With China and other offshore producers continuing to loom ever closer on the horizon, this year's PMPA annual meeting, to be held October 19-23 at Westin Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California, will serve as a primer for competing successfully in what has become a global marketplace.
The recently released PMPA 2002 Wage Benefits&Work Schedule Report is a major resource helping PMPA members make sure they are competitive in the skilled employee marketplace. As the name of the report suggests, the report covers wages for most hourly wage jobs found in the shop as well as an overview of benefits provided, including costs to the employees and a look at work schedules throughout the industry.
As is well known, President Bush has announced imposition of the most protectionist tariffs since the end of World War II on imported steel. The tariffs are up to 30 percent of the entered value of steel. Coupled with the tariffs (and a tariff rate quota or TRQ on steel slabs) is a provision for 'product exclusions.'
The PMPA's newest human resource information and management tool—the PMPA Human Resource Management System (HRMS)—was officially launched during the first week of December 2001.
The Precision Machined Products Association's marketing committee recently revised its Buyer's Guide, which has been fully updated to include the latest information on the purchasing of precision machined products. The committee released this document via the PMPA Web site, and it is available to purchasers of precision machined products worldwide.
The PMPA Human Resources Committee is offering its long-awaited Human Resource Information&Management System to PMPA members beginning summer 2001 via a password protected, secure Web site.
The Metalworking Skill Standards initiative led by the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) continues to grow in popularity, with companies and schools across the United States adopting the Standards as a tool to benchmark the knowledge and skills of the workforce and students.
