Miles Free Director of Industry Affairs, PMPA
“Value Added” — The Key To Profitability
So what is “value added” and how do we know what is adding value versus adding costs?
Read MoreMaterial Impacts On The Precision Machining Industry - Feb. 2008
Despite locally soft demand, ongoing price increases here in North America are the result of increased consumption of copper, steel, stainless steel and aluminum per capita globally. Price increases in cold finished steel bars have been announced for April, and higher surcharges are forecast for stainless steel in March. Click here to read the complete Materials Impact Report (PDF format): Materials Impacts On The Precision Machining Industry - Feb 2008
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Quality’s Role In Marketing
Having spent more than 20 years in the field of quality management—as well as holding a couple of simultaneous assignments in marketing and operations—I’d just love to tell you about the importance of quality in marketing. Unfortunately, I can’t.
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Critical Spares
Planning for necessary raw materials and tooling is critical for meeting production schedules in our shops. Just as important is planning to have the critical maintenance spares needed to keep our production assets up and running.
Read MoreBusiness Policy Roles At Your Company
Giving employees a clear understanding company policies and the their ability to apply discretion will foster better decision-making throughout the organization.
Read MorePreparing Your Crisis Control Plan
Effective management of risk, commitment to serve the customer and get to a win-win resolution, and a truly competent, empowered team are key to succeeding in crisis situations. But the organizational steps you take before any crisis occurs are the real keys to your company’s crisis control success.
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Can I Do It With Less?
There is one indisputable lesson that applies to us in manufacturing: We must get more and more functionality out of less and less material. This is the result of continuous improvement, economic competition and the application of engineering principles.
Read MoreEmpowerment – How Do They Know?
The trend to flatter organizations has made it necessary for people throughout our companies to make decisions and take immediate action. Our customers demand 100-percent on-time and zero-parts-per-million defects rates. This makes it mandatory that every person who recognizes a nonconforming condition must take immediate action.
Read MoreWhy Is This Here?
Two essential principles to help you establish “lean” in your operations.
Read MoreMaterial Impacts On The Precision Machining Industry
The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) reports that stainless steel production rose in 2006. Crude stainless steel production in Asia and now produces more than half of all stainless steel in the world. The Americas increased their stainless steel production. China's trade surplus versus the U.S. amounted to $23.76 billion in February 2007 according to China Customs quoted in several press reports. This is the second highest level ever, and is 10 times the February 2006 level of $2.5 billion!
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Energy Trends In Manufacturing
Every once in a while, I get to see a report from a branch of the United States government that reinforces my feeling that all of us in manufacturing are way ahead of the bureaucrats in Washington. This week, I received a Manufacturing Sector Report from the Environmental Protection Agency covering motor vehicle parts manufacturing. (View the report at www.epa.gov/sectors/energy/index.html.)
Read MoreIs Your Order Book Telling You To Consider Activity-Based Costing?
Activity-Based Costing (ABC) is often mentioned in conversations between shop owners, but it seems to be an idea that most shops never get around to fully investigating. There are many benefits to performing even a short-term ABC project, but costs and personnel time need to be considered. These days, everyone is too busy to take on an extra project, especially another accounting study. However, your order book might be sufficient evidence that you need to get to work on an ABC project. Here’s a brief explanation of how and why.
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