Miles Free Director of Industry Affairs, PMPA

Workforce Development 17 Nov 2011

'Right Skills Now' Provides Fast-Track Training for Skilled Manufacturing Jobs

According to a Skills Gap study by the Manufacturing Institute, more than 80 percent of U.S. manufacturers can’t find qualified people for the almost 600,000 skilled production jobs that are currently unfilled. For American manufacturing to be successful, employers need machinists that have the right skills, and they need those skills now.

Workforce Development 19 Oct 2011

Training and Technology: Time, Money, Quality

When I was a student, I really liked when an equation just made sense.

19 Oct 2011

Five Keys to Success for the Precision Machining Industry

The precision machining industry has several unique characteristics that make it a relatively steady performer in the North American economy.

19 Sep 2011

Pedestal Grinders, OSHA and You

OSHA cited an Ohio company for 15 safety violations and fined that company $159,600 after a pedestal grinder operator was killed.

19 Sep 2011

Indicators, Looking Windshield or Rearview Mirror

In recent months, we have seen wild swings in equity markets—government deals that fail to meaningfully address the fundamental problems of runaway spending, downgrade of federal debt and global debt crises.

17 Aug 2011

Investing in Anticipation

I was intrigued by a recent discussion on the PMPA’s Manufacturing Listserve.

Workforce Development 21 Jul 2011

The Importance of Documenting Employee Safety Violations

The burden is on the employer to prove enforcement of the rules.

15 Jun 2011

Magic Bullets in Precision Machining

As a supplier of steel bars for machinists for more than 30 years of my professional career, I was often invited to help shops troubleshoot or problem solve.

15 Jun 2011

Apprentices: Sustaining Our Industry

What is our plan to create our own source of skilled craftsman?

Workforce Development 18 May 2011

Where Skills and Talent Come From

Each and every one of the students that participated demonstrated to me that they were qualified, thoughtful, skilled and competent practitioners in the field of Design, Analyze, Manufacture, Test and Perform.