It's Business . . . And It's Personal

No company can exist in business for long without delivering something to its customers. That's a painful lesson that the dot-com bubble clearly illustrates: Sizzle without steak is not sustainable.

Many people don't understand the role of the trade magazine. In many ways, it is the eyes and ears for the industry it serves. Our publishers and editors travel the country and the world not just to see what's new in products and services, but even more important, to see how the new products are applied.

My family's business—we've been publishing trade magazines since 1928—is built on a very basic yet critical understanding: To succeed, we must consistently provide you, our readers, with relevant information that helps your company make informed decisions about its manufacturing processes and therefore, its competitive position. That's what we deliver. If we do our job well, you continue to request our magazine because it helps you make money. If you read what we publish, our advertisers will support us. Our business motivation, therefore, is intimately linked to yours.

In a nutshell, that means that in every issue we publish, we strive to include technical articles and application stories that relate to your business. But more than simply describing products and services germane to precision parts manufacturing, those articles must also contain an editorial voice that reflects an understanding of the dynamic nature of today's manufacturing environment. It's a closed loop. We must try to tell you about manufacturing ways and means with which you're not necessarily familiar.

Gardner Publications is not a large publishing company. We print only five magazines, all of which are directed at manufacturing industry segments. Long ago, we came to an understanding that for a smaller trade publication company to be a player in its industry, we must be involved in the industry.

To that end, we have cultivated relationships with key industry associations in those areas we serve. Our Modern Machine Shop flagship magazine has helped us cultivate great relationships with AMT— The Association For Manufacturing Technology, which produces IMTS, and AMTDA (the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association). In the screw machine industry, we are most pleased with our close association with the PMPA (the Precision Machined Products Association) and its cooperation in publishing this magazine. We also enjoy a partnership in producing North America's only screw machine industry trade show, PMTS. To some, we seem to cast a larger shadow in our markets than size alone would dictate. This is mainly because of our philosophy of active industry involvement. If we seem larger, it's because we're seen more often.

The deep, painful recession that has gripped manufacturing has left no business untouched. An advantage of experience is knowing that this too will pass. We know this. Experience also shows us that those companies that look to the future with an eye toward cost reduction through increased efficiency will not only weather the recession better but will emerge from it with an improved competitive position.

When we started Production Machining Magazine, we did it from our experience in screw machine product production and high volume turning in Modern Machine Shop. We think this important industry needs a voice that promotes faster modernization and application of advanced techniques to help stem the erosion of work from our shores. The nature of precision machined products competition is in transition. We care about the health of the industry as a participant, not just as an observer. We care about your success not just because it's business, but for my family, our employees and me; it's personal.