Regulations
The Primary Strengths and Weaknesses of the U.S. Economy
Studying, analyzing, and forecasting the North American moldmaking industry for the past 20 years has taught me a lot. It has deepened my understanding of things such as innovation, initiative and industriousness. But the most important thing I have learned, is the meaning of “competition.”
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What Does It Mean to be Competitive?
Developing a plan to improve the economy is an enormous challenge. In fact, it would be a whole lot easier to put together a Chicago Cubs team that will win the World Series. But we have never been a country that backed away from a challenge, so in the spirit of better competition, I will continue to blog ahead. And for those politicians who might accidentally read this, I will define exactly what I mean when I say that I want America to be more competitive.
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What's to Blame?
We all know that the skills gap is a huge problem, but who or what is to blame? Some look to college as the source of the problem, but have we forgotten the fact that until a year ago this industry (and virtually all of manufacturing) was in a state of long-term and rapid decline? Shops were closing, business was rushing to China, schools were dropping classes due to lack of funding, and all of America was demanding "every day low prices." College was a choice that was (falsely in many cases) offered as an alternative to the seemingly dead-end choice of learning a trade. This situation was created by the free market, and it will only be solved by the free market. Let me explain.
Read MoreEquipment Lease Finance Industry Confidence Neutral in August
The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (the Foundation) has released the August 2012 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI). Designed to collect leadership data, the index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $628 billion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 50.2, down from the July index of 51.5, reflecting ongoing industry concerns over economic, regulatory and political uncertainty
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Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Analysis Works for Everything
At the recent amerimold 2012 show in Novi, MI, the opening keynote speaker was Harry Moser. For those of you not familiar with Mr. Moser, he is a retired executive from the machinery industry who now devotes his energies to the Reshoring Initiative. In short, Harry is trying to bring mold and die manufacturing back to the U.S. His argument is based on the concept that when you consider ALL of the costs involved in manufacturing a plastic part (not just the price of the mold), America is more competitive than places like China for many types of parts. Harry has developed a nifty little spreadsheet program that assists mold buyers in calculating the wide range of costs that they will incur when they choose to manufacture a part. This analytical process of identifying and evaluating all of the costs—now and in the future--goes by the name of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), and moldmakers should also master this process.
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Three Stories to Watch This Summer
For the past few years, North American moldmakers have been vigorously engaged in trying to cope with three industry-wide problems. These are: low-cost competition from China; a shortage of qualified workers entering the trade; and the rising costs of materials (i.e. tool steel) and labor (i.e. healthcare costs). These problems are far from solved. The future is far from certain. And moldmakers will continue to struggle with these issues for the foreseeable future. But just in case you are getting bored or uninspired with the challenges posed by these issues, here are three more storylines that will unfold this summer and which merit your attention.
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Made in the USA, Sold in China!
The Publisher of MoldMaking Technology attended ChinaPlas in Shanghai, China, in support of U.S. manufacturers exhibiting there last month. The U.S. pavilion, consisted of 37 exhibitors mixed with moldmakers, molders and technology suppliers. There were a few other U.S. suppliers exhibiting in their own space as well throughout the more than 20 halls.
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Complex Moldmaking Showcased at NPE2012
During NPE2012 a part from MPC, Inc.--a Tier 1 molder of automotive components--for which Industrial Molds Group of Rockford, IL, designed and built the mold won the "Single Part Award" in SPI's International Plastics Design Competition.
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Spin Device for Citrus Zest Removal is ‘Peoples’ Choice.’ Classic-Design Chairs Molded of PET Recycled from Soda Bottles Win ‘Best in Show’ Award
The award winners in the 2nd International Plastics Design Competition (IPDC) sponsored by SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association span a wide range of applications, and many of them embody innovative use of technologies in support of sustainability goals, it was announced today by Robert Janeczko, chairman of the IPDC Committee.
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