Speaking of Precision Blog by Miles Free III

(originally posted on pmpaspeakingofprecision.com)

Can't count on Washington to get you back to work.
Despite the fact that there has been no significant "recovery" of employment under the current Administration and Congress, There is ...
Your Letter From OSHA Is In The Mail
If you have a high incidence and injury rate in your shop. 15,000 workplaces were sent the letter. Employers receiving ...
What else should be on your To Don't List?
Every one has a To Do List. Calibrate the gages, do the safety Audit, check the grinders , prepare for ...
You've Got Mail- OSHA Announces 19,000 Private Sector Firm Survey
File under "If you can't get something through the legislative process, just create a new rule." In yet another instance ...
Graduates of jobs training programs are being hired on the spot
It is easy for big city editors and academics to broadly dismiss the real issues that employers face as we ...
Year End To-Do List
Some ideas to be working on during the 'slow time' at the end of the year. 1) Audit your shop's ...
WTO- China Raw Material Exports Broke Trade Rules
Today the WTO upheld its decision finding that Chinese restrictions on key raw material exports broke trade rules. We have ...
WTO to Hear Chinese Tire Tariff Appeal
The World Trade Organization (WTO) established an expert panel January 19th to investigate and rule whether punitive U.S. tariffs on ...
WTO Rules Against China's Raw Materials Hoarding
The World Trade Organization ruled Tuesday that China was unfairly protecting its domestic manufacturers by limiting the export of nine ...
WTO Rules Against China in Tire Dispute
 News to China: Fair Trade means Trade Fair.  Our original post on this subject: Chinese tire dumping .  A ruling announced ...
WTO Convenes Panel On China's Rare Earth Metals Export Policies
At the request of the United States, the European Union and Japan, the Dispute Settlement Body established on 23 July ...
WTO  Upholds US Tire Tariffs in Chinese Appeal
Proof the system can work if the Administration has the will. The WTO Appellate Body on Monday ruled in Geneva ...
World Steel Production 2011- 1.5 Billion Tonnes
Crude steel production reported by the World Steel Association was 1,526.9 megatonnes in 2011, up 6.8% over 2010. This is ...
Workplace Fatality Infographic
eTraining Thanks to eTraining for the share. Note we take issue with the illusion of causality by the graph superimposing the fatality ...
Today's technologies require today's skills!
PMPA member  North Easton Machine Company Incorporated  is taking an active role in solving the skilled workforce issues it faces ...
This New Normal seems like a scene out of Alice in Wonderland.
The Workforce Participation Rate fell to an astonishing new low of 62.8%, and yet the Employment outlook for skilled workers ...
When these workers leave, we will need people with skills to replace them. What's your plan?
Openings for skilled workers as older workers retire are seen as the biggest challenge facing manufacturers in this economic policy ...
Babyboomer 55 Bloomberg
Baby-boomer demographics continue to shape industry and employment. According to Peter Coy with Bloomberg,"...older workers’ share of the workforce briefly ...
Wolverine Machine, Solar Cars and Leading Technology
PMPA member Wolverine Machine Products Company in Holly, Michigan knows a little bit about Precision Machining. With their new Wardjet ...
Wish I Was There!
Sometimes, you just have to leave it in the good hands of your trusted colleagues. I was on the schedule ...
Why We're Optimistic For Sales At PMTS
"More firms report upturn in sales, profits, and hiring despite rising costs" is  the title of the latest NABE survey ...
Why We Need To Solve The BP Deepwater Horizon Spill's Root Cause
After two weeks of  disgust at the ongoing spill of oil into the Gulf of Mexico by the BP Deepwater ...
Why We Have PPE And Machine Guards
Here is a safety lesson learned from one of my Facebook Friends. So the lesson today is......Don't take off the ...
Why We Don't Post About Unemployment
Low unemployment numbers can be deceiving. When the unemployment rate declines, it does not necessarily mean that more people found ...
Many ways that tools can fail. this post discusses factors in the steel that can lead to this.
Tool life can vary when machining carbon and alloy steels despite the use of our best technology and our efforts ...
And the answer is ...
The tolerance on cold drawn steel bars for machining is always specified as plus nothing minus some value... So why ...
Hooray! Not really.
"Convincing millions of Americans they don't want a job or compelling desperate workers to settle for part time work has ...
Why That New College Grad's Performance May Be Lower Than Expected
The New York Times Economix Blog ran a nice post on Grade Inflation. Two researchers, Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy, ...
Why Service Trumps Quality And Price
In the precision machining business, nobody sets up their machines based on the quality or price of your barstock. They set ...
Kathy Looman NIMS
"The growth and passion I have seen in in manufacturing education and credentialing in just a short time has been ...
earnings premium figure 1
U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration just released a new report that describes why manufacturing jobs are good ...
Why Manufacturing Is Your Best Choice Today
Manufacturing is your best career choice today. The idea that there is just one narrative for success- go to college ...
Why Manufacturing is the Right Career Choice- Data!
Is now the right time for you to start your career in U.S. Manufacturing? I found this chart on Global Macro ...
The trend for US manufacturing remains positive and significant.
ITR Economist Brian Beaulieu gave a very informative economic outlook for the attendees at PMPA's Manaement Update Conference in Glendale ...
Why Lead Is NOT An Alloying Element In Steel
    Lead is added to steels to improve their machinability. But Lead is not considered an alloying element. An ...
EmployPopMar2013
Guest post by Peter Morici. Jobs Growth Tanks in March Peter Morici Twitter @pmorici1 The Labor Department announced the economy ...
Why Isn't The Invisible Hand Training Enough Skilled Workers?
The Invisible Hand Is NOT Training Enough Skilled Machinists. (And by the way, neither are we.) Estimates of as many ...
Why I'm Optimistic-Manufacturing Recovery
Here are some photos of the most surprising thing I saw at IMTS in Chicago last week- SOLD SIGNS on ...
Why I Am Optimistic For Precision Machining In 2011
The companies that are still here today have already made the adjustments needed to be sustainable. Since these businesses have ...
Why Haven't You Started Your Blog?
I can give you 271,574 reasons why you probably ought to make it a priority. That is the number of ...
Why Free Trade Is Failing America
 Guest Post by Peter Morici  No economic policy could better serve Americans than genuine free trade but open trade policies ...
Why Free Machining and Impact Strength Don't Mix
 It is critical to understand that the selection of free machining steels goes against the ability of those components to ...
Why exactly did you take off the guards?
You could ask this woodworker why they put guards on his machines. The hazards are real. Respect the horsepower and ...
Why Demand for Precision Machined Parts for Appliances May Not Recover Soon
New appliances are part and parcel of home sales. And home values. "Home prices are down from their peak in ...
Why are CNC Machinists so Difficult to Find?
I was asked this question on Quora. Thought that you might like my answer. Spoiler alert- I blamed Moms... Enjoy! ...
Robin R crop
Guest post by Robin Rutschilling,  Clippard Instrument Laboratory, Inc. I am sitting at my desk preparing my day and this thought ...
Where's the Jobs?
Guest post by Peter Morici. Only 39,000 new jobs created is awful. After we back out health care and social ...
Where We Were, What Were We Thinking?
The Hairstyles! The Ties! The Eyeglasses! The Venues! The People! PMPA staff put together a short video   on Youtube from ...
Here are some facts to consider.
Titled "More High Schools Teach Manufacturing Skills" the article confirms that " U.S. high schools that have launched or revived manufacturing ...
Skilled machinists positions continue to be open in our industry.
"The manufacturing industry is facing an employment crisis. The rate of technical advances has outpaced our ability to educate and ...
Where Skills and Talent Come From
I went to judge the F1 In Schools State Championships in Pennsylvania.  I was delighted to see the skills and ...
glass-half-full-575 pogo
Am I the only one missing the optimism in the employment situation these days? The New York Times headlined “Jobs ...
When Did Manufacturing Become a Dirty Word?
When Did Manufacturing Become a Dirty Word? Guest post by Pamela Kan, President of Bishop Wisecarver The word manufacturing has ...
Confiscatory may be the "new normal" for small and medium sized businesses.
Alan Beaulieu, President and Principal Economist at ITR, recently took a look at the Tax Overhaul Proposal authored by David ...
Looks like a good year for corn.
I found a treasure in Epco Products' lobby! I just returned from a 900 mile trip to visit member companies ...
What's The Correct Investment In Preventive Actions?
Guest post by Dan Vermeesch and the team at Micron Manufacturing. The Micron Manufacturing Team was awarded the Shingo Silver ...
You need skills, not just high pay, to properly hitch the cart to the horse.
Here are the top posts from 2013 that YOU found most interesting. Skills DO Pay the Bills We paid attention! With ...
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Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels will speak at PMPA's Management Update Conference in ...
What Topics Do You Want Provided At Our Next National Technical Conference?
PMPA's mission is to be the premier provider of association services to advance the global competitiveness of the Precision Machining ...
What The Data Says
Lessons from  the Japanese:  Monozukuri, Quality, Cost Cutting, and the Risk of Recall. Graphic credit. Recalls on products sold in ...
Recovery in Jobs? What recovery?
While there is no real recovery in Workforce Participation Rate at the national level, individuals can create their own personal ...
What Makes An Engineering Professional?
Integrity. Motivation. Objectivity. Ability. Audacity. Integrity is the foundation of our technical profession. Without credibility, how can we expect others ...
What really keeps you safe?
Deborah Keegan on IndustryWeek Manufacturing Network on LinkedIn asked  "What is the one thing you need young workers who are joining ...
To help keep your piece of North American Manufacturing competitive.
You are a shop owner or key employee attending IMTS this year. Congratulations. Manufacturing is enjoying a strong "bull phase" ...
These days Real time doesn't mean "by end of shift."
"I get my data in Real Time." What does that sentence mean to you? When I ran a small cold ...
Work yet to be done on unemployment...
Today our growth is limited by our inability to acquire skilled workers. In the last recession, we were held back ...
What Is The Most Expensive Training In The World?
No training at all! The money saved by not training won't begin to cover the direct and indirect costs of ...
What is Manufacturing?
There seems to be a lot of confusion these days about manufacturing. As a guy who has worked his entire ...
What is Machinability?
Machinability is one of those words that everyone uses but everyone also seems to have a different meaning. Here is ...
What Is Company's Most Important Job?
This post inspired by a comment from John at HyTek Manufacturing  in the Chicago suburbs who commented on our post ...
What Is An Executive? Cason J. Callaway
Early in my career at US Steel I was given the following advice, typewritten, from my first mentor. It was attributed ...
What is a Factoryless Goods Producer?
According to the Federal Register Vol. 74, No. 4 / Wednesday, January 7, 2009 / Notices: C. Factoryless Goods Producers The ...
What If I Train Them And They Leave?
What if you don't train them and they stay? Photo ...
What Happens When You Ignore The China Currency Issue
 China Trade Surplus Hits An 18 Month High The U.S. Customs bureau reported this week that China's trade surplus hit ...
What Goes Around, Comes Around?
G.M. (27% owned by the federal government) is close to making a bid on Ally Financials' (74% owned by U.S ...
What Does The Precision Machining Shop Of The Future Look Like?
What will our shops look like in 2020? 2020 is only 7 years away. I think that it is going to ...
Ductility arrives in our shops as indicated by burrs
The ability of a material to deform plastically without fracturing, is called ductility. In the materials usually machined in our ...
What Does An Economist Mean by "Diminishing Returns?
Diminishing returns is described as a yield rate that after a certain point fails to increase proportionately to additional outlays ...
Pentacene_png
As machinists, we are used to handling materials in the bulk world. As machinists, our ease in obtaining productivity is ...
What Do Machinist's Dream Of?
"We are not given a dream unless we also have the power to make it happen."  -PMPA President Darlene Miller. I ...
What Do Customers Want?
We all know that customers want ever decreasing prices. GM and Chrylser bankruptcy and bailout showed us how that thinking ...
What Are Your Top Concerns?
Here are  some results of a survey of plant engineers and managers by Reed Business Information  taken last month.  Results ...
recession
We learned with painful social and economic clarity in the great recession of 2008-2009 that it is demand, and not ...
What Are The 2 Most Critical Inputs Into Your Quoting Process?
A colleague asked me this question via email the other day. Actually, he asked: "Simple question for you this morning- ...
What About the Chips?
Our customers are interested in what is left after we remove the chips. But it is up to us  as ...
Wear Abatement Strategies In Precision Machining
Wear of equipment in our industry is not on most people's minds nor check books. There is no ROI on ...
Weakest Growth Doesn't Mean Weak Manufacturing
The latest Institute for Supply Management Index for Manufacturing  activity fell to 50.9 in July from 55.3 percent in June ...
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Three points you should know about the EPA's proposed TRI 'Clarification' It underestimates industry burden. It would cost our Precision Machining ...
We need to turn this trend around. We need their talent too.
There is no reason that the vast majority of new manufacturing jobs have gone to men, but they have. Why ...
Vision of Your Skilled Workforce in 2020
BLS published the data behind the above look at our workforce in 2020 earlier this year.    BLS Workforce But it was something ...
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August 14th we published a post that asked the question-"What does the precision machining shop of the future look like?" ...
Don't try this with your iPhone in your machines...
Sometimes the best information that you can get about your machining process requires your sense of touch to feel the ...
Career infographic LL
We were pleased to see the infographic approach used by Dr. Lisa Lang to summarize  the career opportunities in Precision ...
Using Frequency of Occurrence to Find Root Cause
The frequency of occurrence of an unexpected characteristic or non-conformance is an important indication of possible root cause. When you ...
USA Leads Global Recovery-Evidence
Leadership is about action, not potential. Global Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data shows that it is the USA, not China, ...
A bit of a breather for precision machining.
" U.S. manufacturing activity hovered at a near 4-1/2-year high in September and factory employment surged, supporting views of sturdy ...
US Manufacturing Employment As A Percentage Of Total Employment
Any questions? Our comment  for this is three words recalled from Mrs. Ponte's Latin Class: 'res ipsa loquitor.' Translation: 'The thing ...
They are deciding on whether or not to give you a tax break. Contact them NOW.
PMPA is actively working on Capitol Hill,  as well as with the Administration and business groups, to extend the Net ...
Upside Down Degree
"Upside-down” programs allow students to transfer accredited technical training, work experience, military training, or community college coursework as credit toward ...
Upset testing
Mechanical properties of a given steel under compression compare closely with its tensile properties. An upset can be performed to ...
Update- OSHA Memorandum on Safety Incentive Disincentive Policies
OSHA Director David Michaels has responded to PMPA’s letter challenging several aspects of the OSHA  March 12, 2012 Memorandum  on ...
This is what the FED calls Labor Market Improvement.
Find A Job Friday. We live in a world filled with mixed messages. The FED says “…economic activity has been expanding ...
"Unknown controls" in science are like "Then a miracle happens' in Theology.
"PMPA urges EPA to maintain the current 75ppb standards for ozone. Allowing for the full and continued implementation of the current ...
United States Department of Commerce Section 232 Exclusion Requests Tracking
In case you were wondering how well the US Department of Commerce is taking care of the exclusion requests by ...
Structural unemployment means the folks you can hire can't do what you need done.
The reason everyone wants to describe our current unemployment situation as cyclical just might be because 'cyclical unemployment' is cause agnostic ...
U-3 unemployment rate is a gooey indicator according to Don Ake.
Guest Post by Don Ake. "The unique situations created by the Great Recession have rendered some traditional economic indicators unreliable.  ...
Jobs haven't even begun to recover. This is the real unemployment story.
The reporter on NPR breathlessly gushed  about how the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent. What a great story! They ...
Understanding Compressive Stress in Steel
Compressive Stress is important in the forging, stamping, coining, and cold heading industries. It is compression stress that is used to ...
U.S.Mint In 2011- Reflecting the Challenges of Manufacturing
Significant revenue growth. Increased costs of materials. Products produced above cost. Injury and Illness rates up slightly. New collective bargaining ...
U.S. Industrial Production to Grow 6% in 2011- Industry Week
MAPI forecasts that manufacturing production will increase 6% in 2011 and advance by 4% in 2012. Industry Week  cites Manufacturers ...
Sony Discman 1990's music
It's not every post that I write that I can start with a reference to DOS desktop computing, but in ...
Trucking Data Shows  Manufacturing Recovery Continuing
  The American Trucking Associations’ advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased for the sixth time in the ...
Treasury FAILS Once Again To Cite China Currency Manipulation
After postponements and a head fake by the Chinese, the US Department of the Treasury has once again failed to ...
Transparent Aluminum- ALON -Take 2
We wrote about Transparent Aluminum early in our blogging adventure. According to MAKE magazine the science seems to have caught up ...
Training- What We Want vs. What We Need
We ought to provide immediately relevant training the best way we know how, today. Insisting on old school manual training ...
cognitive_map Vanessa Fuentes
Guest Post by Darryl Crum of Viewit.US.com training provider. “Information is not knowledge, let’s not confuse the two.” - Deming Years ...
Helping trainee's develop their cognitive map shortens the flat end of the curve and help them get to competence quicker.
Guest Post by Darryl Crum of Viewit.US.com I am convinced we have done a very poor job in training our ...
Top Ten OSHA Violations in 2017
Deputy Director  of OSHA's Directorate of Enforcement Programs Patrick Kapust presented the agency's preliminary list at the National Safety Congress ...
Top Ten Employment Gaining Sectors in Manufacturing November 2011
Just the top five manufacturing sectors shown below contributed 239,900 net new jobs in 2011 year to date through November  ...
Top 5 Precision Machining Websites
Thanks Investment Tooling International Precision Toolmakers! Was doing a random Google search the other day on the topic of precision ...
Oil Drums
I went to the U.S. Government's  Bureau of Economic Analysis Site the other day looking for some information on imports ...
The 0.15- 0.35 weight percent of lead helps these bars machine 25% faster with less power required.
Leaded steel bars historically have been a mainstay raw material in the screw machining industry. As more applications and newer ...
Tool Coatings, Geometry, Substrate- Magic Bullets In Precision Machining
In most shops there are three magic bullets that can make a job go better: Tool Coatings Tool Geometry Tool ...
MFG Day Bagshaw
Today is Manufacturing Day. The purpose of Manufacturing Day is to highlight the opportunities for skilled people to find rewarding ...
To Advance Member Companies- PMPA Government Affairs
   To advance member companies is part of the PMPA's Mission; "to identify legislative issues having a significant impact on ...
Horglass Hundred dollar bill dragon hourglass
Many precision machining shop owners think that they sell parts. The savvy shop owners know that what they sell is ...
107 degrees copy
I was reminded of the possibility of heat stress  in our shops when I started the car the other day ...
Time To Post Your Company's OSHA 300A Summary
It’s that time of year again: Time to post your company’s OSHA 300A Summary  of Work Related Injuries and Illnesses ...
Where has the time gone?
I saw  this post originally last December and found it relevant. Now that we are midway through the year, I ...
urgent
How we manage our time is a great way to evaluate our success as managers. How do you utilize your ...
We're a fan of manufacturing. Automotive. Legos. Time Lapse. See it being built. Here's your Link: Time Lapse Ford Explorer ...
"Make three wishes" he said
Santa asked me to close my eyes and make three wishes for the precision machining industry. Here they are. Wish ...
 If you answered No to each of these, you are good to go.
The Three Rules of Thumb are: Does this action attempt to deceive anyone or allow anyone to be deceived? Does ...
Who authorized this?
In my experience these are the three prime causes for accidents  and injuries in our manufacturing plants. Failure to wear ...
Three Key Factors to Understand Machinability of Carbon and Alloy Steel
The machinability of steel bars is determined by three primary factors. Those factors are 1) Cold Work; 2) Thermal Treatment; 3) ...
Three Ideas To Improve Employee Engagement
Thanks to Tim Waters via LinkedIn Goups for the great thought-starter Question!   1) Be sincere and respectful when employees engage ...
Three Hints To Find Info On Bolt Grade Steels
Many times a print will come in to be quoted with material called out to be "Grade 8," "Grade 4.8, ...
Three Criteria for Selecting Bar Steels
Three primary criteria for selecting bar steels are  1) suitability for end use, 2) suitability for manufacturing process, 3) economical delivery of the ...
Your plating problems are not beamed down from here...
The causes of plating difficulties  on parts manufactured from cold drawn steel bars are neither mysterious nor beamed on to ...
Three Considerations- Gaging Inspection Lab
Thermal effects can affect your results. Its consistency of temperature, not the actual temperature, that is important. Thermal errors can ...
Just remember ATM!
Everyone knows that the type of coating for a job is the most important thing to consider. Right? Obviously, using ...
Minimum Wall thickness is determined by Nominal Thread diameter and thread pitch
Guest post by Lib Pietrantoni, CJWinter Flaking threads and thread damage can be avoided when thread rolling thin walled parts ...
Thomas Edison, 164 Years And What Do You Get?
Today is the 164th anniversary of the birth of  prolific American inventor, Thomas Edison. Truly a modern Prometheus, Mr. Edison ...
This Is What The New Normal Looks Like
Our July 2010 Business Trends Report provides hard data that the precision machining industry is maintaining "A New Normal." The ...
@0 feet long two ends to thread, 3 and a half tons of precision.
The Team at Keystone Threaded Products shows us that "Precision" doesn't necessarily mean "Tiny" as they thread the ends of ...
don ake
Don's inferences about the changes to come in the distribution industry could very well affect our provision of parts to our ...
The Yuan and the Failure of Diplomacy
Guest post by Peter Morici "The fact is nothing the Fed does can appreciably accelerate U.S. economic recovery or stem ...
The Size of U.S. Precision Machining Industry
  The Precision Machined Products Association is proud to serve its member companies in the precision machining industry. We know ...
You won't find these in our chip buckets!
Stealing scrap metals  Clerical errors at scrapyards could become a federal crime under provisions of H.R.1006 now in committee.  We ...
The REAL Unemployment Problem- Creating a Permanent Class of Government Dependents
Not the kind of "Change" I like to see. Looking back at the recessions in the 1960's, '70's, and '80's, ...
When we look at things that we actually buy, We get a different look at inflation...
What is the REAL inflation rate?  Guest post by Dr. Ken Mayland,  ClearView Economics LLC When we look at things that ...
The Real Causes of the Lousy June Jobs Report
The June jobs report came out. Unemployment rate now 9.2% The economy added <gasp> 18,000 jobs in June. Compare this to ...
The Point of the Tool Seldom Cuts
In most of this footage you will see that there is a small mass of workpiece material (Built Up Edge ...
The Only Must Read Book For You (And Your Organization) This Year
These past two years have taught us all some valuable lessons. But, we haven’t yet recognized the change that these ...
The New Domestic
We wrote a piece in Production Machining August 2009 about the "New Domestics." You can read it here. Researching for ...
The New Blue Collar
  Ryan at Change The Perception discovered this CNN video about Machining. Here's the Video. Ryan, thanks for sharing this ...
Thank you Washington D.C.
Guest post  by Dr. Ken Mayland, Clearview Economics Here is a picture of the last year of durable goods orders ...
The Future of Your Business in 8 Bullet Points
I know some folks who have an uncanny ability to predict the future. They are not psychic, indeed, they are ...
The First Tool I Look At
As a steel company Metallurgist and Quality Director, I was the guy who got the call to visit a shop ...
The End Of The Great Recesssion
The Witch is dead! The National Bureau of Economic Research issued a statement that the "trough" ended in June 2009 ...
The Difference Between Microalloy And Regular Alloy Steels
As machinists, we seldom encounter microalloy steels. but what do we need to know? Microalloy steel is manufactured like any other, ...
The Difference Between Accuracy And Precision Measurement In Your Machine Shop
Your QA manager can put you to sleep explaining the difference between these two terms- but you really need to ...
The Currency We'll Be Watching in 2012
The Chinese yuan  or 'remninbi' hit a record high against the US dollar on Monday amidst the strong volatility visible ...
The Climate Change Debate
Guest Post by Jeff Wiltsie, President, Vanamatic Company The Climate Change Debate   Greenhouse Gases – CO2   Fossil Fuels Deforestation Chemical ...
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The WTO just handed China a 460 page ruling regarding how the country handles American books, movies, and music. Here ...
The Chatter About Chatter
  Chatter costs money when you reduce the productivity of the machine by slowing it down  to make the vibration ...
The Bread Versus Steel Paradox
Why doesn't the cost of these correlate to the investment needed to produce them? This great question came from a discussion ...
This is awesome photography and will convince you that perhaps there is some Magical "Slinky Antigravity Technology" involved that keeps ...
The Best We Can Do?
"Asking GE to advise the USA on Domestic Job Creation is like asking Willie Horton to consult on Bank Security. " ...
synthetic diamonds
In North America, the AISI/SAE steel grade nomenclature system is widely used. In this system, 4  numeric digits (XXXX)  describe the ...
Machinists are in high demand.
The need for talent is a universal concern- in Germany and in North America. The German apprenticeship model is effective ...
The Arrogance Of Gratitude
I started a list of the things that I was 'Thankful for"    (Grammatical correction courtesy of memories of Miss Jerles ...
The $1500 Glasses you'll have to have
This technology could be the embodiment of our industry's real vision of a "Paperless Shop." [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1uyQZNg2vE] No mention of ...
Our modern lifestyle is enabled by technologies that our machinists and engineers produced.
We have many blessings in our lives, the love of family, friends chief among them. Most of us enjoy an ...
Thanksgiving is a time to share with family and friends.
We have many blessings in our lives, the love of family, friends chief among them. Most of us enjoy an ...
Thanks Dad
I didn't say "Happy Fathers Day" even once today. What I said was "Thanks Dad for:___" Thanks for being first ...
Thank You to My Readers
Actually, a million thank yous! Thanks to readers like you, SPEAKINGOFPRECISIONBLOG has over 1,000,000 views. 1,000,000 views! Our first post ...
Test
Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster PA was recently awarded a JOBS1st PA Tech Grant of $148,970 to upgrade ...
We all have shared responsibility for safety.
We attended a presentation at WIRE-Net by Cleveland OSHA Area Director Howie Eberts. Howie did a great job of giving ...
Ten Points for  Effective Lock Out Tagout
Post by James Pryor II  American Safety And Health Management Consultants, Inc. Your shops's LOCKOUT /TAGOUT program is the "key" ...
Temper Colors For Steel
In steels, tempering is reheating hardened steel to some temperature below the lower critical temperature for the purpose of decreasing hardness ...
Technical Workers copy
The majority of the demand for skilled workforce in industry is in this area  of engineering and production technology requiring ...
Lots of Teamwork.
"With aerospace function and safety criticality, we absolutely need to know the status and location of every piece that could ...
Teaching For Future Jobs Skills- Right Skills Now
USA Today has an extensive article and video segment on Right Skills Now, the skilled workforce development program spearheaded by Darlene ...
Nation of makers
"Government-backed talent investment loans will give SMEs the capital to hire the workers necessary to expand their businesses, as well ...
Surprisingly Strong August Sales
The PMPA Business Trends Index showed a surprisingly strong August. PMPA’s Index of Sales of Precision Machined Products in August ...
The work being done inside is way more important than the work that we see going on outside!
Effective Associating- PMPA and other groups challenged the "recess" appointment of three nominees to the NLRB without a confirmation vote. The ...
Supervisors- Difference Between Enabling and Helping
The job of the supervisor is one of the most difficult and one of the most rewarding. It is a ...
Super-hero Vs. Machinist
I subscribed to Ryan Pohl's blog feed, Change The Perception. (link below) Ryan's blog is thoughtful, passionate, and genuine. It's ...
Strongest January Ever For Precision Machine industry Shipments
Right out the of the gate the PMPA Business Trends Index shows a 46% gain over December shipments, the highest ...
May 2014's 128 value is just one point shy of our highest ever value of 129.
The PMPA Business Trends Index for May 2014 increased 5 points over both April 2014 and May 2013. Our industry ...
Strong Manufacturing- Weak Construction
Forgive us if our schizophrenia is showing. Precision Machined Products shops serve Manufacturing and Construction markets. According to the latest ...
Strong ISM PMI Report for June 2017
A strong ISM Report for June: The PMI Index increased 2.9 percent,  New Orders Index up 4 percent, Production Index ...
Stress Cracks in Steel Bar Products.
"Stress cracks are defined as transverse or near transverse open crevices created when concentration of residual stresses exceed the local ...
Stopwatch or Calendar?
"Competers  are usually so caught up in meeting their day to day challenges that they can only worry about the ...
TEXT
Seams are longitudinal crevices that are tight or even closed at the surface, but are not welded shut. They are ...
Steel, Master of Them All
Gold is for the mistress Silver for the maid Copper for the craftsman, cunning at his trade, "Good!" said the ...
Metal fastener, rethought.
Rethinking connecting! We just learned of this prize winning development. Researchers at  Technical University of Munich , Germany have developed ...
Steel bars pointed in preparation for precision machining. miles
We expect to see steel surcharges and prices on the climb as manufacturing economic activity starts to recover. The current ...
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The current service center destocking will mean shortages and delays when manufacturing recovers. This makes raw material price increases inevitable. MSCI Report ...
State Of Steel Industry 2011
Industry Week's report on the AISI's annual meeting in Colorado Springs is the Official report on AISI website. Here are ...
Specialization Is For Insects- Be a Purple Squirrel
"The jobs crisis has brought an unwelcome discovery for many unemployed Americans: Job openings in their old fields exist. Yet ...
texting-while-driving-ban
This 4 minute video was produced by a British high school in cooperation with a film-maker and local police authorities ...
Speaking of Gutenberg
One of the reasons I blog is for "Knowledge Retention." I want to be sure that the stuff I know ...
Speaking of "Resolution"
Our industry works with some pretty amazing resolution and precision as our stock in trade. There are shops that look at ...
We'll see the next data point shortly...
As the end of the year holidays and time off arrive, it is time to reflect on just what it is ...
Some Deal!  Kicking the Can With Invisible Spending Cuts
The much awaited Budget deal is sure to disappoint anyone expecting real help for the budget, deficit, or the country ...
Major changes ahead for our shops.
It is not just demographics of our workforce that drives our industry. It is also the demands of society that ...
Social Networking For Business- Its Not The Numbers
The networking that matters is helping people achieve their goals. Its not the number of superficial friends or followers. But ...
Sneak Peek-Your Workforce in 2020 at IMTS
I'll be on a panel about workforce development Tuesday September 11th at 11AM CST at the IMTSedu booth  N-6677 in ...
SMED vs EOQ-The Customer Makes The Difference
A number of customers of the precision machining industry have started telling their suppliers (Us!) that we need to adopt ...
Small Manufacturers Giving Up On China
Last week Bloomberg BusinessWeek published an insightful article on the hassles of small manufacturers with their China businesses. "American production ...
Slivers On Rolled Steel Products
"Slivers are elongated pieces of metal attached to the base metal at one end only. They normally have been hot ...
The Cost of Slip-and-Fall Accidents Infographic
Slips, trips and falls- here are some facts to help you with training for your team. We are currently working on our ...
Skills Needed, Not Just Labor
Recently PMPA member Darlene Miller told the White House Jobs Council that what we needed were skilled workers. "Not just ...
IFO-0034_GlobalSkillsGap
We have been working on the skills gap issue for a couple of years. This infographic from MSN careers shows ...
skills-gap_f3_0513
Lack of skills were found to be behind the skills gap for production jobs according to a new  report by ...
Two Cabinet Secretaries and the Top White House Economic Advisor showed me that Washington realizes we have a skilled workforce problem.
I had the privilege of participating in the Business Leaders United Fly-In to Capital Hill in Washington D.C. earlier this ...
Skilled Workforce-PMPA Partners With Manufacturing Institute
The Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA) has partnered with The Manufacturing Institute to expand Right Skills Now, a fast-track machining ...
News coverage helps change the conversation
PMPA member company Precision Plus in Elkhorn, Wisconsin is just one of many PMPA companies committed to changing the conversation ...
Skill Gap- It's Not About Wages
Dan's comments were a response he shared with PMPA members regarding the charge of one talking head on last week's ...
Medical Devices was an important served by the Precision Machining Industry in 2012.
We just completed our 2013 Business Forecast Report, a compilation of markets served by our industry as measured by  percent ...
american dream
"By almost any measure the American Dream is in Peril. The  robust middle class growth of the 1950's and 1960's ...
Silicon- The Great Influencer In Your Steel And In Your Machine Shop
 Silicon plays many roles in steel but its most important is deoxidation; it is detrimental to tool life, machinability and ...
Should the Unsafe Workers Job Be In Jeopardy Too?
Tom Andel, Editor over at Penton's  Material Handling and Logistics blog, raised an interesting paradox the other day. "Not only ...
Shop Safety Guided Tour PMPA NTC 23 April 2012
At PMPA's National Technical Conference, attendees will be presented with a wealth of programs to help them 'further their degree ...
ADJ Sign IMG_0545
You can tell a lot about a shop by what you don't see... I had the privilege to attend Technology ...
One of my friends on Facebook posted this video about how to sharpen a wood scraper by a guitar maker ...
Avoiding unneeded tools is just as important as having the ones you need.
"Setups are going a little smoother (mostly);  there is much less wasted time searching for needed tools; and everyone is ...
Severe Violator Enforcement Program
 The Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP) directive became effective on June 18. (You wouldn't know it from the OSHA website, ...
September Shipments Fall For Precision Machining Industry
PMPA’s Business Trends Index of Shipments fell to 100 in September, a non-seasonal move that shows our industry shipments gain ...
September PMI Report- Fragile Economy and Soft Order Book
"The PMI™ registered 51.7 percent, an increase of 0.2 percentage point from September's reading of 51.5 percent, indicating growth in ...
September North American Auto Data Encouraging
According to Wards Auto World, the current Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) for Light Vehicles is 12.5%. Chrysler's volume January - ...
Highest value of the year.
The ISM PMI  report issued today  is the highest reading for the year to date.  PMPA's Business Trends Index for August ...
September ISM PMI- Manufacturing Expansion Continues to Strengthen
"Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in September, and the overall economy grew for the 100th consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives ...
September 2012- Real Unemployment Story In Three Charts
The  single point in time, monthly headline unemployment rate is a not very useful leading indicator for people in the ...
Senate Democrats Health Care Ruse
Guest post by Peter Morici, professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland School, and former Chief Economist ...
Seams On Rolled Steel Products
"Seams are longitudinal crevices that are tight or even closed at the surface, but are not welded shut. They are ...
Scratches On Rolled Steel Products
Scratches are longitudinal or near longitudinal indentations caused by mechanical rubbing of the bar on protrusions as it is processed.--AISI ...
scissor-lift-preshift-inspection-1-638
OSHA Issues Safety Alert- Scissors Lifts 10 fatalities and 20 serious injuries over a one year period spurred the alert ...
"Computer, I need... ahh never mind."
Can transporter beams be far behind? University of Oxford Scientists led an international team that created this material first described ...
No ROI for college loans? Consider getting a skill that will assure you of a job- and a means to earn your way through college.
The M-List is curated by the Manufacturing Institute to include those institutions that offer NAM endorsed metalworking skills training and ...
They knew about Preventive Maintenance in 1965.
False: Preventive Maintenance (PM) is too costly. False: Its cheaper to fix it when it breaks, rather than before hand. False: ...
Scabs On Rolled Steel Products
Scabs are irregularly shaped, flattened protrusions caused by splash, boiling or other problems from teeming, casting, or conditioning.-AISI Technical Committee ...
The security camera on the roof  at PMPA  North American Headquarters caught a very brief few seconds of one of ...
Santa is Real!
I attended a holiday dinner with my father and guess who showed up? Santa! I know he's real. He called ...
Santa Claus Speaks With Precision!
We recently caught up with Santa on his pre- flight rounds checking chimney status in Ohio. Speaking of Precision: What ...
How many violations can you find in this gem?
I really get annoyed when people tell me to do as they say, rather than as they do. How about ...
Here you CANNOT see the Romulan War Bird in front of some open star clusters
Fun post for Friday. Researchers at Nanyang University demonstrate the refractive qualities of Calcite to make a post it note ...
Role of Phosphorous, Nitrogen and Coldwork on Machinability of Carbon And Alloy Steels
Machinability of carbon and alloy steels is a shear process. Working the metal (Shearing to create chip) provides heat. The subsequent sliding ...
Robots Bring Students Understanding Of Manufacturing
Northeastern Ohio's  Lakeland Community College held a double elimination battlebot competition Saturday, April 31. PMPA Members  Criterion Tool, Fischer Special ...
Robotics- Testing Asimov's First Law
"A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. " ...
Robotics Competition Sparks Student Interest in Manufacturing
Nothing like hands on experience to make an electromechanical device that obeys your commands to develop student interest in making things ...
Robot Safety, R15.06, OSHA And Your Precision Machining Shop
Robots continue to find their way into our precision machining shops as we move away from departments of similar machines ...
Roadmap  to 10,000 Engineers- Student Retention and Mentoring
The US has a shortage of engineers, a fact that certainly can be recognized as hindering competitiveness in a world focused ...
Right Skills Now Running Parts Now- Real Jobs For Real People
Brandon Jacobs, 20 years old, was a grocery store cashier and pricing clerk before completing the Right Skills Now program ...
Right Skills Now Launches Pilot Machinist Training Program
Right Skills Now will provide fast-track training for skilled manufacturing jobs- starting with  entry level precision machinists. According to a ...
Right Skills Now Is Giving People Skills
High tech,  get a well paying job, kind of skills. Watch the video here. http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/money/minn-program-trains-high-tech-workers-apr-5-2012?CMP=201204_emailshare#82666188-1 PMPA Member Darlene Miller, member ...
Riding Lawnmowers- A Machinist's View
Talking with a colleague about riding lawnmowers the other day. It's that time of year around here in Ohio. He ...
Oct 1 WPS posterV2
There is a lot happening in Rhode Island to help spread the word to high school students about MFG Day ...
HAZCOMM Overview
Starting yesterday, chemical manufacturers, importers, distributors and employers are required to provide a common approach to classifying chemicals and communicating ...
Reversion to the Mean in June- PMPA Business Trends.
2019 has been a very strong year for Sales.  PMPA's June Business Trends Sales index  11 point “reversion to the ...
Beyond lean 007v1
Now is the time for innovation- throughout our organizations, not just the shop floor. Today we'll provide you with a ...
My Terms. My way. Take it or leave it supplier.
There was certainly no transformation of culture at the Tier 1 suppliers  coming out of Chapter 11. Despite all the ...
Responsibilities and Authorities- It's Not About Power
A lot of people have a false idea about "power" in their ideas about authority at work. And from what ...
Resources:  Why You Should Build Your Career in Manufacturing
Why should you consider a career in manufacturing? Wall Street Journal: Industry Puts Heat On Schools What the Shortage of ...
Regulatory: EPA Making Rules In A Vacuum
Automotive NewsWire: June 29, 2011 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave final approval yesterday on labeling that will allow the ...
Regulatory Reform- EPA Article Exemption "Clarification" Withdrawn
 On June 17th, at the request of the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Management & Budget removed from ...
This is why the new regulation.
The 2011 Reduction Drinking Water Act  reduces the permissible Lead content in plumbing fixtures, fittings and components with wetted surfaces  ...
Reducing Variation: Only Way To Reduce Cost
Hidden variation is what increases your costs. Permanently eliminating the causes of variation is the only way to truly reduce ...
Reduced Summer Shutdown Precision Machining Production To Remain High
Ford announced it is reducing its summer shutdown in several North America plants, including six assembly plants, from the traditional ...
Red Stapler- Visual Lean
Every stapler in our office is black and metallic silver. Or grey. Except for two red staplers. While visual management ...
Red Ribbon Poka Yoke
Speaking of assembly...    Last weekend I bought a table that my wife wanted, to replace the classic old drop ...
The materials in these inserts needs to be recycled. DO IT NOW!
One of my pet peeves is to walk into a shop and see, on each and every horizontal bench surface ...
Recovery- Our Success Is In Our Hands
This graph is pretty clear. PMPA’s Index of Sales of Precision Machined Products in February 2011 was 110, staying even ...
Reasons We Are Optimistic For Precision Manufacturing in 2012
The pundits lately are all increasingly pessimistic about manufacturing these days. Industry Week, NFIB, Bloomberg. The PMPA Business Trends Index ...
Real Change- Rebuild American Manufacturing
and  America's Standard of Living Guest post by Jeff Wiltsie, Vanamatic Company On July 4, 2010, the United States will ...
Rail Shipment Indicators Show Economic Progress
This is a graph of the 4 week moving average of total rail traffic from ASI Transmatch. The data is through ...
Rail Shipment Indicator- Manufacturing and the Tangible Economy
When I was a blast furnace burden clerk at USS back in the 1970's, the hot metal production that I ...
RA Rz Swedev
The methodology of measurement and what is measured are quite different. this is critical to understand if  you will not ...
Quench cracks open from the surface and travel relatively directly toward center of mass.
Quench cracks result from stresses produced during the transition from Austenite to Martensite, which involves an increase in volume. The ...
Quality Quote
No spec, no quality. Know Spec, know quality. Know the specification! ...
Quality Is Never An Accident
  "Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful ...
Putting A Blog Into Your Marketing Plan Free Webinar!
PMPA is teaming up with Sonnhalter, the leading B2B agency behind Tradesmen Insights Blog to offer you a free webinar on ...
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Services reported the preliminary productivity changes  in manufacturing for the second quarter of 2009: 5.3 percent gain in manufacturing; ...
Prices Rise As Manufacturing Recovers
The prices of all raw materials that we track rose as follows over the past year: Aluminum: Up 23% from ...
President Obama Visits EMC Precision Machining Company
   EMC Precision Machining, a fourth-generation, family-owned company that produces complex precision metal components for a diverse group of global ...
Ok. I admit that I do really know that Joe Montana was a professional football player. (U.S. Football)
In my experience, the ability to anticipate is the mark of a great manager. At the Epicor Insights 2013 Conference, ...
Predicting Size Change From Heat Treatment
"By controlling the important variables, dimensional changes in heat treatment can be controlled." Patrick McKenna Variability is the enemy in ...
Pathways-Article copy
Precision Plus, Inc. is featured in the latest issue of Wisconsin STEM Pathways Magazine.  The article, entitled Companies in the ...
preplus panel 2014
On Wednesday, February 26, approximately 200 students from five different schools settled into their seats at the Elkhorn Area High ...
Mike-Reader2
PMPA member company Precision Plus President Mike Reader posted two great videos on his blog last week. Imitation being the sincerest ...
Well maybe we wouldn't wear this one inside...
When I visit our precision machine shops around the country, I am always impressed at how often the parts being ...
Sept Bus Trends Graph
The PMPA Business Trends Report for September 2013 shows our sales /shipments index to be down  to 115 for September, ...
Here's hoping it's warm...
While we can identify over 13oo "machine shops" in Canada, here is a quick look at the impacts of 60 ...
Strong industry shipments for November
PMPA’s Business Trends Index for November 2013 is 116, down 10 points from last month’s value, yet at the highest ...
Precision Machining Industry Sales Up 6.8% in 2017
Our December PMPA Business Trends Report for December 2017 finished at 125 for the year, up 6.8% over last year's ...
Comeback performances are not just limited to Athletes
For the Precision Machining Industry, a strong case can be made that our sales are recovering. PMPA's Index of Sales ...
Precision Machining Industry Sales -The Lost Decade
  The PMPA Business Trends Index of Sales for March 2010 reached the 100 mark. This is auspicious because that ...
Precision Machining Industry Sales  Continue to Recover
 PMPA’s Index of Sales of Precision Machined Products rose to 85, the  highest value for the year. This is an ...
up 8 points over last year, 3 points above last month.
The Precision Machining Industry continues to show solid sales in 2014. The PMPA Business Trends Index for July 2014 rose 3 points  ...
Precision Machining Indications from September ISM Report
"Manufacturing continued its growth in September as the PMI registered 51.6 percent, an increase of 1 percentage point when compared ...
Precision Industry Sales In July Beat Seasonal Doldrums
PMPA’s Business Trends Index for July 2012 is 111, down substantially from last month’s adjusted value of 119, but still ...
129 is a new record for shipments.
The PMPA Business Trends Report for March 2014 hit 129, a new high for the indicator of precision machining industry ...
I'll hum the Jeopardy theme while you think.
Unless they are family, or are under encouragement from someone on the Sopranos, people have three reasons to buy from ...
Population growth = more customers
Population Growth and Globalization are two very important determinants or drivers of your precision machine shop business. Are you paying ...
Polyamide Force Majeure Versus Lean Supply Chains
Polyamide is used in a wide variety of automotive technologies- yarn for airbags and tires; engineering plastics under the hood, transmission ...
Advocating for positive change.
Mike Reader, President of Precision Plus, shares his take on PMPA's recent 2 day Capitol Hill Fly-in. On Tuesday, March ...
PMPA Urges Administration To Cite China's Currency Manipulation
The Precision Machined Products Association recently joined forces with the Forging Industry Association, Industrial Fasteners Institute, National Association for Surface ...
The Agency estimate of $9 to implement doesn't even  factor in reasonable time or wages.
PMPA recently provided formal written testimony, additional supporting comments and an estimate of implementation costs at the recently held informal ...
Making the industry case in Washington D.C.
On Friday, October 9, 2009 PMPA's Director of Marketing and Communications, Robert Kiener, testified before the Senate Banking Subcommittee on ...
PMPA Sales Index For October- No Trend Is a Good Trend
  PMPA’s Index of Sales of Precision Machined Products in October 2010 was 103, basically at the six month average ...
It takes quite a bit of coordination to prepare and turn around a hotel ball room for lunch, a keynote ...
The team at Ohio Screw Products tells you why they attend PMPA's National Technical Conference. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw9346Jm4gs&hl=en_US&fs=1&] See you in Pittsburgh ...
Time is running out...
The National Technical Conference is one of PMPA’s most valued deliverables. Produced by members for members, this conference shares how- ...
Michael Tamasi, CEO of Accurounds attended White House event on Long-Term Unemployment
Michael Tamasi was called to the White House to share AccuRounds’ successes in building a partnership to re-employ local residents ...
Brad Smith  at a recent Congressional Small Business Working Group Meeting
PMPA Government Affairs Committee Chairman Brad Smith of Indianapolis based The Mitchel Group particpated in a round table discussion with ...
PMPA Member Fischer Special Tooling Featured In Cleveland NPR Story
Fischer Special Tooling President Kevin Johnson and PMPA  Executive Director Mike Dufffin are prominently featured in a report on the ...
PMPA Member Darlene Miller Appointed to White House Jobs and Competitiveness Council
Darlene Miller, Chief Executive of Permac Industries in Burnsville Minnesota, was named last week to President Obama’s 22-person Council on ...
Bernie Nagle (left) is welcomed to PMPA Headquarters by PMPA President Tom Bernstein
The Precision Machined Products Association announced today that it has appointed Bernie Nagle to be the organization’s next Executive Director ...
PMPA Introduces “Craftman’s Cribsheet’ in Production Machining Magazine
'Tear out' ideas worth keeping on technical, management, quality and regulatory topics will be the focus. These four core subject ...
Clarity, not confusion, should be the work product coming out of here.
The Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA) filed official comments opposing an Administration proposal to place additional burdens on employers while ...
Training for competitiveness and love of the craft
PMPA has a history of providing relevant industry training programs at the local regional and national level. Now, PMPA is ...
Strong showing, for February - normal month to month variability.
The PMPA Business Trends Report for February 2014 has just been released. "The PMPA Business Trends Index for February 2014 ...
november 2015 BT
Seasonality explains our drop in Sales this November, as it does every year. The November 2015 PMPA Business Trends Report Sales ...
PMPA Business Trends October 2011- Flattening of Shipments
Both the PMPA Business Trends Index and the ISM PMI  for October 2011 index show a slight flattening in shipments; ...
119 for June - 2012 and 2013.
PMPA’s Business Trends Index for June 2013 is 119, identical to the value for June 2012 and down 8 points ...
PMPA Business Trends For October 2012-Discouraging Q4 Outlook for Precision Machining
October’s numbers, while up from September’s, are discouraging to our forecast of industry sales for 2012. With seasonal declines already ...
Q1 2013 virtually the same as Q1 March 2012
The PMPA Business Trends Report for March 2013 looks quite similar to that of March 2012. While our shipments in ...
PMPA Business Trends December 2019 Review and Summary
"2019 was a better year than you think, finishing essentially even with 2018. Responding shops have balanced expectations going into  ...
April 2014 BT
The PMPA Business Trends Index for April 2014 fell 6 points from 129 to 123, up two points over April ...
Bummer dude. Too bad about that election and fiscal cliff stuff...
The PMPA Business Trends Report 2012 Year End Review and Summary is completed and posted on our website here.  Despite ...
PMPA Business Trends 2011 Review and Summary
PMPA’s Index of Sales of Precision Machined Products rose to 114 for the year, up 15 percent from the 2010 ...
New PMPA Executive Director Michael T. Kobylka
The Board of Directors of the Precision Machined Products Association announced the hiring of Michael T. Kobylka, II as PMPA's ...
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Lets add one more federal burden to beleagured manufacturers. At least, thats what iGPS,  a  manufacturer of plastic pallets is calling ...
Plant Manager or Profitability Engineer?
http://connect.facebook.net/rsrc.php/v1/yQ/r/f3KaqM7xIBg.swf http://www.facebook.com/dialog/oauth?api_key=79439656165&app_id=79439656165&channel_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs-static.ak.fbcdn.net%2Fconnect%2Fxd_proxy.php%3Fversion%3D3%23cb%3Df2e1af9664f580e%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fpmpaspeakingofprecision.wordpress.com%252Ff15f40b8a1435e9%26relation%3Dparent.parent%26transport%3Dpostmessage&client_id=79439656165&display=none&domain=pmpaspeakingofprecision.wordpress.com&locale=en_US&origin=1&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fs-static.ak.fbcdn.net%2Fconnect%2Fxd_proxy.php%3Fversion%3D3%23cb%3Df11a1af65215f8b%26origin%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fpmpaspeakingofprecision.wordpress.com%252Ff15f40b8a1435e9%26relation%3Dparent%26transport%3Dpostmessage%26frame%3Df1ddcbe502365d9&response_type=token%2Csigned_request%2Ccode&sdk=joey Which would you rather hire- a plant manager or a profitability engineer? The outlook is bleak for plant ...
Pipe steel centerline defect in wrought steel bar. We had this specimen hard chrome plated and made it into a bookend.
The majority of defects encountered in steel bars in our shops are found on the surface. Internal defects can also ...
Today 3-14 at 1:59  I will be celebrqting Pi Day. 3.14159 is the value of pi to 5 decimals...
The uhh- "techie" part of us is celebrating Pi Day at 1:59 pm today So besides being  the cause of ...
Pedestal Grinders, OSHA, And You
OSHA cited Advantage Powder Coating in Defiance, Ohio, for 15 safety violations and fined the company $159,600 after a pedestal ...
part-time-worker-605x300
Part Time Employment in a low paying field does not have to be your destiny. Mortgaging your future to enormous ...
Paradox: Inflation Means Shrinking Food Packages
“This fear of inflation, I think, is way overstated,” Mr. Bernanke said. “We’ve looked at it very, very carefully. We’ve ...
Parachute Jump From Edge Of Space Take 2
Sunday,  Austrian Felix Baumgartner rode a balloon to the edge of space, stepped off his balloon- borne capsule into a 128,100 feet, 830 mph, 4 minute, ...
Overkill On PPE Can Mean Diminished Returns
EHS magazine had a great post on the  overuse as abuse of PPE. Diminished Returns, Diminished Awareness was written by ...
Over 500 Daily Page Views Benchmark Achieved!
Thank you, readers, for your attention to our posts. We will continue to post thought leadership, knowledge retention, and emerging ...
20% more credentials issued in 2015 over 2014
21,420 to be exact.  This is a 20% increase in the number of credentials issued in the United States from ...
Our Year in the Gym
It feels like our industry just finished a  year long  work out at the gym. Based on this, I'd say ...
Our 100th Blog Post!
This is our 100th blog post! Since we went live last August, we've had over 20,000 page views of our ...
Think of your efforts here as an investment in "Penalty Prevention."
OSHA Penalties increased 78% August 1, 2016. The following is a list of the top 10 most frequently cited standards ...
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Summary: A change in the interpretation of  the word ‘FEASIBLE’ by OSHA could cause all shop owners whose shops noise ...
"OSHA levels the playing field for responsible employers competing with those who cut corners on safety."
PMPA invited Assistant Secretary of Labor, OSHA Director David Michaels, PhD, MPH to speak to attendees at our Management Update ...
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The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced that it is withdrawing its proposed interpretation titled ...
106 pages of comprehensive general industry safety information
OSHA has updated their form 2201 General Industry Digest for 2012. This publication provides a general overview of standards-related topics ...
Free download off the web or available as a Kindle or Nook ebook.
Yes, they  have a book for that. What is in this book for your manufacturing shop? General Industry Training Requirements ...
grinders crop
OSHA recently posted  its top 10 most frequently cited violations for FY2013.While 2 of the top 3 are Construction, the balance ...
OSHA Top 10 Training Citations For The Precision Machining Industry
The link in this post will take you to a table of  the Top 10 Training Citations by OSHA for ...
OSHA Top 10 Citations for 2011
Please note that these  Top Ten Citations are for all industries (including construction), not just Precision Machining. Fall protection – ...
osha-logosvg1
On June 20th, OSHA published a memorandum to Regional Administrators outlining its temporary enforcement policy for 29 CFR 1910.137(b) and ...
OSHA Severe Violator Enforcement Program Removal Criteria
OSHA 's Severe Violator Enforcement Program  (SVEP) has been in effect since June 18, 2010. So what does an employer have to ...
New wallet card available from OSHA.
A new wallet card issued by OSHA will help your supervisors understand the changes to  Injury and Illness Reporting Requirements ...
New wallet card available from OSHA.
Employers! These requirements are now in effect! A new wallet card issued by OSHA will help your supervisors understand the ...
Goes into effect January 1, 2015.
Under the revised rule, employers will be required to notify OSHA of work-related fatalities within eight hours, and work-related in-patient ...
OSHA Proposes Revisions to Injury and Illness Reporting Requirements
Your chance to comment on the proposal is NOW! On June 22, 2011, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced in a Notice ...
OSHA New Personal Protective Equipment Enforcement Guidelines
On February 10th 2011 OSHA issued new enforcement guidelines in regards to personal protective equipment (PPE). Here's the link: PPE ...
OSHA Natiomnal Emphasis Program on Amputations 2015
“The intent of this NEP is to target workplaces with machinery and equipment that cause (or are capable of causing) ...
OSHA Mandatory Electronic Injury and Illness Reporting Delayed
No Formal Announcement. Why? No Entry in the Federal Register. Why? No Official Statement. Why? Just a tiny little update ...
OSHA Letters Mailed To 14,600 High Rate Workplaces
  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has identified and sent letters (OSHA LETTER) to approximately 14,600 workplaces with the ...
OSHA Issues Employer Rights and Responsibilities Guide
Ever want to know what happens after an OSHA inspection, what  are the types of violations that you can be ...
OSHA Inspections: Speakingofpriorities
OSHA inspections don't just 'happen.' They are the result of some initiating circumstance that makes them a priority. OSHA inspection ...
OSHA Inspection Criteria, Facts, and Resources
We were priveleged to have had a face to face meeting with Director Michaels of OSHA earlier this year. We ...
OSHA Haz Comm-Your Work Is Just Beginning
The new HAZCOMM 2012 'Right to Understand' will impact 5 million businesses at an OSHA estimated cost of only $201 million ...
December 1, 2013
The first implementation phase of the updated Hazcom standard is Dec. 1, 2013. This is the date by which employers ...
OSHA LOGO
How does OSHA decide to inspect shops? Prior to this latest change, OSHA followed its Enforcement Weighting System (EWS). Late ...
OSHA EMPHASIS: Powered Industrial Trucks
The powered industrial trucks (PIT) standard (29 CFR 1910.178) is the most commonly cited standard throughout the material handling industries ...
"OSHA provides free and confidential safety and health advice to small and medium sized businesses committed to improving workplace safety and health."
As shop owners, we tend to think of OSHA as meaning "Enforcement." At PMPA's Management Update Meeting in Arizona last ...
See the source image
On December 10, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued an instruction (Directive)  CPL 03-00-022 ...
Technical information
Informed is prepared. OSHA just added and published  a new chapter addressing noise to the OSHA Technical Manual. This new ...
Saturday is the deadline, but don't you have something better to do???
Actually, Saturday, February 1st, is the deadline, but do you really want to come in on Saturday to do this? ...
ORTHOWORLD BONEZONE- Cites Our Blog
PMPASPEAKINGOFPRECISION.COM was listed in Orthoworld's BONEZONE Spring 2011 Industry Watch  column as a "Blog or App That Brings Solutions."   ...
 in our shops, order of magnitude reflects the relative scale of our processes and helps us see what is and is not applicable to the problem at hand.
If you have an intermittent  or periodic problem, start counting frequency of occurrence, and then figure out what the order of ...
Shingo Prize worthy.
Karen Martin spoke at PMPA's Management Update meeting earlier this year. Her presentation was based on her book, The Outstanding ...
One EV That I'm Excited About
Here's an Electric Vehicle to  make you say- "Why didn't I do that?" Here's some specs: 60" tall 39" wide ...
On  These Maps, Dark Is Not Good
Sometimes, our eyes can help us see what is really going on, no matter what the talking heads in the ...
Read this book!
Seth Godin has just published his latest book, The Icarus Deception. It is a challenging read for all of us ...
ISMOct2015
The October PMI is the lowest reading since May 2013, when the PMI also registered 50.1 percent. A reading above ...
Highest level since  early 2011
"The October PMI® registered 59 percent, an increase of 2.4 percentage points from September’s reading of 56.6 percent, indicating continued ...
If you get iot right the first time, you don't need a "Do Over."
The time to catch an obsolete specification is during contract review, before there are commitmemnts to material and or sunk ...
Nylon 12, Tsunamis and Lean Supply Chains
The March 31st explosion at Evonik Industries in Marl, Germany is likely to have the same effect on worldwide automotive ...
NTC Sneak Peek#2 Deena Ebbert- Microscope to Binoculars
  Deena Ebbert is Propellergirl, a passionate champion for personal and organizational performance. She will be the keynote speaker at ...
NRC Approves  2 New Reactors- Are Environmentalists Happy?
The NRC concluded mandatory hearings on the request for licenses at the Vogtle site  26 miles southeast of Augusta Georgia ...
NPR Proves The Math Skills Problem Manufacturers Face
Listen to the ~3 minute broadcast here: NPR clip Here's what manufacturers want when they say "We need people with ...
That drop tells us more about October's record than it does about November sales
The PMPA Business Trends Report Sales index for November plummeted 23 points from 132 to 109, a drop of almost ...
Manufacturing sustains expansion in November 2014
" Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in November for the 18th consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for ...
Graph courtesy Calculated Risk Blog
The Institute for Supply Management Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) report for November 2013 shows strengthening in manufacturing and hit the ...
US manufacturing shrank to its lowest level since July 2009, at the end of the Great Recession.
The ISM manufacturing index indicated contraction in November. PMI was at  49.5% in November, down from 51.7% in October.  This ...
Nothing Is Made In The U.S. Anymore-FALSE!
"If U.S. manufacturing were a country by itself, it would be the eighth largest economy in the world." Guest post ...
Process Owners are what I will celebrate.
Labor doesn’t add much value. In my experience, it only moved stuff around. The labor jobs went away. Today, I ...
No Disclaimers Please!
When you are in a professional conversation, leading with a disclaimer about what you are going to say sabotages your ...
No Budget Deal Possible Until The Adults Come To Play
 Guest post  by Peter Morici Any parent knows, adolescents are inclined to deny facts when told something they want is ...
NLRB Action This Week Will Hurt Manufacturing Employees and Employers
Washington, D.C. – The Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA) today strongly criticized the release by the National Labor Relations Board ...
NIMS%20Logo%20(R)
Credentials issued by NIMS in 2014 show that more students are preparing for success and high-demand careers. In 2014, NIMS ...
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As a Lab supervisor in a Metalurgical Lab, quality pictures through the microscope was all in a days work. Obtaining ...
NFIB- Two Economies in America
This sobering presentation from the National Federation of Independent Business contrasts the headline stockmarket picture to the reality faced by ...
New rules finalized January 14, 2013 for these...
If you have stationary  reciprocating internal combustion engines (gasoline or diesel) for standby generators,  pumps, etc, these January 14, 2013 ...
If you train them they can answer the important questions
On "Workers Memorial Day" OSHA sent out a memorandum regarding efforts to protect temporary workers. "...the agency is making a ...
According to OSHA Release, injuries to Temporary workers go on the host employers, not the Temp Agency's OSHA 300.
Injuries and illnesses should be recorded on only one employer’s injury and illness log. 29 CFR 1904.31(b)(4). In most cases, ...
Shouldn't have one of these showing up at your shop.
Our industry doesn't use "mechanical power presses" per se, but the OSHA Mechanical Power Press Standard, 29 CFR 1910.127 is ...
OSHA recordkeeping inspectors coming soon.
(OSHA) is initiating a national emphasis program (NEP) on recordkeeping to assess the accuracy of injury and illness data recorded ...
We're not getting these from customers anymore!
Why you should care. There actually has been a payoff to our shops from our investment and implementation of ISO/TS ...
New Cost Per Hire Standard- 50 Pages of  American National Standard
Just learned that an American National Standard for calculating the Cost Per Hire has been published. ANSI/SHRM 06001.2012 Normally, I'm ...
Nevada Heat Treating Hosts Senator on Plant Visit
PMPA Technical Member Nevada Heat Treating recently hosted U.S.Senator Dean Heller at their plant in Carson City Nevada. Senator Heller ...
pen_signature
The bill is H.R. 3548.  The House passed the bill yesterday and the President is expected to sign it  today.  You ...
Need For Skilled Workers -Program on Fox News
Lou Dobbs is hosting a program exploring the shortage of skilled workers tonight on Fox News. ”Out of Work” is ...
test 123
Guest post by Jon Holbrook, PMPA member company North Easton Machine Company The industry today is a buzz with the ...
Time, temperature, quench, suitable steel.
There are only a handful of things to check when your steel parts fail to respond to  quench and temper ...
Yep Two solutions! Which one is right?
I remember the first time that I sat down to work on quadratic equations and discovered that there was more ...
STEM careers add value!
Here in one tidy place you can find a current list of the most Valuable College Majors. Many of them ...
accuracy_vs_precision_220
Here are our  ten most read posts this year: The Difference Between Accuracy And Precision Measurement In Your Machine Shop ...
Most Important Tool Is The 5 Inches Between The Ears
Guest post by Matt Gudgel of SourceOne who responded to our post about NPR's story about the lack of people with math ...
Ford says Quality is Job 1...
Training assures our shops will be sustainable and that all are operating at their highest and best use. Scheduling does ...
David Bradford  for Blog
Guest Post by Dave Bradford, President, William Bradford Associates, Cleveland Ohio. Dave publishes a series of PROTALK roundtable discussions to ...
More Reasons to be Bullish about Manufacturing
Forbes Blog nails this one folks! According to John Bruner:" In 2010, American manufacturers added value of $1.7 trillion to ...
More Facts Point to Continued Recovery in Manufacturing
July orders for autos and auto parts experienced their largest increase in eight years at 11.5%, according to Commerce Department ...
It isn't Americans manufacturing the products being unloaded here, Larry. We're not afraid of 3-D printing or robots.
"Already there are more American men on disability insurance than doing production work in manufacturing."- Larry Summers, former Secretary of ...
Monocrystalline Diamond Tool Inserts For Brilliant Machining
Monocrystalline diamonds make the coating question "moot." Was asked a question "Why all the fuss about tool coatings? The base ...
Minor Servicing, Maintenance- Routine, Repetitive, Integral To Use- Lockout Not Mandatory
Guest Post by Julie O'Keefe, Partner, Armstrong Teasdale LLP PMPA member companies are engaged in making parts that require precision ...
Minion wearing PPE including Hearing Protection
Even though this shop does not exceed the decibel limit over time, specified by OSHA, they do require PPE for all ...
Milstein Commission on New Manufacturing
PMPA member Aaron Bagshaw of W.H. Bagshaw  Co. Inc. served on the commission. We reported on this in our blog post ...
Mill Shearing On Rolled Steel Products
Shearing occurs when a longitudinal strip of base metal is torn off a bar during rolling. This strip often reattaches ...
Why I love manufacturing: we get to do cool stuff! PMPA member company Micron Manufacturing is getting a new Mori ...
RI Mfg Week header Events (2) copy
The folks in Rhode Island are doing their part to make the availability of great careers in manufacturing known to ...
Metrology's  Role in Reverse Engineering
With many OEM's out of business or the details of their designs lost or out of reach due to closings, downsizing, ...
Back in the day...
You may not know it but on this day in 1973 Ohio became the first state in the U.S. to ...
Meteoric Iron And The Perseid Meteor Shower
Tonight, August 12, 2010 is the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower. For a great photo of a Perseid meteor ...
Metals Thefts - Ohio Leads Nation
The high price of copper and other base metals has led to an increase of metal theft incidents across the ...
Memorial Day- We Remember
We remember that not all returned from "that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion." Many ...
Meet the Millennials- Sneak Peek NTC Program
The Millennials  are the latest Generation to enter the workplace. millennials were born between 1977 and 1988 and represent about ...
Medical Technology Industry Quick Facts
423,000 jobs, $24.6 billion in annual payroll, $136 billion worth of products sold. These three facts alone make a compelling ...
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The medical industry will continue to develop new products, require new capabilities from their suppliers, and maintain their drive for ...
Maybe Next Year
Guest post by Seth Godin Maybe next year... The economy will be going gangbusters Your knowledge will reach critical mass ...
But it is a continuation of a trend- this is the third consecutive month of decrease.
According to the latest ISM report for May 2013, manufacturing is contracting. The ISM index has fallen to its lowest ...
May Industrial Production FED Reports Gains
"Manufacturing output rose 3.8 percent in May, but it was still 16.9 percent below its pre-pandemic level in February. The ...
Our machinists and quality technicians use and apply algebra, geometry, trig and statistics on the job everyday.
The Atlantic titles their article "Here's How Little Math Americans Use at Work" Spoiler alert, in Precision Machining, we all ...
6 of 7 materials we track up 44-114%
Prices of raw materials used to make precision machined products are up substantially,  ranging from 44% to 114%  from March ...
Material Impacts Report  Posted
The prices of raw materials that we track rose substantially this year! Aluminum  up 44% from Dec 2008. Copper up ...
Massachusetts and the Change Americans Want
  Guest post by Peter Morici Whoever is declared the winner, the outcome of the Massachusetts senatorial election is neither ...
Martensite- Five Facts
1) Martensite is the hardest and most brittle microstructure obtainable in a given steel. 2) Martensite hardness of the steel ...
March 2013 ISM- PMI
PMI shows manufacturing continues to expand, but rate of growth is slowing. "The report was issued today by Bradley J ...
March ISM Report Shows Manufacturing Continues To Grow
"The PMI registered 53.4 percent, an increase of 1 percentage point from February's reading of 52.4 percent, indicating expansion in ...
March Exports From LA Port Surge To Record High
 Guest post by Mark J. Perry The Port of Los Angeles released data  April 14th on March shipping volume, and ...
New Record!
With 84 companies responding, the PMPA Business Trends Index in March roared in from February’s 122 to a seasonally correct ...
Manufacturing's Sputnik Moment- Now is the Time!
We need to change the community perception that manufacturing  is "not deserving/worthy enough" for their kids. With the majority of ...
Manufacturing- Good Economic News
When I grew up I learned Economics from Uncle Bob. Uncle Bob had the family farm, and worked as a ...
This Nikon optical flat  is pretty flat too...
The April ISM Purchasing Managers Index  (PMI) was just released today. Best description is "flat."  "The PMI™ registered 50.7 percent, ...
Manufacturing Video Gets It Right
  I recently started following Ryan on Change The Percepton-Devoted to Building a New Respect for Manufacturing. Last week, Ryan ...
Manufacturing Still Strong- December 2011 ISM Report
Institute for Supply Management's December 2011 PMI increased 1.2 percent over November, coming in at 53.9. This is the 31st ...
Manufacturing Sector Still Expanding- May 2012 ISM PMI Report
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in May for the 34th consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for ...
Improvement  due to both efficiency and mix.
Significant decline in energy use and intensity by manufacturers show improvements in both energy efficiency and changes in manufacturing output ...
Manufacturing Recovery- Proof!
The products of the shops that belong to the Precision Machined Products Association are incorporated in nearly every technology. Automotive, ...
Manufacturing Recovery 7 Months and Counting!
11 industries reported expansion in February. The Precision Machined Products Industry, a sub industry of Fabricated Metals, serves 7 of these  ...
Manufacturing Rebound To Outpace GDP Growth In US  In 2012-MAPI
"Manufacturing production should outperform GDP growth..." The U.S. manufacturing recovery continues on track and should outperform overall GDP growth through ...
us-bureau-of-labor-statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released Manufacturing Productivity Numbers  for second quarter 2014 this morning: "Manufacturing sector productivity increased 3.3 ...
Manufacturing Picked Up Steam In October
And Precision Machining is likely to show a similar pickup when we compile our numbers later this month. Precision machined ...
Any Questions?
March 2016 = 8.6 % Link to FRED site for this chart ...
Manufacturing Outlook Summer 2011
The predictions are mixed, but if  we were giving the small craft weather advisory   summer outlook for precision machining, we'd ...
Manufacturing Outlook Still Positive- But...
NAM and Industry Week Q3 Manufacturing Survey shows manufacturing still in positive territory but the much weaker economy  is causing ...
Manufacturing Optimism- Roscoe Wallace With Kaiser Aluminum
We caught up with Roscoe Wallace at PMTS  and got his take on Manufacturing from his perspective as an Aluminum ...
Optimistic light on 2014 for precision machining.
The  PMPA Business Trends Summary Report for 2013 shines an optimistic light on first quarter 2014 for our precision machining ...
Manufacturing Jobs: Separations vs. Hires
We like graphs because they tell the story without spin. Three out of three indicators agree, openings and hires are  ...
ATP
PMPA member and Erie, Pa employer American Turned Products looking to increase its skilled workforce by 30%! Click here for Video Erie ...
Manufacturing Jobs Available Right Now!
There are immediate jobs for people with skills in manufacturing today. [youtube=http://youtu.be/GStpcos5Jm0] You can get the skills in just a ...
Graph courtesy Chad Moutray, National Association of Manufacturers, NAM.
Four of the top five manufacturing sectors by added employment  in 2012 were key markets served by precision machining; Transportation ...
machinist accelerated
Guest post by Frances Brunelle, at Accelerated Buy Sell Blog I was really impressed with her thinking- and the fact ...
Toolkit for employers
The Manufacturing Institute has developed a one-stop, how-to guide on developing and recruiting a skilled workforce.  Written by and for ...
proof
Manufacturing Sector continues to grow and strengthen in February according to ISM PMI index, confirming PMPA's own January Business Trends ...
Manufacturing Has Changed
Repost from Change the Perception: Often times when you read the headlines about manufacturing job loss, the type of job ...
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The Institute of Supply Management said its index of the manufacturing sector, also known as the Purchasing Managers Index, rose ...
Manufacturing Growth Not Just A Wish
ISM's report of manufacturing's expansion for the fourth , and economic expansion for seventh month in a row,  combined with PMPA's  ...
Manufacturing Growth Confirmed by December Data
The December ISM Purchasing Managers Report confirms that manufacturing continues its recovery and growth - the PMI was up 2.3 ...
Manufacturing Facts They Don't Get in Washington
MANUFACTURING: THE ENGINE OF AMERICA  The following fact sheet was assembled by the team at Vanamatic Company to spell out their ...
Manufacturing Education for Congress and Administration
Guest post by Jeff Wiltsie, Vanamatic Company It’s time for a reality check. Congress authorized the administration to spend hundreds ...
It's like manufacturing, except without us actually making anything.
We were pleased to be quoted in the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal in an article by Tim ...
Manufacturing contracts for first time since
The Institute for Supply Management   Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector dropped to 48.6 in November from ...
Manufacturing Contracting but Precision Machining Still Strong
The Institute for Supply Management's (ISM)  “Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)”  plunged 3.8  points for June, to a level of 49.7.  ...
Manufacturing Continues To Outperform Broader Economy
I like it when I find an authority with clear facts to share. Facts that I want to help share ...
Manufacturing Careers, Not Just Jobs
Precision Machining is a branch of fabricated metals manufacturing that continues to have a high demand for people with skills ...
I met Sam Passenger at Detroit Gun Works open house earlier this month. I was impressed as he walked me ...
Man Bites Dog- China Steel Version
The China Post  carried a story last week headlined "China slaps anti-dumping penalties on steel imports from U.S., Russia." The story: ...
Mama's Don't Let Your Child Grow Up To Be
Excerpted from Barberbiz Blog Try This and See What Happens Greg Knight, vice president of  PMPA member AMT Machine Systems,  ...
Didn't know that Santa was into over-inspection
What's on your list? Lists? Holidays provide a great time for reflection. Santa checking his list started me thinking... Here ...
Make it work
Making it work might get the machine back up and running in half an hour, but if a quarter of ...
Machining- Music To Our Ears
Even if the cash box isn't ringing with the sweet sounds of success, here is proof that our 'tools of ...
November sales trend.
As our headline indicates, there are two very different market experiences being reported by our members in the October PMPA ...
Minimum total cost and minimum time per piece are the boundaries of the high efficiency machining range.
A relationship exists between the cutting speed and the cost per piece. Between the minimum total cost and the minimum ...
Since material costs and nonproductive costs are constant, they are combined into the fixed cost line at the bottom.
The economics of precision machining can be understood with just 4 factors- Machining Cost, Material Cost, Tool Cost, and Cost of ...
Machinery's Handbook-29th Edition of the Machinist's Bible
Authoritative. Comprehensive. Invaluable. Practical. Updated. Updated? I have relied on my 20th Edition copy since I entered the metalworking industry as ...
Love of Craft- Britain's Oldest Blacksmith
Over 70 years working the forge. "It's a wonderful craft, the king of trades, really." We've come a long way ...
Lottery vs Sarbanes Oxley- Your Employees Get to Choose
Bloomberg News reports that the US Securities and Exchange Commission will let corporate whistleblowers collect as much as 30% of ...
Lost Tortoise in Your Shop?
How does one lose a tortoise? The irony of this poster telling the would be finder of the lost tortoise ...
Our people need to be experts at this!
There are many ways to fail an OSHA inspection for Lockout/Tagout. There are three main areas that are solely the ...
Listen To Your People
PMPA’s 2010 National Technical Conference will be held at the Hilton in Pittsburgh, PA from April 24-27. Transforming Technologies in ...
Life Lesson: Underpromise and Overdeliver
In business, and in life, as in sports, it is better to underpromise and overdeliver. Failure to manage expectations can ...
Lets Give Tradesmen A Hand!
Today is National Tradesmen's Day.To show our appreciation for the skilled tradespeople that produce, maintain and install in our industry, ...
Lessons for Industry Courtesy  of the Gulf Oil Spill
Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind when your company becomes involved in a crisis. Communicate. At ...
There are many distractiong non value added elements in this photo.
Editing to remove non- value adding distractions and waste is the true essence of Lean. Who is the "Lean Editor" to cut the ...
Leaded Steels-What You Should Know
Lead is NOT banned by the European Union's End of Life Vehicles Regulations for machining purposes in steel, aluminum and ...
LCCC Where Your Skilled Workforce Comes From
High schools aren't graduating people with skills that can add value in your shop. Lorain County Community College is! From ...
Laps On Rolled Steel Products
"Laps are longitudinal crevices at least 30 degrees off radial, created by folding over, but not welding material during hot ...
Recovery? HA!
The labor participation rate fell to 66.3 percent it's lowest level in 34 years in March. What recovery? Even the ...
Fred Graph of 10 year civilian workforce participation rate
The number of Americans NOT in the workforce is at record levels, and yet the talking heads assure us that ...
How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? How much information must you get on your GHS compliant label?
OSHA is now practicing theology with its latest interpretation concerning labeling requirements regarding the revised Hazard Communication standard (HCS 2012), ...
l CommunImportance of Technical Communication to Protect the Customer
It is critical that those of us who provide technical support, advice, or counsel communicate clearly and accurately. And make ...
Killed Steel
Some things you want to have bubbles, some you don't. In beermaking, yeast consumes the sugars in the wort and ...
Keyboard Shortcuts for Word and Excel
Courtesy of Lifehacker blog. And my daughter the EE computer whiz. I have been pounding out some data sorts in ...
Great news for manufacturing in Northern Michigan according to KSP's Kevin Schlueter
Kevin Schlueter, President  of PMPA member company Kalkaska Screw Products, Inc.  (KSP) was featured on UpNorthLive, a news and information website ...
Information tool you can use.
Of course prices have risen. We finally are back to manufacturing expansion following 18 months of  contraction in the manufacturing ...
Seasonal change remains up over 2013.
(Corrected) The PMPA Business Trends Index for June 2014 declined 8 points to 120. This is the same pattern that ...
PMPA Business Trends Sales Recovered in June graph
“This month’s 112 value is 37 points or 49.33% higher than the 2009 Calendar year average of 75 during the ...
June Material Impacts Report Posted
All of the crucial raw materials that we track are up double and triple digits compared to same month last ...
Graph Courtesy Calculated Risk Blog
Good news/ bad news: Manufacturing growth resumes, but Employment shrinks in Manufacturing  for first time since September 2009... "Manufacturing expanded ...
June 2012: Manufacturing Stalled Globally?
In July, the European ISM  manufacturing index has now fallen over 12 consecutive months to hit a 37-month low. The  rates ...
July 14 ISM pmi
We remain optimistic for the outlook for manufacturing for the next three months based on the latest  ISM PMI and PMPA ...
George Washington's Copy Courtesy Library of Congress
"He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat ...
Does this look like recovery to you?
Steve Goldstein at WSJ  Marketwatch has been skeptical of the so called manufacturing renaissance for some time. In March 2013 ...
Job Worth $2,807,692
Creating permanent jobs sure is expensive! In what appears to be a somewhat controversial move, the Obama administration is expected to ...
Job Summit Fails to Invite Real Job Creators
      Family owned firms account for 89% of all businesses in the United States. Family owned businesses employ ...
Job Openings Hit Record in July- BLS
The Department Of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS release yesterday showed that job openings posted by US employers reached ...
Jekyll and Hyde Moment for Business
"What I can say is the Obama administration is business-friendly. We want to help with our actions, not with our ...
Very strong sales and busy shops characterize the precision machining industry in January 2014
The precision machining industry is generating strong sales and positive prospects going into calendar year 2014. PMPA's January Business Trends ...
ISM PMI JAN2013 fredgraph
The January 2013 PMI composite shows a modest expansion, with all of its component indices showing positive gains for January ...
Its The Trade Deficit...
Guest Post by Peter Morici, professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, and former Chief Economist at ...
OSHA Penalties expected to increase 82%
Wall Street Journal   Alexandra Berzon reported Wednesday that "Federal penalties for workplace-safety violations were increased this week for the first ...
ITC FINDS CHINA STEEL OCTG PRODUCTS "DUMPED"
The commissioners found the US domestic industry had been injured, with all six commissioners voting that injury had occurred as ...
On Feb 1st, yours should say 2013...
February 1 is deadline for Posting OSHA 300A in your shop Employers with 11 or more employees must post a ...
Drivers of business change.
I spent a few days at a Users Conference for PMPA Technical Member Epicor, an ERP software solutions provider. As ...
It's All About Execution
Don't You Agree? It's not about ability to promise. Heck, that's pretty easy. It's not about ability to plan. I've ...
It's Really About Time
When I first started in the industry the focus was on cycle time. Cycle-time dictated how many parts you could ...
If they don't really manufacture, why should we call them manufacturers?
How can you call yourself a manufacturer if you don't manufacture anything? The Economic Classification Policy Committee (ECPC) of the ...
Isn't It Time You Blogged About Lean Six Sigma?
No. I'm really more focused on Quality. On draining the swamp, not swamp beautification. Quality Assurance. Organizational Improvement. (People and ...
Graph of ISM PMI index january 1963 through February 2016
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in February for the fifth consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for ...
Manufacturing is back!
"Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in March for the first time in the last six months, while the ...
ISMJan2015
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported to day that the PMI for January PMI was at 53.5%a decrease of ...
In this case, down means up for the economy expanding, but down for us for shipments.
While economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in January for the eighth consecutive month, and the overall economy grew ...
Manufacturing growth is slowing in August 2015.
At 51.1% the August PMI came in below the anticipated value of 52.8%. The numbers indicate growth, but the change indicates that ...
Iron- The Implied Element
  Pure iron is barely harder  and stronger than copper. Impurities are to iron, what paint is to an artist's ...
Interdependence Day
This year I am going to celebrate Independence day as Interdependence Day. I am going to let my US side ...
fed balance sheet
First you have to recognize it. It is difficult to intelligently manage risk if you don't even know how to ...
A place for every sling, and every sling in its place...
"Rigging equipment for material handling shall be inspected prior to use on each shift and as necessary during its use ...
Inspected Your Slings And Straps Lately?
Inspection of all lifting devices was a monthly "Must Do" when I was supervisor at the steel company. Is it even ...
Injury, Illness Rates Were Decreasing Without OSHA Enforcement Push
Guest post courtesy of Jim Stanley at FDR Safety There’s great news in a recent report from OSHA – injury ...
Infrared Thermography- Preventive Diagnostic For Your Shop
We first used a digital infrared non-contact thermometer back in 1993 to get some diagnostic insight into the failures we ...
Infographic - Cost of New Hires
Found this infographic at Compliance and Safety on the cost of new hires. $57,968 may seem like a lot to ...
Up 12% over ptior two months; down 4% from March 2015
With 80 companies responding, the PMPA Business Trends Index in March 2016 climbed 14 points or twelve per cent to ...
Industrial Production Index July 2012 Shows Manufacturing in Positive Light
Industrial Production (IP) increased 0.6 percent in July after having risen 0.1 percent in both May and June. In July, ...
Industrial Production and Manufacturing Output Fell in August 2012
According to the Fed last Friday: "Industrial production fell 1.2 percent in August after having risen 0.5 percent in July.  ...
Buy this book!
I am a fan of Lean, but the amount of fundamental data that Industrial Press has packed into this shirt pocket ...
Indy Car Factory Tour
The Indiana/ Southern Ohio CPMPA Chapter is hosting a meeting and family social at Dallara Factory Tour on Friday, September ...
Independence Day- Grateful To Many
Our country has a long tradition of citizens standing up for what they thought was right, or against what they ...
No mention at all of "we're going to post your data on line for the world to see."
" The proposal does not add any new requirement to keep records; it only modifies an employer’s obligation to transmit these ...
Imagine If EPA Consulted Manufacturers
Got a press release from Federal EPA a few days ago. It seems they were proud of their "consulting." Imagine that, ...
I Know It When I See It
Sometimes the wisdom is just undeniable. I spend quite a bit of my time writing what I hope to be interesting ...
How Value Engineering Saves Money on Machined Part Costs- Fairchild Auto-Mated Parts Inc.
You could just send your part CAM files to one of those online services to just make the parts and ...
Page One Number One Google- Photo Too!
My mentor, John Sonnhalter posted these three points on B2B search on his blog Tradesmen Insights. These were gleaned from  just ...
How to Clean Up Mercury Spill From Fluorescent Light-OSHA
A new OSHA Quick Card provides guidance to minimize employee exposure to mercury when cleaning up a broken fluoresecent light. I think ...
How Regulations Block New Employment
From Jay Timmons, President  and CEO, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), at President's Council on Jobs and Effectiveness, Regulatory Reform ...
How Plastic Deformation Makes Machining Possible
If steel did not have the property of plastic deformation, the only ways to make parts from it would be ...
How Not To Create Jobs In U.S.
More jobs lost- Bridge to Somewhere made in China! 3 years behind schedule, $5.2 Billion over budget. And China gets ...
The number of these needed is more than just the number of parts times the part length in inches...
If you think that just multiplying the part length by the number of parts needed is the answer you will ...
Hammer time!
Does a precision machinist really need 12 hammers? We were stunned to see this collection of hammers from a 'precision ...
How Many Days Did It Take To Design The Jeep?
You can find the answer on the Ohio Academy of Science Website at this link: Jeep It is a very ...
How large is the "Luck Component" of your career plan?
A lot of information is available stating that a college education is a great investment. The writers  back their statements ...
MFG IND HEALTH
The 2014 Connexus Indiana Manufacturing and Logistics report is a clear, easy to understand 6 page document with graphs and ...
How Does The Universal Waste Rule Apply To Your Precision Machining Shop?
Fluorescent light bulbs. Batteries.  These fall under the Category of Universal Waste. While there may be state  or local disposal ...
How Do You Know?
How is your profitability? How is your  productivity ?   What are the differences between your practice and that of other top ...
Steve Posts on Made In Dayton Blog
Guest post by Steve Staub, Made In Dayton Blog We have enjoyed many of Steve's posts via Linked In, this ...
Today's high tech high precision CNC machines assure a skilled craftsman a great career!
The fact is that there continue to be jobs available for people with skills who can add value in our ...
Manganese and Sulfur have a powerful effect in reducing flank wear on HSS tools
Flank wear is the "normally expected" failure mode for tools to fail when machining steels. The volume fraction of Manganese ...
How Additive Manufacturing Could Increase Competitiveness of Investment Casting
Investment casting is a process that creates complex featured parts in volumes  in competition with precision machining. Investment casting is ...
Housing Slowly Improves- Manufacturing Just Holding Its Own
The housing industry seems to be making slow but steady gains while manufacturing seems to be slowing. PMPA's Business Trends ...
This is NOT what hope looks like in my book!
Had a great discussion with a colleague about "Hope." He defined  hope as being "earnest expectations"-  as opposed to all ...
Holiday Gift Suggestions for the Precision Machining Industry
A Precision Machining Holiday Gift Suggestion: We're certain that these  will be appreciated and appropriate regardless of the holiday that ...
Hints Of Heavy Truck Recovery
According to a story in The Journal of Commerce, Daimler Truck Raises 2011 Truck Forecast,  North American  heavy trucks sales will ...
Safety Awareness is just as important on the drive in to work and on the way home these days.
Getting back and forth to work may involve greater hazards than those we face on the job now that Orange ...
Highest and Best Use, the Family Silver, Loblaw's, Organizational Change
Deploying what we have- our people, our talents, our assets- to their highest and best use maximizes their return and ...
High Tech Manufacturing Needs High Skills
  Think Manufacturing is dead? Think a four year degree is your key to a well paid career? Watch this ...
Hexavalent Chromium Rule Finalized
But give OSHA the Booby Prize for "most ambiguous" News Release on their website announcing the rule. In its Trade News Release, ...
Mission Accomplished!
Just wrapped up our National Technical Conference ahead of the PMTS show here in Columbus Ohio. It was great seeing ...
Heavy Truck Sales Improving In 2011- Paccar
Good news for precision machining companies and those looking for a continued economic recovery. Paccar Inc. (Manufacturer of Kenworth and ...
Heavy Truck Market- Update on Forecast
One of the joys of my job is always being on the lookout for great sources of information for the ...
Heat treat colors for steel Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures
Our Temper Colors for Steel Chart Post remains very popular. So here is a chart of Heat Treat Colors for ...
Health Care Reform Summary of Benefits Mandate Delayed
The Affordable Care Act health reform mandate requiring health plans to provide a Summary of Benefits to workers required employers to ...
Hazardous  Energy Control –Vital Part of Your Safety Program
Guest post by James Pryor We like to make parts. That is the nature of our business. When we think ...
Fat Boy motorcycles will be exported as kits to India for local assembly and sale.
Repost from Automotive Newswire March 5, 2013. "In a region dominated for decades by two-wheeled motorized travel it looked like ...
The softer the material, the deeper the penetration, the wider the impression.
Don't confuse hardness and hardenability. Hardness is a material property. Hardenability is a way to indicate a material's potential to ...
PMTS is where people get things done.
Reviewing the photos in his photostream, my Executive Director found this serenedipitously cropped action shot of an exhibitor and a ...
mfgshare perry
I wanted to write a post about how manufacturing in North America is still a vital part of our, and ...
We permitted these for use on belt grinders for holding small parts.
 Our post on No Gloves When Working on Grinders has prompted a number of responses. Here are some additional reasons why ...
Grilling season is here. IS your grilling safety here as well?
Summer is around the corner, and for many of us that means great food hot off the grill. Some shops ...
Greenhouse Gas Emissions- Global Problem Requires Global Solution
Guest Post By Jeff Wiltsie, Vanamatic Company. Here is a photo of manufacturing in China. The comment period for USEPA ...
Convincing, factual, insights about advanced manufacturing.
Mark Muro is the author of the Brookings Institution's latest report on advanced manufacturing which we blogged about here. He ...
Goodbye Steve Jobs. A Dented Universe Bids You Farewell
Our condolences to everyone at Apple on the loss of Visionary in Chief and Denter of the Universe Steve Jobs ...
It's not like they should be held accountable to deadlines like they do us, right?
The U.S. Department of Labor finally recently published its 2013 Spring Regulatory Agenda. Despite the extra time, a number of ...
I had to find out, what does it mean?
One of my international contacts through the Syndicat International du Decolletage posted an intriguing photo on Facebook. I did my ...
Never wear gloves with grinders.  or operate grinders with guards removed.
If there is a worse combination than grinders and gloves, I don't know what it is, except perhaps for gloves ...
Glad We Are Not On This Chart
Manufacturing is unremarkable, when the Government talks about workplace fatalities. That's a good thing! The real good news in the  ...
December 1, 2013
The deadline for employers to train employees on the new GHS system is December 2013. It is our pleasure to ...
Get Skills to Work Logo
Manufacturing Institute and National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) announced May 9th   their partnership called Get Skills to Work to ...
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Six exceptions to employer prohibitions on acquiring genetic information are Inadvertent acquisitions of genetic information do not violate GINA, such ...
Bush signed it. Ted Kennedy acclaimed it.
Put this subject on your watch list... This act charges the EEOC with  issuing finalized regulations by November 21, 2009 ...
Generation Gap In Your Office Infographic
Millenials, your career has arrived. We need you to take the reins of responsible leadership. Thanks to Matthew Pelletier of ...
Made in China. Protect the environment.
Actions always speak louder than words.   Here's what GE's CEO, Jeffrey Immelt,  told the Detroit Press Club back in ...
Gainers Outnumber Decliners 4 to 1
PMPA's Index of Sales of Precision Machined Products in January 2011 was 111, its highest level in the thirty-one months ...
workshop NW
Northwestern University is co- hosting a program Aug 12-13 on Future Research Needs for Advanced Manufacturing "from an Industrial Perspective." ...
Future of Manufacturing- Age and Education Impacts
The competitiveness of Manufacturing in North America has helped it to lead the recovery out of the last recession. What ...
Fun Friday: Dyslexic Font For Free!
One in every ten people have dyslexia. Aside from having it rough trying to read traditional print material like books ...
If you know how a dead blow hammer works, you can answer this question. Enjoy! [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrGV7zKEdtU&w=560&h=315] We found this ...
It's supposed to be a VW microbus with the PMPA logo...
PPE is important any time one is working with tools.Actually, the thought of wearing safety equipment helped me get into ...
Full Auto Industry Employment- Not So Fast
According to Reuters and other news sources, UAW VP Joe Ashton is claiming full employment in the auto industry by ...
"Where's the Beef?"
So much for Change… The Associated Press reports that “the Obama administration on Thursday declined to name China as a ...
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      2010 PMPA Federal EPA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Reporting Webinar   Join us for a Webinar on ...
Free Quality Management E-book
Written by Dr. Frank Gryna, coauthor  (with Juran) of the first four editions of Juran's Quality Control Handbook. His most ...
Free PDF on Cost of Occupational Fatalities
Okay, This probably won't be the most exciting read of 2010. But there are some quite interesting facts to  help ...
Over 1000 different types of papers as free pdf's
Tools You Can Use Tuesday-  free graph paper, and forms of all types. You pay your engineers and talent for ...
If you can't be honest about who you are, What can you be honest about?
Lena ******** sent me an invitation to connect on LinkedIn 3 days ago! That Lena is a beautiful looking gal. I wonder ...
Four Baseline Measures to Improve Your Problemsolving
Trying to solve  a problem without baseline data is a fool's errand. It is the contrast between the data of ...
Follow Up- Process Review
Any design- whether product, recipe, process, or art- should be subject to periodic review of the designer. The reason for ...
Foaming- Why Base Oil Differences Matter In Your Shop.
You don't need a degree in Organic Chemistry to understand the differences in your shops' metalcutting fluid base oils and ...
Flash Bainite Steel- Something New Under the Sun!
For those who thought they knew everything that could be known about heat treating steel. Tooling and Production Magazine reported ...
Five Reasons Why Cold Drawing Is Essentially Unlubricated
Yes we flood oil and sometimes put a film of lime or borax on our steel hot roll, but the fact is ...
Five Costs of Workplace Injuries
Bill Margaretta, president of the New Jersey State Safety Council, outlined the five common cost elements related to workplace injuries ...
Five Actions To Protect Your Employees From Flu
Presenteeism (coming to work while ill) is estimated to cost employers more than $150 billion per year. We've seen estimates ...
Nothing dull, dirty or boring going on here.
There is a critical shortage of talented people in the advanced manufacturing fields- Precision Machining, Welding, Robotics and Mechatronics, Industrial ...
Feed or Speed?
  What's it gonna be? Feed or Speed? For a given production rate of metal removal, better tool life is ...
Steady as she goes: level sales for January and February 2016
 Level Precision Machining Industry Sales Beat Fed Industrial Production Numbers for February 2016 With 81 companies responding, the PMPA Business ...
175,000 new jobs added? We need 350,000 jobs EACH month. not impressed.
Consensus expectations were for 149,000 new positions to be added in February 2014. BLS announced that the economy added 175,000 ...
Graph via calculated risk blog
In the words of PMPA's economics advisor, Dr. Ken Mayland, "The factory sector wants to grow.  Orders were better (57.8, up ...
Fatigue or Endurance Testing of  Steel Explained
For steel products which are subject to moving loads, such as automobile springs, crankshafts, and power takeoff shafts, it is important ...
Withdrawing proposal for a Factoryless Goods producer Classification in NAICS 2017
In a resounding victory for actual manufacturers- the people that make things- the OMB reported today that the proposal to ...
FAA  Begins Reconsideration of Electronic Device Policy Comment Now
The FAA wants your comments regarding  in flight Portable Electronic Device policy. "The FAA seeks comments on current policy, guidance, ...
Export Facts For Small and Medium Enterprises
SME's made up 97.6% of all US exporters- 269,269 SME's (businesses employing fewer than 500 workers) exported from the USA in ...
Over 120 fatalities; Exits blocked.
OSHA is reminding compliance officers to check for adequate means of egress at all workplaces. This follows the recent disastrous ...
Even Keynesians Recognize The Problem.
"How many times do the Chinese have to promise to change their policies, then renege, before the administration decides that ...
Ergonomics- The New Safety Frontier
Guest post  from James Pryor, ASH,Inc. OSHA is boldly going on a mission to add Musculo Skeletal Disorders (MSD) Column ...
EPA Revising UST Regulations
Comment period open until February 16, 2012. The notice in the federal register identifies Manufacturing Sector NAICS codes 31-33 (thats us!) ...
EPA Proposes One Year Compliance Date Extension on Spill Prevention Rule for Metal And Other Manufacturing
  Our metal manufacturing shops are among the types of facilities eligible for the proposed one year extension. EPA is ...
EPA Overreach- Facts Say It Is A Pattern
A thoughtful response to our post on the EPA  Cross State Air Pollution Rule being struck down from a member of ...
EPA Caves In On Greenhouse Gas
We reported that the California  Energy Commission requested the US EPA to delay rules requiring permits for Greenhouse gases here ...
EPA "Science" Contrary To National Academy of Science's "Science" on Trichloroethylene
In it's investigation of a Groundwater contamination at Camp LeJeune the National Academy of Sciences Expert Panel  (see page 8 ...
Engineering's Contribution to the Profit Equation- Mike Shipulski
One of the benefits of staying current on  professional social media sites is the chance to find some new insights ...
Employment Population Ratio- Good News
The BLS's Employment Population Ratio was 60.1 in March 2017, its first time back over 60% since February 2009. February ...
Employers: E-Verify Isn't Working So You Get Audited
The  Department of Homeland Security's E-Verify system is supposed to tell employers if an applicant is authorized to work in ...
Economy Sheds More Jobs
Obama's policies not enough. Guest post  by Peter Morici  The Labor Department reported the economy shed 36,000 jobs in February ...
Economic Patriotism- The Girl Scout Way
 On my honor I will try to serve God and my country... So imagine the brouhaha when the Girl Scouts ...
Average earnings of setup qualified precision machinists exceed those of lowest earning college majors- with out the college loans to repay
Many people think that the choice of where they  went to school is an important factor in their post graduation ...
Durable Goods Indicator- V Shaped Recovery
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Demand for U.S.-made durable goods rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5% to $178.1 billion in February, the third ...
Fractured specimen fitted back together then measured
The ability of a material to deform plastically without fracturing, is called ductility. In the materials usually machined in our ...
Drivers of CMVs: Restricting the Use of Cellular Phones
The DOT has just finalized a rule restricting mobile phone use by drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMV's). The new ...
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Listen as you watch. Until you get this saw, you better keep the guards in place on your equipment! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3mzhvMgrLE&hl=en_US&fs=1&] ...
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 OSHA's Form 300A (Rev. 01/2004) Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses All establishments covered by Part 1904 must complete this ...
A bit of circa 1965 Knowledge retention for  the archives of Lester Detterbeck Enterprises Ltd.
If a tool gets too hot to hold while grinding, you have already ruined it. You knew that, right? By the time ...
Becalmed saiboat. Doldrums
The Doldrums are “a belt of calms and light baffling winds north of the equator between the northern and southern ...
Saving you the pain...
PMPA staff has prepared a Conflict Minerals compliance guide  for our members based on our analysis and understanding of the ...
Do We All Know The Mission?
"Management by objectives works if you know the objectives . Ninety percent of the time, you don't." - Peter Drucker Photocredit ...
Do my parts comply with REACH Regulations?
PMPA Regulatory Assurance is how PMPA members gain confidence when dealing with the ever changing and growing area of regulatory ...
Do As We Say- NOT As We Do
Warning, this piece is loaded with facts, not our opinions! We have written at great length here, here, here, and ...
Distracted Driving - Are Your Drivers Violating the Law?
Talking on a hand-held cellphone while driving is banned in 10 states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New ...
Distinguishing Bolts From Screws
Yes they are both externally threaded fasteners, but how can you tell the difference? Bolt-externally threaded fastener that is designed ...
Discretionary Spending-
$62 billion spent on education, and $20 billion spent on 'training, employment, and social services,' and yet precision machining shops ...
Disaster Recovery- Effective Associating
The current perfect storm- whether you call it Hurricane Sandy, Frankenstorm, or "OH S**t what am I gonna do now?"-  provides ...
Dimensional Contraction of 17-4 PH Stainless Steel
The mechanical  properties of 17-4 PH  must be fully developed by age hardening from Condition A in order to reduce risk ...
Department of Labor Semiannual Regulatory Agenda Published
You can find the link here. Of particular interest to the precision machining industry may be the Occupational Exposure to ...
Demand Drives May 2012 Precision Machining Industry Sales
Despite the declines reported for May 2012  in both the  ISM Purchasing Managers Index for Manufacturing and Industrial Production (IP), ...
Confirms PMPA Business Trends Experience to Date
 "The PMI™ registered 57 percent, the second highest reading for the year, just 0.3 percentage point below November's reading of ...
grizzly-bear duffle blog
There are a number of reasons that one could be bearish about the December ISM PMI report. But that doesn't ...
Highest in 2 years and up 1.5 points over November 2016
The Institute for Supply Management announced on Tuesday that its Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) for Manufacturing index rose 1.5 percentage ...
December ISM Manufacturing Report-Ho, Ho, Ho
Fabricated metals and primary metals were two of the 11 manufacturing segments reporting growth in December 2011 according to the ...
ISMDec2012
The December ISM Manufacturing Report is out, and the headline story is good news. But the full report is a ...
December 2010 Materials Impact Report Posted
Prices increased across the board on all metals that we track...      Aluminum is up 9.16% December 2009 - ...
Decarburization and Your Precision Machine Shop
Decarburization on surface layers can affect heat treatment and hardness attained on parts. Decarburization also provides evidence of where in ...
Dealing with Broken Links- A Process
Actually I am amazed at how few broken links I encounter in all of my online research. But occasionally, we ...
Darlene Miller at Clinton Global Initiative- Getting Skilled Workers
Darlene Miller was interviewed by President Bill Clinton at Clinton Global Initiative in Chicago recently. Darlene Miller, President and CEO ...
D.C Circuit Court Agrees EPA "Exceeds Statutory Authority"
Yesterday's 2-1 rebuke from the D.C. Circuit marks the 15th time that a federal court has struck down an Obama ...
Counting Using Scales- Free Webinars For You
Counting parts with scales is not rocket science. But getting the accuracy in the count done efficiently is a challenge akin ...
Cost of Government Day 2012
The day on which the average American has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of ...
Copper Prices- Record Prices, Rising Thefts
Copper prices have tripled since 2008, and thefts are skyrocketing as measured by news reports. Guest post by Mark J ...
The brown area is the landlside...its effects will be felt for decades
A landslide at the worlds largest open pit copper mine does not hold good news for our industry. Dan Murphy  ...
Cool Science Geek Stuff- Capture Lightning
  OK, I 'll admit I'm really a sucker for cool science demonstrations. Just like the current administration is a ...
Conversion of Units Made Easy- Tutorial
If you have anyone moving up from shop operations into estimating, quoting, or engineering, I think that this tutorial will ...
Continue Your Machining Education at PMPA's 2013 National Technical Conference
The competitive advantage of our shops is the talent and tribal knowledge of our skilled craftsmen and women. Continuing the ...
What is your contingency plan when it is no longer business as usual?
About a year ago, Hurricane Sandy forever changed many lives and destroyed  businesses on the East Coast. QS9000 requires suppliers ...
Official Inflation  just 1.5%, Stealth Inflation- look at your grocery bill...
Are your costs for essential consumables and supplies up just 1.5% over the past year? "The Consumer Price Index for ...
Connecting
Connecting with fellow members is always at the top of the list when we survey our members about why they ...
CEO John Stoneback and Congressman David Joyce in the Shop at JM Performance Products, Inc.
Congressman David Joyce toured PMPA member company JM Performance Products, Inc.  to see how  district manufacturing jobs create value for the entire ...
122  women who make a difference in Manufacturing today
When I started in manufacturing, "The Gals" were in the office- not the shop. The inaugural group of 122 STEP ...
Confocal Microscope With Mesolens- University of Strathclyde
We  get pretty excited when we learn of new photographic technology, just like when machinists  learn of a new tool coating or ...
Violates petitioner's first amendment rights.
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the SEC Conflict minerals rule violates ...
1910.1053 (a)(19) could have saved these lives
Employee safety is a responsibility of all of us- employers, employees, and even the regulators. We are puzzled as to ...
Commodity Price Increases, Inflation Not Strongly Correlated
While the price increases for the raw materials that we need in our precision machining shops continue to climb (March ...
Like it or not 6.8 billion people live here. We need to trade fairly.
Breaking news. Bloomberg and other sources report that duties up to 31% will be imposed on Chinese produced OCTG (Oil ...
Cracks can develop after cold work is performed on machined parts.
Cold work is defined as the plastic deformation of a metal below its recrystallization temperature. In the precision machining industry, ...
Cold Drawing's Effect on Mechanical Properties
This is why yield strength doesn't correlate well to hardness... Cold drawing of steel bars changes the mechanical properties of ...
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President signs bill to extend COBRA subsidy benefits The 2010 defense appropriations bill (H.R. 3326), signed by the President on ...
CNC Machining Is The Foundation Of Manufacturing- Peter Zelinski
Zelinski: "Any product you pick up and touch, it's not too many steps away from a machining process." Most of ...
Closing the Loop- Post Job Continuous Improvement
Without a process for reviewing a job after completion, our shops are doomed to make the same mistakes the next ...
Class 8 trucks bring our raw materials and deliver our products.
Deutsche Bank reports that Class 8 truck orders for July were 9100 units, up 8.8% from June's 8360. June's 8360 ...
It looks really, really cool. And in metallic form it is NOT Hexavalent.
Chromium in Carbon, Alloy and Stainless Steels is NOT Hexavalent! The valency (oxidation state) of chromium metal as an alloying ...
Choose To Have Cleanest Shop In The Universe
Good housekeeping enables many things in your shop- all good!         I recall when a colleague was ...
r-china-wheeler24_88661gm-a
The US, EU and Mexico have just  (2 hours ago) jointly made a formal request to the WTO for a dispute-settlement ...
Chinese Mercantilism, Seconded by Germany...
  Bernanke Is Right Chinese Mercantilism, Not Fed Easy Money, Are Making a Mess Guest post by Peter Morici  Ben ...
Chinese Currency, U.S. Continues To Be The Fool
Guest Post by Peter Morici, Professor and former Chief Economist, US Trade Commission. The Washington Post reported on Friday morning ...
China- About That Number 2 Economy Status
The newswires were all abuzz that China had slipped past Japan to become  the number 2 global economy. Oh what they ...
GD*3153294
By our reckoning, China has produced over 11 times more steel in June 2009 than the US. Apparently their stimulus is ...
China Resource Hoarding- WTO Panel Convened
The World Trade Organization has agreed to investigate whether China’s export duties on nine commodities that are used as raw ...
Jilin City, Jilin Province, Peoples republic Of China
Transitioning to private enterprise isn't exactly the easiest thing to accomplish. Rioting workers killed the designated plant manager at Tonghua ...
China Overtakes US As Top Manufacturer
While we were glued to our TV's and monitors Monday looking at the  destruction from the earthquake and tsunami that ...
China Metal Fraud- How About That Low Price Now?
Saw a post on LinkedIn regarding fraud on Alibaba.com involving steel. According to the Linked In post, they fell victim ...
China Exports Surge In December
Exports hit $130.7 billion during the month as global trade perked up, bringing China's full-year export figure to $1.20 trillion, ...
More Exciting Reading From Department of Homeland Security
PMPA staff recently reviewed the  Department of Homeland Security's Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) Regulation information posted on the web ...
Charles Martin Hall- Enabled Our Modern World
Charles Martin Hall discovered the electrolytic process for extracting Aluminum from its oxide, 125 years ago from tomorrow. Hall later ...
Nothing dull, dirty or boring going on here.
Think that Manufacturing is Dull, Dirty, Boring? Guess again. I recently visited PMPA member shop Central Screw Products / Detroit ...
Typical shear failures in cold forming.
In cold worked steels, failures can be broadly categorized in two categories. The first, are those nucleated by localized defects- such as ...
Cell Phones and Driving
Was held up the other day while the authorities cleaned up a bit of a mess. Fortunately, it wasn't my ...
Cell Phone Ban-FAQ's Posted
The FMCSA has posted an FAQ page about the ban on hand held cellular phones by commercial motor vehicle  (CMV) ...
More than fools gold, Iron Pyrite can prevent steel from being hot worked by inducing "hot shortness."
Manganese ties up Sulfur before it can chemically combine with Iron  to form Iron Pyrite. Iron Pyrite occurs at grain boundaries ...
Carbon Equivalent And Weldability
The weldability of steels is influenced primarily by the carbon content. At higher carbon levels, steels may need either pre- ...
No telling on what the State troopers busted this jolly old elf for, but we bailed him out with donations to the local food bank...
We are fortunate to have our trade, our businesses, our ability to produce highly engineered components that make a difference ...
Greenback
Perhaps distance and perspective give them clarity. We follow the ISM Manufacturing Index as an input for our sensemaking as ...
Someone has been eating their Wheaties.
Looks like the Canadian Dollar has been eating its Wheaties. Someone has been eating their Wheaties.A strong Canadian Dollar does ...
Can Your Robot Do This?
QinetiQ makes a line of "Throwable robots." Check out the video: Dragonrunner The Dragonrunner has multiple camera and payload options. While ...
Can Radioactive Scrap Contaminate Your Business?
145 nuclear items were identified in scrap worldwide in 2011, 200 in 2010. The most recent one we've learned about ...
Can I Do It With Less?
Using less, not more, is often the best way.  4 bullet points trumps 4 paragraphs. Editing adds more value than ...
California Asks US EPA To Delay Greenhouse Gas Rules
Reuters reports:" California has urged U.S. environmental regulators to slow down implementation of rules on greenhouse gas emissions saying they ...
Don't do it!
Question: Why don't the Certs for C12L14 and C1215 cold drawn steel bars have mechanical properties routinely reported? Answer: Because ...
But You Already Knew That
In 2012, Americans will pay approximately $4.041 trillion in taxes, which is $152 billion, or 3.9 percent, more than they ...
Busy Week Here At PMPA
Our National Technical Conference and our Precision Machining TechnologyShow are soon to be here! While PMPA staff are working on ...
Find opportunities to sell to Federal Government.
Where can you go to find information about available federal programs without having to waste time and resources navigating the ...
Up just 0.9% from Last year
: Underwhelming and underperforming, but we did eke out almost a percent of growth last year. PMPA’s Index of Sales ...
Business Intelligence Seminar For West Coast Precision Machining Companies
West coast precision machining companies- here's your chance to connect and get critical business intelligence at our  FREE half-day seminar ...
TEXTHOLDER
Burrs and foreign object damage are consideration that are increasingly critical as precision machined parts are engineered from more challenging ...
Burdensome Regulations- Letter to House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair Darrell Issa
Earlier this month,  Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA) submitted a  joint letter with NTMA and PMA in response to a request ...
Bullish On Precision Machining-5 Reasons
There is a lot of uncertainty in the press about the economy and a lot of fear among businessmen regarding ...
Built Up Edge-What It Is And What To Do
Built Up Edge (BUE) is the accumulation of workpiece material onto the rake face of the tool. This material welds ...
bubble bath
Foaming can cost your precision machining shop money by causing loss of fluid, shorten pump life by cavitation, and reduce ...
Bolted joints are a staple of modern engineering and manufacturing practice. Modern life is modern because of our mastery of ...
Blue Brittleness, Temper Embrittlement, 400-500 Degree C Embrittlement And More
 What a difference a temperature range can make! Some plain carbon steels, some martensitic (quenched)  carbon and alloy steels, and ...
BLS Launches New Occupational Outlook Handbook Online Today
The BLS just launched its updated New Occupational Outlook Handbook Online last week, on March 29, 2012. We were pleased to ...
Biofuels and the Precision Machined Products Industry
Normally we're not enamored of biofuels. Its not the food vs fuel argument. For us it's the too much input ...
Believe in Manufacturing
Our colleague Ryan over at Change the Perception wrote a wonderful piece the other day, and it was just so ...
titanic hull trans21C
In this post we'll take a look at the significance of the last 2 digits of the steel grade designation ...
Here's the good news.
How do they know? In comments to reporters  accompanying the issuance of July 23's Monetary Policy Report Bank Governor Mark ...
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Submitted by Monte Guitar,  PMPA Director of Technical Programs The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program emphasizes continuous improvement, innovation, integration ...
Before you go deep into student loan debt, make certain that your degree actually gives you a marketable skill.
" If the costs of attaining a bachelor's degree continue to rise faster than the benefits of having a BA in ...
Avoid Installing Safety Problems
Guest Post- James Pryor II, ASH,Inc. Safety Consultants One of the most frequently cited OSHA violations in precision machining is ...
Automotive Exports- 2011 Data China Compared to US
This post is informed by stories from Automotive NewsWire and USA Today. China: China's Minister of Industry and Information, Miao ...
Automotive Aluminum- New All-Time High in 2012
Aluminum usage in automotive applications has increased every year for nearly 40 years.  Automotive Aluminum usage in 2012 is reported ...
The inventor of the feedback circuit figured this out a long time ago
"When we install this automated line we can eliminate three jobs." This is probably the stupidest thing that I have ...
Auto Sales Soared in August 2013!
Auto sales in the U.S. soared to levels not seen since the financial crisis.  This is great news for the ...
A great time to go to the beach! And to be in Manufacturing.
While I was sunning myself at a Southern coastal beach, the folks at Institute for Supply Management published the July ...
August 2011 ISM Manufacturing Report-Manufacturing Still Expanding
Precision Machining is a subset of Fabricated Metals which was one of the sectors reporting continued strength in August. Economic ...
lichtenberg_main_485
We always look at the LNS  Research emails that hit our inbox. This one came while I was travelling last ...
They never told me about this when I was learning my times tables...
About this time of year the  advice starts rolling out - have a plan so you don't miss anything. Make ...
Athlete, Engineer, Physician, Machinist- What Are The Chances?
The odds are pretty slim you'll make it into professional athletics.Time spent on math and science can assure you of ...
AREIR-Anticipate, Recognize, Evaluate, Implement, Review Management Cycle
AREIR is the tool to help you upgrade your management practice from coping to proactively managing through a defined process ...
Are You Making Carburetor Parts?
Back in the day, we had one coil to bar machine working a couple of weeks each month making carburetor ...
Are They Experienced?
"If you can just get your mind together Then come on across to me " So begins "Are You Experienced?" ...
These indicators tracked closely in 2014, not so much in 2015...
Lousy forecasting by OEM customers  beats Lean and JIT every time, leaving the OEM's supply chain bloated with inventory and starving ...
April Shipments, Despite Correction, Give Positive Outlook for Shipments
Precision machined products shipments for April, as captured in PMPA's Business Trends April Report, declined 20 points or 14.5% from ...
50.8 reading was below expectations for April, indicating a slower pace of manufacturing expansion compared to March.
"Manufacturing registered growth in April for the second consecutive month, as 15 of our 18 industries reported an increase in ...
2014AprilSent copy
The PMPA Business Trends Index for April 2014 fell 6 points from 129 to 123, up two points over April ...
Approved Stainless Steels for Your Rube Goldberg Kitchen Project
The choice of materials for food applications is critical if we are not to poison someone. As Masters of Metals- ...
Apprenticeships vs Education?
There are a lot of things to consider in the chart below, but as a manufacturing guy, I believe that ...
Mismatch exists between jobs and  education.
Why does the U.S. continue to subsidize college degrees that are not providing any employment advantage while manufacturing suffers from ...
Apple iPhone Single Burner Stove China and Intellectual Property
I'd be very careful trying "Facetime" when this "Apple iPhone" Single Gas Burner Stove is working! The good news is that ...
Anti-Powerpoint Referendum  Proposed For Swiss Ballot
According to Switzerland's Anti-PowerPoint Party (APPP) , the use of presentation software costs the Swiss economy 2.1 billion Swiss francs ...
ANSI / ASSE Z15.1-2012 Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Standard
Effective August 20, 2012, this standard provides guidance for organizations regarding: Occupant Restraints;  Impaired Driving;  Distracted Driving;  Aggressive Driving; Journey ...
Another Point of View About Safe Equipment
Dennis Kaplan commented on Linked In about our Pedestal Grinder post from last week. Like all critical thinkers, he reframed ...
2600 years later, we have samples to analyze...
According to Discovery News  this week, "Gleaming cast metal called orichalucum, which was said by Ancient Greeks to be found ...
An Engineer's Point of View
  I received an email from a trusted colleague that had a letter attached describing the writers frustration with outsourcing ...
Door interlocks make the OSHA folks happy.
Our recent post on the latest OSHA Emphasis program on Amputations brought us a comment from Michael Krizmanich at PMPA Technical ...
American Honda is a "New Domestic" company and is now exporting more than it imports.
American Honda Motor company is  a major employer in Ohio with about 13,700 employees and three major plants. Now Honda is ...
Mirror, mirror on the wall...
Here are 4 questions to help you evaluate the value of your work. -Is what I am doing needed? -Is ...
Aluminum's Role In Steel
Aluminum is a critical ingredient of  steel in our shops, not just as a stand alone material for machining. Aluminum metal ...
If college was your first plan, but now it’s not, you need an alternative plan. The difference between low wages ...
External Fixation, Artificial Joints, Human Spare Parts...
This post looks at the megatrend of Aging Society and its potential impacts on our precision machining businesses. It is ...
Agility More Than Just Lean
"You can choose to organize to make decisions quickly. Or you can have the market ignore you."- Seth Godin Our ...
Administration Wins One On Trade!
A tentative agreement reached between the U.S. and Canada would provide Canadian suppliers access to state and local public works ...
Same yellow color, Just no Lead in the Grain Boundaries
Unleaded brasses are not necessarily harder to run than leaded brass. They are just different. By recognizing and accommodating for  their ...
Additive Manufacturing-  Art Not Parts
I have to admit that I am a critical thinker skeptical about the whole idea of additive manufacturing as a ...
You need skills, not just high pay, to properly hitch the cart to the horse.
The New York Times gets it wrong on  the skills gap, confusing cause and effect, ignoring facts, and making a ...
abbott and costello Truman library
 There are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of the two is to have people stop looking ...
About That Unemployment Rate...
Why don't things seem better- the news says the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 per cent? Photo The unemployment rate ...
A,B,C,D And Your Precision Machine Shop
Our shops pride themselves on using their technology to produce parts just-in-time. But there can be found in all of ...
A Tale of Two Lines
I told him that we were standing in line with the 91.7% of the folks who are employed, not the ...
A Tale of Two Graphs
  USGOVT MANEMP/PAYNSA ...
Which should we be?
China is currently spending  its reserves buying natural resources all around the world that will be needed in the next ...
"Could cause a fire."
The AP reported that "Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it will add 4.5 million older-model vehicles to the long list of ...
A Question You Won't Answer
I spent the day in Los Angeles with about 40 PMPA members and guests at DMG Mori Seiki  producing a half ...
A Precision Machining Valentines Message
Here's what the precision machinists back in the day at Veste Coburg put together for when their cupids went hunting. We ...
A Precision Machining Happy Thanksgiving
All of us have many reasons to be grateful. To be thankful. To consider ourselves blessed. Here is a link to ...
A New Era Began Today
I was privileged to be able to witness the live cast of the Falcon Heavy Lift vehicle today. The photo ...
A Labor Day Best Wish For Next Year To The Unemployed
It's never good to be unemployed, but the irony of being unemployed on Labor Day is particularly frustrating. What frustrates ...
A Dozen Tips To Assure your Safety Compliance
The new sheriff in town continues to make enforcement OSHA's top priority. Here are 12 good ideas  from American Safety ...
It's all good. Not so fast...
If the folks on Wall Street are so smart, why are they making happy about today's jobs report? As I ...
A Case for Cautious Optimism
The recovery of the precision machined products industry is  obvious in our latest PMPA Business Trends Report.  We have been  calling ...
A Baker's Dozen Facts To Know About Inclusions In Steel
Straight from the baker to you... 1) Inclusions are on the inside, not on the outside surface... 2) Inclusions are ...
FDA_general
The FDA is  not only the regulating agency  for this market, it is also a storehouse of information. Today's post ...
8 Steps To Write A Blog Post Worth Reading
A successful blog post is brief, interesting, brief, and informative to the readers that you target. The information should be useful to ...
8 Reasons to Stress Relieve Cold Drawn Steel Bars
Here are  8 reasons why you might want to consider stress relieving the steel before machining your parts. High carbon grade ...
8 Reasons Steel Parts Can Warp in Heat Treat
And how to minimize them. Upon heating, steel parts change volume as they change crystal structure (I'll spare you the ...
Complete changeover and setup in under an hour is old news at Vanamatic.
Setup reduction is the one discipline that every precision machining shop must master. Here are 8 positive impacts of a ...
7 Tips Fom Bernard Martin to Optimize LinkedIn
This social media / networking stuff is new to all of us, so here are seven tips from Bernard Martin ...
"Make it so"
Productivity-What Can I Do Today To Make My Shop The Most Money? In the current economy, many machines are down ...
7 Reasons Why Cycle Time Isn't The Cost Driver In Your Precision Machined Parts
In the old days, everybody knew that it was cycle time that won you the job over the other shops ...
This should be a common sight in your shop.
Many folks associate September 11 with the year 2001 and the horrific attacks to the World Trade Center and the ...
Lockheed Martin principles_infographic_lrg
Lockheed Martin was just recognized with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. To encourage performance excellence within the manufacturing industry, ...
7 Indirect Costs of a Failed Safety Program
Guest post by James Pryor. Indirect costs are 4 to 10 times the actual direct costs of an accident or ...
7 Causes For Quench Cracking Of Steel
Failures of steel parts in service or production occur very infrequently. However, when steel parts fail, the consequences are dire ...
7 Advantages of Friction Welding
Friction welding is an ideal method to join dissimilar metals- cost, quality, and strengthwise. Here are 7 advantages of Friction (inertial) ...
A passion for improvement is what drives the folks Vanamatic.
It has been my pleasure to work with the folks at the Vanamatic Company since the late 1980's as a  ...
Correct handling preserves straightness.
Straightness is perishable in bars. Straightness is often lost during handling operations, loading and unloading. Straightness is critical for holding ...
6 Tools to Calibrate Your Precision Machining Business
Here are 6 tools that PMPA members use to calibrate their business to the industry and markets. Every precision machining ...
Kanter in book
Tired of innovation? Fed up with other people's 'good ideas?' Here are 6 rules to stifle innovation from one of ...
Who needs physics to push a button?
Great question came in the other day. "Since the computers control the machines, why do we need to have physics ...
6 Reasons Why Heavy Truck Recovery Will Lag Slow Growth Economy
 "Medium and heavy duty commercial vehicle markets are at the beginning of a three year period of steady growth." according ...
This is your grandfather's economy.
Now that manufacturing is two months into expansion, September 2009 ISM Report , our short list of long delayed purchases will once ...
6 Reasons To Consider Rolled Threads
Because the steel grain structure is cold forged, rather than cut, rolled threads are up to 30% stronger... While the ...
 Liquid steel after treatment in a Siemens RH degassing plant achieves improved properties.
 Vacuum treated (vacuum degassed) steel is used for  critical applications that require steel with an exceptionally high degree of structural ...
6 Keys To Using Free Machining (12XX) Steels
 Keep these 6 Keys to Using Free Machining (12XX) Steels in mind: These steels are not generally sold for applications requiring ...
Here's a 'Tool You Can Use!'
Business influenza information abounds. But what is authoritative? The media is flooded with all kinds of stories about the Swine ...
5C Collets Are Cool- Somma Tool
In order to machine precision parts, you need to first hold the workpiece securely, accurately and precisely. 5C collets do ...
5-S Your Material Procurement Process
When its all about delivery, how many SKU's of raw material can your shop effectively manage?          ...
5 Ways Fine Austenitic Grain Size Affects Your Machine Shop
While Austenitic Grain Size is a result of chemistry (composition), the changes that it evokes in our process are a ...
Friday, May 16, 2008 (3).max
Austenitic Grain Size is a material characteristic that is usually reported on test reports and certification documents for the steel ...
craterwear
When machining  carbon and alloy steels, Crater Wear is the normal tool failure mode.  Overheating is an unpredictable failure mode.  ...
Surface finish is critical on precision machined parts.
Surface finish issues are especially critical in aerospace and medical applications. Chips recontacting the work and high or unstable Built ...
5 Tips For Best OSHA 300 Log Recording
    You wouldn't use a gage that measures in 0.001"  increments for a requirement in 0.0001." Why tolerate similar inaccuracies in ...
5 Things To Know About Triangle Effect, Pseudo-Roundness, and Lobing
 Pseudo-roundness is best defined as any shape not perfectly round, which exhibits constant dimensions when measured in any direction between ...
 Precision machined titanium bone screws are used in orthopedics.
Medical Instruments is one market area that offers the strongest prospects for value added growth over the next few years.   ...
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Precision machinists make the things that make today's quality of life technologies go. And stop. Anti lock brakes - we ...
5 Reasons To Anneal Steel
Here are 5 reasons to anneal steel.  To alter the grain structure; To develop formability; To improve machinability; To modify ...
We're speaking of precision for YOU!
Why has PMPA created this blog, www.pmpaspeakingofprecision.com when there are so many other things competing for your attention? By speaking ...
It's more than a slogan on a sign.
How do I start a 5-S program? How do I get my 5-S program back on track? The best way ...
5 Questions for ForkLift Inspection Compliance
  1) Do we have to inspect forklifts and other industrial powered trucks each day? "Industrial trucks shall be examined ...
5 Positive Facts About U.S. Manufacturing
Great news for manufacturing: Real value added for manufacturing rose 1.9 percent in 2012, after increasing 0.7 percent in 2011. Manufacturing’s ...
5 Not So Obvious Advantages of Centerless Grinding
It is well known that centerless grinding processes allow parts to be held to tighter dimensional tolerances, achieve smoother surface ...
5 Ideas To Thrive Despite Market Uncertainty
Volatility. Uncertainty. Complexity. Ambiguity. Welcome, to the year 2012! The headlines are filled with factors that make our planning for ...
Looking at this, someone is going to say "stress riser."
Stress and stress risers are words that we often hear in our shops. Usually when bad things have happened to ...
5 Facts About Manganese in Steel
The role of Manganese in steel in our precision machining shops. Carbon is a chemical element that is the primary ...
5 Factors To Analyze Work
Here are 5 factors to keep in mind when analyzing work. Focus on the process. In my experience, it is seldom ...
5 Engineering Aspects of Austenitic Grain Size
Austenitic Grain size is an important aspect in the specification and selection of steel for our engineering projects.  Here are ...
5 Customer Benefits to Reshoring
 The China Price isn't necessarily the Bargain that some buyers think it is... Reduce pipeline and surge inventory impacts on ...
5 Contributions Of Nickel In Alloy Steels
When present in substantial amounts, Nickel provides a number of benefits to steel. Nickel's main contribution to steels is making ...
5 Contributions of Chromium to Steels
Chromium is added to steel to Increase resistance to corrosion; Increase resistance to oxidation; Increase hardenability; Improve high temperature strength; ...
5 Chronic Material Selection Problems
Editor's Note: PMPA Speaking of Precision would like to thank CR4 Engineering Forum, geanorm,and PJ Sikorsky for contributing this blog entry ...
5 Certification Aspects To Check When Performance Changes
Here is a post to print out and put in your tool box for reference if you work in the ...
5 Buyer Decisions That Increase Costs
Here are  5 things that can unnecessarily add costs or delays to your Precision Machined Part: Small  Order Quantities Material Selection ...
5 Benefits of Cold Work in Steels
Here are 5 benefits of cold working of steels that make a difference to your machining operations. Increased strength Improved ...
4 Ways Nitrogen Affects Your Shop
Nitrogen strengthens ferrite. Nitrogen improves surface finish. Nitrogen improves production rates. Nitrogen can contribute to cracking during cold working. Well ...
4 Types of  Factors That Can Affect Whether Your Parts Rust
Yes, you put on rust preventive. Yet, some parts seem more prone to rust than others. PMPA members rely on ...
4 Risks to Recovery- Peter Morici
Guest Post by Professor Peter Morici.Peter Morici is an economist and professor at the University of Maryland School, and former ...
" Why yes,  I can hold that price firm for the year" said no one in their right mind. Ever.
Your customers may demand that you give them firm pricing for raw materials, but here are 4 reasons that say ...
4 Questions To Select The Correct Grade Of Steel
Selection of materials for precision machined parts should be held to a higher standard than just  "cheapest price per pound." ...
step small
PMPA is proud to announce and congratulate the 4 PMPA members to be awarded the 2014 STEP Award by the ...
"Only three months in a row of non negative sales growth"
The August 2009 PMPA Business Trends Report increased to 73 in August up 3 points from July, up 4 points ...
4 Mistakes When Making Engineering Or Process Changes
When you have been in manufacturing long enough, you begin to recognize a few common themes. Four buckets, if you ...
IMG_2589
21 PMPA member shops across the country took part in MFG Day 2013.Here are some photos and some lessons learned:Lesson ...
4 keys to sustainability
Many people, particularly in Purchasing and Accounting, see buying at the lowest cost as being a key to sustaining their ...
4 Green Shoots Point To Manufacturing Recovery
Here's the latest  bullet points from AMT, The Association for Manufacturing Technology: February U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $163.96 million, ...
4 Drilling Symptoms That Say "Check Run-out"
Problems with the hole often get machinists to blame the material. In my experience checking the drill and machine run-out will ...
4 Contributions of Molybdenum to Steel
By retarding transformation rates, moly improves the hardenability of its alloy steel grades. Molybdenum is an essential micronutrient, but large ...
Cut off Tool and Holders for Acme Gridley Multispindle Screw Machine
 There are many different ways that part length can vary when using a cut-off tool on Multiple Spindle Automatic Screw ...
3.5 Million Manufacturing Jobs Lost This Decade
Thanking the Buffalo Business  First  for their authoritative study on manufacturing jobs lost in the top 100 markets here in ...
3-S Your Shop- COVID-19
"The one thing that you can do is to stand down for ten minutes and 3-S your shop." Paul Akers,  ...
3-ON!
3-ON is the newest buzz word. I'm starting to hear and see it more and more, like 24/7 was just ...
Safety first when working at home too, guys!
Safety- What You Can Do Today To Make Your Company The Most Money? No one can afford the wasted money ...
Who invited the guy in the pink shirt?
My contributions were recognized, valued, celebrated. So that's what its like to be part of a team... Our fivesome finished ...
3 Reasons Why Mechanical Properties of Cold Drawn Steel Can Vary
"Why do the mechanical properties on different shipments of the same size and grade of steel vary so much? " ...
You are here?
The July 2009 PMPA Business Trends Report remained level at 69 in July. We were pleased to see that this index ...
Heads it machines well, welds lousy, Tails...
Any type of arc welding of resulfurized steels is generally avoided. This post will give you some  reasons why. Resulfurized ...
3 Reasons for Precision Machining Optimism in 2011
Here are three reasons for optimism for 2011 for our Precision Machining Industry: 1) Metal Service Center Shipments in November ...
3 Meaningful Structural Issues To Be Addressed
Michelle Applebaum is the analyst we follow for steel industry developments. She has the best handle on the statistics that ...
135 Degree Screw Machine Drill
Here are  three of my favorite and most shared ideas to get the most from drills in your shop. Keep the drill ...
3 Ideas That Explain What Really Motivates Us
This post will help you understand the limited power of financial incentives. What really motivates us? AUTONOMY is the desire to be ...
Confidential privacy advice courtesy of Google.
If you can’t prove it- don’t say it… but when opinion is called for, base it on facts and outline ...
3 Functions of A Cutting Fluid
Cutting fluids contribute 3 ways to our machining processes. 1) They provide lubrication. Lubrication reduces friction. Reduced friction means less ...
3 Facts About Scale (Iron Oxide) Rust On Steel
On hot rolled bars to be cold drawn, the dark oxide surface is called scale. Scale is the name given ...
Cracks can develop after cold work is performed on machined parts.
Paying attention to draft, chemistry, and steel melt source processes can help you minimize the potential for cracks at your ...
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Submitted by Monte C. Guitar, PMPA Director of Technology. Don’t wait for an outside auditor to provide the assistance to ...
Chart courtesy Calculated Risk blog
"Economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted in December for the second consecutive month, with the December PMI® registering 48.2 ...
25 Ways To Say "Very Good"
Giving clear instructions is an art. So is giving feedback. Here are 25 Ways to say "Very Good." These are ...
21 Ways Offshoring Medical Parts Manufacture Is Bad Business
Setting up and operating offshore manufacturing doesn’t save money on a total cost basis, but trying to do so may ...
2013 in Review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: The Louvre Museum has ...
2012 Top Shop Survey - Free Tool You Can Use
Is  there a swiss type machine in your future? How would you know? Last year's Top Shops Survey found that 24% ...
2012 PMPA NTC- How We Spell Success!
Attendees and shop owners agree: The 2012 PMPA National Technical Conference was a major success!   “All the sessions I ...
2012 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: About 55,000 tourists visit ...
2011 OSHA Site Specific Targeting- Criteria Overview
Now targeting smaller firms! This year's notice changes the establishment employee size from 40 to 20.*(Or less see below!) This program ...
2011 OSHA 300 A Summary Must Be Posted By February 1, 2012
All employers maintaining the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's 300 Logs for workplace injuries and illnesses pursuant to OSHA's recordkeeping ...
2011 In Review- Speaking of Precision Blog
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: The Louvre Museum has ...
2010-Banner Year For Global Steel Production
In 2010, worldwide crude steel output totaled 1.4 billion metric tons, a 15 percent increase over 2009 and a new ...
2010 Workplace Injuries And Illnesses Data Released By BLS
Incidence rates for injuries and illnesses combined among private industry establishments declined significantly in 2010 for total recordable cases of ...
PMPA's iLumen Benchmarking Service is secure and easy to use.
Benchmarking is not a comparison of numbers or indicators. Benchmarking is an ACTIVITY or PROCESS to determine Best Practice, and your ...
Surprisingly little science.
Dave Davidson posted a link to this test on the SME LinkedIn Group and of course I had to take ...
Hmmmm?
In June, OSHA issued an enforcement memorandum instructing their CSHO's to "be mindful of whether the employer has provided and ...
18 Machine Safety Standards That You Might Need To Know
Great sidebar in an article in Automation World.  If you are doing or working with Machine Automation, this list is ...
14 Causes of Precision Machine Shop Pain
Continued small lot sizes requiring more time to set up then to run Inability to find “what used to be ...
1099 Repeal- Need To Borrow My Pen?
 The House and Senate have passed the legislation to repeal this onerous reporting requirement. What's the hold up on getting ...
JRW Pix
Guest post by John R. Wirtz of Pinpointe Marketing, LLC. PMPA collaborates with Gardner Publications to produce Production Machining Magazine ...
10 Tips To Speak "Successful Interview" In The Machining Business
Time for that hiring interview. Congratulations. Whether you are speaking with a Recruiter, an Human Resources pro tasked with hiring, ...
10 Things That Say "Santa Hates Your Shop"
PMPA members have a great relationship with the Great Manufacturer at the North Pole. But we heard that it isn't ...
1.79 cents for your thoughts
It is difficult to make money making small metallic parts. Just ask the folks who make money over at the ...
$1.50 Lens-Free Microscope
While this application is medical, not metallurgical,  the technology is worth a few seconds of your time... Being a techie, I ...
.40 Carbon Steel Brinell Hardness vs. Tempering Temperature
Hardness of Quench and Tempered alloy steels is a function of the tempering temperature. The higher the tempering temperature, the ...