| 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 Susan Murray Carlock, Co-Owner, Vice President of Business Development, Mursix Corp. |
We spoke with Susan Murray Carlock just as Mursix was commissioning a new 600-ton Nidec Arisa servomechanical press, the company’s first servo model and an upgrade in capacity from its 400-ton presses. At the same time, Carlock also has recently launched a 100-percent woman-owned rapid-prototyping company, set up in an area of the Mursix plant.
“Strategically thinking about and planning how we evolve and diversify are focal points,” Carlock says, offering the company’s approach to the challenges and opportunities ahead. “Our goal to diversify is coming to fruition, spearheaded by our recent acquisition of an exclusive 20-yr. manufacturing contract with a startup medical-device company.” |
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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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| Raw Materials: What is Your Strategy? |
Flat-rolled
steels, aluminum grades and copper alloys are not 100-percent
domestically produced, and, therefore, they are subject to forces of
global supply and demand. To get a sense for how global supply and
demand forces are impacting our domestic supply, Harbour Results, Inc.
spoke to two PMA members that process and distribute specialty metals to
North American metal formers.
Says Dan Kendall of Aeris Advisor, who has spent 40 years of his career in the customization and distribution of flat-rolled copper-alloy strip: “There are challenges in aligning mining to smelting to copper casting and rolling that will have short-term effects. I don’t see any real market deficits until late 2023 or early 2024 as copper use in global infrastructure, smart homes and electric cars grows.” |
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| Comprehensive Lubrication Program to Improve Production Efficiencies |
| AMSOIL
Industrial, launched in September 2021, is a division of AMSOIL Inc.,
which brings more than 50 years of lubrication formulation and was the
first lubricant company to bring API-certified synthetic lubricants to
market in 1972. AMSOIL Industrial consults with fabricators and metal
stamping operations to optimize production efficiency by employing a
comprehensive lubrication program that starts with a plant audit by
AMSOIL Industrial tribologists and lubrication experts. |
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| Preparing for an OSHA Inspection |
Ron
Pitcher, president of Pitcher Insurance Agency, offers advice on how to
prepare your metal forming company for an OSHA inspection, including
best practices for conducting the walk-around with the compliance safety
and health officer, conducting the opening and closing conferences, and
reacting to citations.
“During the walk-around, ensure that all employees have the required PPE and are following proper safety protocols,” Pitcher writes. “Keep the route as limited as possible, while understanding the plain-view doctrine. That is, a CSHO can investigate any hazard observed while walking through the premise.” |
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| The Stock Market in Early 2022: Time to Switch from Offense to Defense |
Per Brian Beaulieu, CEO and chief economist of ITR Economics, in a recent blog post:
“The Federal Reserve is easing the stimulus impetus, as evidenced by the declining trend in the M2 12/12 rate-of-change. The implications are that it is time to switch from playing a strong offense to playing some defense. We do this…by rotating out of the cyclicals that tend to excel on the way up and moving into defensive sectors that tend to perform well relative to the overall market during weaker periods.” |
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| Advanced Controls Save Time, Optimize Feed Line Performance |
| Watch
our customer video to see how COE advanced controls cut press feed line
setup time in half. Loop and press simulations help test, debug, and
perform complete startup prior to shipping. User-friendly HMI guides
operators through setup; dynamic compensation optimizes equipment
performance. Watch our customer video. |
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| Bringing Lean Principles to the Front Office |
“Just as you assign a value to the benefit of things in the operation, you can do the same in the front office. Lean principles also apply to traditional scheduling functions, finance, even sales and marketing. Bringing lean principles to your manufacturing office will save you time and, ultimately, money.”
So goes this recent article from the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST). Penned by manufacturing consultant Keith Groves,
the article discusses process mapping, 5S and other principles
applicable to the office. |
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| Leader in Prog. Die Stamping, Fourslide and Assembly |
| For
over half a century Marion Manufacturing Company has been a leader in
progressive die stamping components. Marion also has vast 4-sided
stamping and wire form capabilities, as well as assemblies and
progressive eyelets. Marion designs and builds all tooling in house. |
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| Special Report: The New Laws of Talent Attraction |
From Chief Executive
magazine comes this timely study of what it takes to win the war for
talent, especially for small businesses. Some nuggets to chew on:
- "Even CEOs of companies that rely on on-premises work have found that enriching employees’ lives is the optimal strategy to win the war for talent.”
- “Our pay and benefits are competitive, but where we stand out is our culture—a positive work environment, beautiful lunchrooms and rest rooms, monthly recognition and award programs, a defined career path, and a company newsletter reporting on everyone’s life activities and work accomplishments.”
- “The top three reasons employees tell us they are quitting are because they don’t feel valued by their organization, they don’t feel valued by their manager and they don’t feel a sense of belonging at work.”
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| Webinar: 2022's Hottest Businesses, Markets & Trends |
Will
2022 be a year of recovery or discovery? Or perhaps a bit of both? The
start of a new year is the perfect time for small-business owners to
learn the latest business trends.
In this timely webinar, presented by small-business expert and best-selling author Rieva Lesonsky, you’ll learn about the breakthrough small-business ideas and industries that excite consumers. Lesonsky also addresses America’s changing demographics, attitudes and consumer behaviors, and explains how your small business can best adapt and address them. |
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