Industry Trends & Analysis

There's a Sands Casino where the Bethlehem Steel Corp. once stood. The casino was completed in 2009, just 8 years after the 100-year-old steel company filed bankruptcy. Ironically, the biggest obstacle facing the casino's developer was a shortage of structural steel.

A life-long entrepreneur involved in starting and growing seven different businesses and a successful blog, Bob Warfield of the CNCCookbook devotes the 13th episode of the CNC Chef video series to a question his CNC machining audience often asks: How do you start a new business?

This year should be an exciting one for manufacturers. First, we must recognize the long-term trend where large corporations' productivity gains have been outstripping mid and small-size manufacturing companies (500 employees and less). This year we expect those large manufacturers to continue celebrating those productivity gains.

The MEP National Network is a unique public-private partnership that aims to deliver comprehensive, proven solutions to U.S. manufacturers, fueling growth and advancing U.S. manufacturing.

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in January, and the overall economy grew for the 105th consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. The January Purchasing Managers' Index registered 59.1 percent, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the seasonally adjusted December reading of 59.3 percent.

While spectators filled the Berry Bowl for Logansport (Ind.) High School's Friday night basketball game, job seekers and employers gathered in the gymnasium next door. Nearly 20 manufacturing companies, schools and other workforce organizations partnered for the high school's first advanced manufacturing night to promote skilled trades positions available in the area.

A bachelor's or graduate degree is not the only route to a financially rewarding career. There are good-paying technical jobs in fields like health care and other skilled trades that require some postsecondary training, experience or education but not a college degree.

Every day, it happens. Someone from Houston calls, or maybe San Francisco, peddling precision-machined parts from China. Then there are the emails from people with fake names—like Lily, Annie and Susan—overflowing my inbox with offers of low part costs and excellent service. Please, China, I don't want to buy machined parts from you.

Politics weighs more heavily on foreign companies in China than it has in nearly three decades, writes Joe McDonald, an Associated Press business writer. "The latest flashpoint was Beijing's fury last week at hotel keeper Marriott and other companies that labeled self-ruled Taiwan a country on websites or customer materials.

Like most businesses, manufacturing is subject to cycles of stagnation and acceleration. Historically, improved manufacturing has led to the growth of the service sector, which in turn has led to a diminished manufacturing base. Manufacturers will no longer be able to produce a "one size fits all" product and hope the buying public will respond.

Manufacturers are optimistic about what 2018 will bring, according to a survey. Jensen Werley of BizWest Media LLC writes that one of the three main areas of priority is talent and that half of participants said they expect to increase hiring despite the top barrier to growth being a labor shortage.

Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in December, and the overall economy grew for the 103rd consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The December Purchasing Managers' Index registered 59.7 percent, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from the November reading of 58.2 percent.