're going to take the window company back to the national level.”

 2. And this word from Congress: ...Read More

March 5, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

1: This is officially bad news: We use the ‘R’ word in the March issue of Plant Engineering, and here’s why: Among the manufacturing measures that have held up fairly well in the past two years has been worker productivity. According to this article, productivity dropped in December. Labor costs are now rising faster than productivity, and that trend has to be reversed.

2. A tale of two plants in Mississippi: One facility is shutting down, putting 150 workers out of a job. Another is ...Read More

February 27, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Before we start, the above headline is the opening line from a song from the 1970s. (I know you're all old enough, so don't be shy about admitting it). The first five people who email me with the song title will receive a free DVD from a recent Plant Engineering Webcast. Your choice of titles and topics, which you can check out here.

1. Coming out of hibernation… It’s been more than three weeks since the last posting. I’ve been on the road a lot, hearing about new technologies and solutions and strategies. There’s a lot of concern in the manufacturing sector, and we need to start using the ‘R’ Word – recession – as a way to understand how bad it is and what we need to do ab...Read More