|
|
REB Blogs
-
|
The title is drawn from the observation of a structural engineer explaining the secret to a novel building design: essentially, it's one, mid-sized office building in Toronto that's being designed, in part, as an insert to an existing structure that has...
|
-
|
"Reshoring" continues to be a hot topic among manufacturers. I wrote about the man many people recognize as the leading authority on the subject, but the trend has been observed for several years now. (NADCA is planning a panel discussion on the topic...
|
-
|
I've written several times that the ongoing economic recovery is so unsatisfying because we continue to see high levels of unemployment, but that unemployment is a feature of the economic recovery - not a defect. See this entry, for example. The point...
|
-
|
Economic predictions are still popular this week, but here’s an insightful analysis of recent economic trends that documents a simple and easy-to-miss point: “…most of the economy is (the results of) people doing normal stuff that they always just have...
|
-
|
“World growth will slow in 2012—the only question is by how much.” That is the abrupt and sober opening from IHS Global Insight’s chief economist Nariman Beravesh in his Top 10 Economic Predictions for 2012 . We cannot blame bad news on him, but it’s...
|
-
|
The U.S. Labor Dept.'s monthly employment report has become a ritual of the ongoing recession — “jobs” rather than GDP are the measure of our economic progress. As such, the November report from late last week was good news, revealing as it did that nationwide...
|
-
|
The National Labor Relations board was established in 1935, by way of the Wagner Act , as an independent panel assigned to adjudicate differences between employers and labor interests. Lately, however, the NLRB seems to operate from the assumption that...
|
-
|
Speaking only for myself, I have never much like trade shows, conferences, seminars, etc. I realize they are important routines for conducting business - and that a lot of people appreciate the opportunity to socialize and recreate with colleagues they...
|
-
|
It’s hard to study robotics — as I did recently — without examining the human aspect of it all, meaning how the availability of robots (and advanced technology more broadly understood) intersects with the humans that install them. Most of us realize now...
|
-
|
I attended an event in Canada about two years ago – a competition of vocational skills (machining, welding, carpentry, and much more) among young people (16 to 22 years old, I recall), from all over the developed world. Notably, there were very few Americans...
|
-
|
I screen all sorts of links related to metalcasting, but this is a novel one: first-hand accounts of the survival of foundries in an oppressed and depressed country. Most of us probably don't think much about the misery of life in Cuba since 1959, where...
|
-
|
Last week’s arrival of the U.S. Labor Dept.’s September employment report didn’t reveal much: there was some increase in hiring and economists feel the threat of a new recession has been averted. But, the unemployment rate is still 9.1% of the workforce,...
|
-
|
Having written recently about the importance of recognizing the good works of people around us, I'm glad to be able to point readers to this article about one of the recent greats of the metalcasting industry. It happens that he's a member of the FM&T...
|
-
|
The anxiety over employment totals continues to drive most discussions about the state of the U.S. economy, and so last week’s report indicating that August ended with no net improvement in the jobless rate is bad news indeed. However, headlines suggesting...
|
-
|
In a few days we'll announce who has been named to the FM&T Hall of Honor for the current year. I am always a little tense about this effort, because we want to be sure that the individuals we identify are worthy of the recognition, and of the company...
|
-
|
I'm not sure that the political analysis in this column is as important as the underlying point that Midwestern states are overleveraged, giving them more incentive to be demanding of businesses and other taxpayers in order to meet their obligations —...
|
-
|
In my last column for the magazine I took up the issue of CAFE standards again, because the word is out that the federal government wants domestic automakers to achieve a corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) of 56.2 miles per gallon by 2025. Now, I don’t...
|
-
|
It used to be that polite people would avoid conversations about religion and politics. Now, add “energy” to the list. Last week I was an accidental bystander to a heated lunch-table discussion about energy: what is going to be the reliable energy source...
|
-
|
A few weeks ago a foundry executive expressed to me the opinion that the multiple-site business model remains unproven for the metalcasting industry, because the costs of operating a single plant (energy, labor, capital equipment, etc.) remain high and...
|
-
|
"Based on recent analyses and reports, a leading manufacturing sector economist asserts the Chinese will stand to lose significant market share in the years to come, and will not have a cost advantage over U.S. manufacturing by the year 2016." That's...
|
-
|
If you merely scan the headlines, you’ll know that General Motors reported impressive earnings for the first quarter of 2011 , about $3.2 billion, which was more than three times what it earned in 2010 Q1 and its fifth straight quarterly profit. In addition,...
|
-
|
I have a copy of the latest manufacturing industry outlook from PriceWaterhouse Coopers, the consulting and accounting group, and it's somewhat encouraging. PwC's Manufacturing Barometer is based on a quarterly survey of U.S.-based executives in multinational...
|
-
|
If Boeing's new 787 commercial jet didn't already have a snake-bit reputation, now it's got the federal government trying to bring it down. The 787, also called the “Dreamliner,” will be a wide-body twin-engine aircraft with long range and carrying capacity...
|
-
|
Like many people, I suppose, I have seen and heard public service announcements from the Business Software Alliance that encourage listeners to report suspected cases of software piracy. I guess I supposed the bad guys were comparable to the designer-goods...
|
-
|
I try to make good use of news feeds to deliver information about the industries and sectors I am supposed to know, so I didn’t have much reaction when I read today the following headline: “Foundry Industry Facing Acute Shortage of Skilled & Trained...
|
|
|
|