| Welcome to the newest monthly newsletter offering from MetalForming magazine and PMA. We hope you find it useful and interesting; please feel free to share your thoughts with us. |
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This regular column from MetalForming magazine provides an inside look at the management styles and techniques of metal forming and fabricating company executives. We’ll share some of their philosophies, their daily challenges and how they face them, and offer additional insights. We hope that you find these interviews useful and can take away some ideas to use at your own company.
Want to be interviewed for this column? E-mail editorial director Brad Kuvin. |
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| Perspectives on Business Management with Steve Peplin, CEO, Talan Products |
Talan Products, Cleveland, OH, boasts a high-speed metal stamping environment geared for high-volume production using a combination of high-speed presses, progressive dies and a robust Design for Manufacturability program. It produces a variety of products for more than 150 customers in the fastener, building-products, appliance, hardware, defense and transportation markets. The firm proudly has won numerous industry awards and has received recognition from its vendors, customers, civic organizations, national trade groups and sustainability councils. However, as noted on its website awards gallery, “The trophies on one’s shelf do not win tomorrow’s games.”
(That’s a quote from Buck Rogers, former IBM vice president of marketing.)
Here,
Peplin explains how industry recognition helps attract customers and
workers; the four core values he insists his managers, and all
employees, live by day in and day out; how he relaxes and releases
stress; and more. |
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| The Manufacturing Fable of Ducks, Pucks and Trucks |
This month’s Love Letter takes a unique route to explain an important moral for all metal formers. That is: “To find success in a new market, first be sure to be the best at what you do. Then do your homework to understand what it takes to be good at something else. Then, invest in the people with the right skills and relevant past experiences for that something else to be successful.”
The blog, from Harbour Results director Jason Brewer, digs into why some
companies fail in their efforts to diversify, citing issues with
engineering, sales, operations and quoting. Ultimately, the secret to
success (without spoiling the story) lies in focusing on becoming the
best and most efficient manufacturer possible.
You’ll have to check out the blog to get the rest of the story.
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| Logopress ProgSim: Real Results from Real Tooling |
User-Friendly
and Affordable Software for Incremental Forming Simulation of
Progressive Dies Inside of SOLIDWORKS. Determine formability and
springback status inside Logopress DieDesign software, allowing the
designer to address formability issues before the die is designed.
Deliver dies faster with less mistakes.
Watch Video |
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| ANSI B11.20: Applications for Press Slide/Die Areas |
| Welcome to the newest recurring column in the MetalForming Business Edge enewsletter, focused on safety and compliance issues that require the consistent attention of metal forming and fabricating company executives. This time we focus on ANSI B11.20, “Safety Requirements for the Integration of Machinery into a System,” as it pertains to automated press cells, as they are integrated manufacturing systems (IMSs). Author Ted Sberna Sr., from White Horse Safety, Inc., explores the concept of shared space and layout analysis, which metal formers can use to help determine zones and define spans of control for safety-related control devices. |
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| OSHA Seeks Input on the Mechanical Power Press Standard |
You
may want to pass this to the appropriate people at your company. OSHA
is seeking public input on potential updates to its mechanical power
presses standard, 1910.217. Comments must be submitted by Oct. 26. Note:
It usually takes a couple of years for comments to turn into potential
updates for standards.
OSHA first issued the standard in 1971, based on the ANSI B11.1
standard, which has been updated several times since. OSHA seeks
information regarding the need to update its standard; how closely the
standard should follow the current ANSI standard; the types of presses
that should be covered; the use and certification of equipment;
presence-sensing device initiation systems; and requirements for press
modifications, training and injury reporting. |
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| Content Strategy Drives Lead Growth & New Business Opportunities |
| Since 2003, TopSpot has specialized in digital marketing and website development for industrial manufacturers, fabricators, CNC shops, OEMs and more. Learn more about how TopSpot’s data-driven content development increased the industrial website's online leads by 221% within the first year. |
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| Automotive Supply-Chain Challenges to Continue Well into 2022 |
IHS
Markit analysts Mark Fulthorpe and Phil Amsrud offer the latest
analysis on the global semiconductor shortage, automotive supply-chain
challenges and global light-vehicle production impacts, including the
latest IHS Markit forecasts, reflecting light-vehicle production impacts
well into 2022.
The global forecast for light-vehicle production in 2021 now stands at 80.78 million units with the HIS Markit August release—an 8.3-percent increase over 2020 levels. |
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| Tracking U.S. vs. Global Steel Prices Through August 23, 2021 |
An Argus Media report on the U.S. steel market does not bode well for steel users. According to the report, U.S. Steel will experience a 38-day outage at its Gary Works No. 6 blast furnace, beginning September 30, coinciding with Cleveland-Cliffs’ 45- to 60-day outage at its No. 7 blast furnace at Indiana Harbor, and Nucor closing its Gallatin, KY-flat-rolled mill for a month starting at the end of November.
Here is how steel prices in the United States compare globally (China and the EU).
“The crisis involving steel prices and supply continues to worsen,” says Paul Nathanson, senior principal, Policy Resolution Group at Bracewell LLP. “U.S. manufacturers are now paying $1334/ton more for hot-rolled steel than their competitors in China, increasing the price difference by $126 in the past two weeks, and $734/ton more than their European competitors, up $118 in the past two weeks.
“The domestic steel industry’s capacity-utilization rate is up to 85 percent,” he adds, “far above the Commerce Department’s announced target of 80 percent that was used as a reason for imposing the Section 232 steel tariffs. The U.S. market needs more steel, and one way to increase supply is to eliminate these unnecessary tariffs.” |
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| How to Analyze Data to Make Better Business Decisions |
Identifying business-cycle phases is important, as each comes with its corresponding management objectives. Give this one pager from ITR Economics
a read to learn how to calculate your rates-of-change and better
understand how doing so can benefit your business planning and help make
the right decisions at the right time.
For example: If your company is in a recession, the article reads, you likely are cutting costs and in “save the business” mode. However, if the company’s rate of decline is slowing in the next few months and about to transition into recovery mode, you may miss the boat by staying in a “hunkered down” state of mind. You’ll miss out on opportunities by reacting rather than being proactive. |
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| Don’t Take the Bait from Phishing Scammers |
This
latest post to the Federated Insurance Risk Management Corner explains
how phishing emails to your employees can lead to dangerous cyberattacks
and provides seven things to look for in emails that otherwise might
look sincere and trustworthy. Among them:
- Typos and grammar errors
- Incorrect or mismatched email addresses
- Generic signatures
“When in doubt, be wary of suspicious emails and don’t take the bait.” |
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Management
Event