Workforce Development

Are you ready?

Let's take a look into the future. Not too far out - maybe five years or so. What do you think your plant will be like? Here are some of my predictions.The plant engineer will be more important than ever as reliable and predictable capacity become priorities. Predictive maintenance will replace preventive maintenance as the standard of maintenance operations and organization.

Windfalls for pallets and bearings

Two industries in our factory operating materials and supplies report are enjoying A+ margin grades. This means the combination of rising product prices and falling manufacturing costs has created an inflation windfall for producers of wooden pallets (SIC 2448), as well as ball and roller bearings (SIC 3562).

Software importance increasing among plant engineers

Today's plant engineer is transcending the longstanding stereotype. The plant engineering function is no longer just nuts and bolts. Today's plant engineer is mature, educated, and tends to stay in his or her job. And the job requires an increasing amount of software.Software is a fact of life on the plant floor of today and tomorrow.