MMT Blog
In the Trenches: Mold Repair is a Challenge Worth Choosing
We developed this series to not only provide some camaraderie and encouragement—so you know that you are not alone in the trenches—but also to share some personal struggles, lessons learn and tricks of the trade. And, if in the course of this series we receive feedback, you will have done the same for me.
Read MoreSoftware Advances Push Limits of Speed and Quality
Software for moldmaking continues to evolve as sophisticated features and capabilities are introduced, enabling mold manufacturers to produce the highest quality work in the most compressed leadtimes to date.
Read MoreiWarriors: Moldmakers on a Mission
Our mission is to keep hospitalized marines in touch with family and friends while they undergo numerous surgeries and intensive rehabilitation.
Read MoreR&D Tax Credit Extension Means Savings for Moldmakers
Effective use of the R&D Tax Credit in the mold manufacturing industry includes understanding what activities qualify, identifying everyone in a company that is touching R&D (it’s not just the mold designers) and how much time they are spending on these activities.
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Chugging Along
If all goes according to plan, then the weight of the fiscal austerity will start to ease in the second half of this year. Real GDP growth will ratchet up to 3% in the third and fourth quarters. In 2014, the rate of growth will rise to 4%. This may seem like an overly optimistic forecast in light of our present circumstances. But given the current low interest rates I think that the only way we will not hit these growth rates is if Congress does something really stupid like shut down the government. All of the Fed’s stimulus will likely come back to haunt us in the long run in the form of high inflation, but in the short term I believe it will certainly result in a faster pace of economic growth.
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Taking in the View
Now I know I'm supposed to share with you technology and business strategies that I learn about from covering your industry, but you cannot blame me for saying that the main thing I learned from my trip west earlier this month was that Rancho Cucamonga, CA, has INCREDIBLE mountain views! This I experienced with my buddy Tim (Bartz), as we pulled up for our tour of Prestige Mold.
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Measure Your Performance
It's time to see how you stack up. So consider being a part of the American Mold Builder’s Association second annual industry benchmarking survey. It's open to all industry moldmakers and the end result provides comparative performance data--both operational and financial. This information will help you identify and evaluate growth opportunities, while creating a stronger, more profitable operation.
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One Small Step Towards a Balanced Budget, One Giant Step Towards Insanity
The good news is that if the economic recovery continues to accelerate, then revenues will continue to increase and the deficit will shrink further. And that is the crucial point in all of this. The Republicans and Democrats continue to bicker about who should pay more taxes and whose benefits and loopholes should be eliminated, but by far the best way to balance the budget would be to grow the economy.
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Did You Know It Is National Engineers Week?
Gardner Business Media, which owns MMT, and sister publication Modern Machine Shop collaborated with SME Education Foundation and AMT to produce and distribute a video of GE Quality Control Engineer Becky Miller explaining manufacturing careers to young people.
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MMT Goes West
It has been a year since I headed out to California for the one trip to which I really look forward--to escape the wintry weather here in the east and see the bright beautiful sun, blues skies and snow-capped mountains, all in 70-degree weather; oh and to attend the Plastec and MD&M West shows.
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Celebrating a Solution for a Sticky Situation
In MMT we focus a lot on surface treatment challenges and solutions, so this little tidbit caught my attention. Life changed 60 years ago for a man selling steel to mold builders when the need for "unsticking" plastic parts from molds revealed an opportunity for a new product--silicone oil in an aerosol can. This evolved into the first mold release – and foundation – of the new Percy Harms Corporation, predecessor of Slide Products, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in the injection molding industry this year.
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Manufacturing and the State of the Union
In his State of the Union speech last night, President Obama outlined a broad and ambitious agenda for his second term in office. One of his stated objectives is to increase the output of America's manufacturing sector.
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