| 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 Patrick Steininger, President and Owner, Sko-Die, Inc. |
This
month we invite Patrick Steininger, the third-generation president and
owner of metal former Sko-Die, Inc., Morton Grove, IL, to share his
insights. Owned and operated by the Steininger family since 1947,
Sko-Die operates from a 60,000-sq.-ft. facility that houses more than 30
presses ranging from 5 to 400 tons. It provides prototype and
high-volume stamped parts, specializing in electrical-steel laminations,
while also providing an array of value-added services including
tooling, laser cutting, welding and machining.
“I really appreciate this quote from General George Patton,” Steininger says: ‘A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan executed next week.’ Sometimes you can wait so long to make a decision that you miss an opportunity. You don’t have to execute perfectly right out of the gate, it might be more important to strike when the opportunity presents itself.” |
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| The right benefits can make a difference… |
| Chances
are, you have key employees that play important roles in your
organization. Having the right tools to recruit, reward, retain and
retire your top talent can help them and your business. Contact us today
to get started. |
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| Reliance on Process, not People, for Safety and Quality |
This month’s love letter reports on an unsettling finding from the second-quarter PMA Metalforming Insights study: While manufacturers continue to run short-handed, they’re simultaneously experiencing increased safety issues and poorer quality.
“The last line of defense for maintaining external quality all too often relies on employees trained to look for defects,” writes Jason C. Brewer, a director at Harbour Results. “That last line is weakened when staffed with temporaries, hastily trained entry-level employees, or employees over-extended with long hours or extra responsibilities.”
Brewer goes on to opine on best-in-class performance systems for managing safety and quality. |
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| Benefits of Participating in Demand Response |
| You
may be wondering, "what is demand response and should I be paying
attention to the potential benefits?" The answer to the latter part of
that question is: yes, but let's tackle the former first. |
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| Lockout-Tagout Citations Dismissed, After Considering Hands-On Work vs. Observation |
When
it comes to OSHA inspections and citations related to lockout-tagout,
does it matter if an employee is injured while operating equipment
versus merely visually inspecting its operation?
In this lawsuit review from Doug Ehlke, from Ehlke Law Offices, we learn that “the LOTO standard has certain exemptions and requirements. One is that if you are required to place any body into the point of operation, the machine needs to be locked out.”
However, in the specific case presented here by Ehlke, while a very
unfortunate accident did result, the injured worker was only conducting a
visual observation and was not anticipating reaching out into the point
of operation.
“The fact of an accident does not establish the occurrence of an OSHA violation.” |
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| Sell to Someone You Can Trust AND Get a Great Price |
| Founder
led and/or family run manufacturing companies want a buyer who will
respect their legacy yet grow the business, so the employees have future
opportunity. But they also want a great price. All of this is
achievable as well as maintaining confidentiality throughout the
process. |
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| Wage Report: Fabricated Metal Products |
After seeing significant wage growth over the past 12 months, fabricated metal wage growth is expected to slow over the next 12 months. So notes this new August 2022 compensation-trends report for the fabricated-metal manufacturing sector from Strategy Titan. The report notes (per the Atlanta Fed) that “as of June 2022 manufacturing median wages overall have grown 5.8 percent over the past 12 months… Manufacturing has experienced the third fastest median wage growth behind trade and transportation (5.9 percent) and leisure and hospitality (6.4 percent).”
Per Strategy Titan, “fabricated metal saw significant median wage growth nationally across all jobs (7.0 percent), making it one of the highest wage-growth industries. Due to this significant increase, our median wage-growth forecast for the industry over the next 12 months is a much more modest 2.9 percent. |
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| High Tensile Solutions from Nidec CHS |
| Nidec CHS offers the most advanced automation machinery available in the industry today, including the HDX Series, engineered and developed specifically for processing advanced high strength steels. CHS coil lines feature integration with servo presses through Nidec Press & Automation’s Global Production Control. HDX lines are further integrated with today’s large servo presses with e-camming and servo-driven pilot release capabilities. |
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| Webinar: Marijuana and the Workplace |
According to a study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, employees who test positive for marijuana, compared to those who don’t, have a 55-percent greater chance of causing an industrial accident, experience 85 percent more injuries, and are 75 percent more likely to miss work. Yet, new marijuana laws enacted in many states now make it increasingly difficult to find workers that meet strict drug-testing criteria.
In the fast-changing landscape regarding marijuana in the workplace, it
can be tricky to keep up. Help comes via a webinar offered by Federated
Insurance, scheduled for June 21 at 12 p.m. CT, that promises to
demystify the complex intersection of marijuana legal reform and safe,
productive workplaces |
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| PMA Membership |
| Position your company as an industry leader when you utilize PMA resources—ITR Econ Trends reports, trade publications, One Voice and FABTECH trade shows. A PMA membership will provide your company and all of its employees with a range of valuable industry resources that are designed to help you become more connected, more informed, more efficient, more competitive and ultimately more profitable. |
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| Exit or Expand? A Guide for Business Owners |
The
robust acquisition and consolidation of former family-owned precision
metal forming and fabricating technology companies continues its strong
5-yr. pace, with expectations it will continue throughout 2023. Both
strategic and financial buyers (e.g., private equity) are consolidating
competitors to increase market share and expand product lines.
In this exclusive to MetalForming magazine, Len LaPorta, managing director of The DAK Group, explains that while some business owners are looking aggressively into the future, others feel “exhausted” and are ready to cash out at what could be the peak of the M & A frenzy.
“Either way, we see tremendous opportunities for family-owned companies (including PMA members) to either sell or grow through acquisition,” LaPorta says. |
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| Tackle Turnover by Overwhelming Your Employees with Training Opportunities |
“To retain personnel, it’s vital for employers to continually invest in employees and make it clear that they have opportunities to learn new skills, change roles and grow professionally within the organization.”
So notes this Manufacturing.Net article by Jorge Izquierdo, vice president of market development at the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. He adds: “Encouraging internal mobility enhances retention, engagement and agility, and it reduces time and money spent on hiring. A recent report by LinkedIn notes, ‘Companies that excel at internal mobility are able to retain employees for an average of 5.4 years. That’s nearly twice as long as companies that struggle with it, where the average retention span is 2.9 years.’” |
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| PMA President David Klotz Testifies at USITC on Steel and Aluminum Tariffs |
| Members of the Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users (CAMMU) joined other domestic manufacturers, as well as PMA president David Klotz, on July 20, to testify before the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) that the Section 232 tariffs, imposed in 2018, have made the United States an “island of high steel prices,” and are causing supply shortages, shipping delays and the loss of business to overseas competitors. CAMMU Executive Director Paul Nathanson testified that a survey
of more than 70 CAMMU member companies found that 84 percent of
respondents are having difficulty sourcing steel, and 76 percent are
having trouble sourcing aluminum. In addition, 87 percent of respondents
are experiencing delays in receiving steel supplies, and 84 percent are
experiencing delays in aluminum supplies. Thirty-five percent of
respondents reported experiencing supply delays exceeding two months,
and 32 percent reported experiencing delays exceeding three months. |
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