Industry Trends & Analysis

There's no doubt that the U.S. manufacturing boom has created jobs. The question is, are they for humans or robots?

Don Nelson, publisher of Cutting Tool Engineering and MICROmanufacturing magazines, interviews David J. Povich, president of Tool Alliance, Huntington Beach, Calif. Povich also was recently elected president of the United States Cutting Tool Institute.

Cutting Tool Engineering Editorial Director Alan Rooks ruminates over the "Made in America" debate that flared once again thanks to the U.S. Olympic team's uniforms.

Cutting Tool Engineering's 2012 Salary Survey reveals how much various metalworking professionals are making, and the results are mixed.

The Lead Angle column in the July 2012 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering addresses the growing interest in retaining manufacturing workers through training and retraining.

Managing energy costs and improving energy performance requires an ongoing commitment.

After being offstage for many years, U.S. manufacturing had better be ready for the limelight. Another large research study has found that, not surprisingly, manufacturing is big—and it matters.

Cutting Tool Engineering Editorial Director Alan Rooks ponders one of the metalworking industry's biggest challenges of late—filling numerous job vacancies.

It's getting to be a broken record. February was another up month for U.S. manufacturing as output increased 0.4 percent. Output rose 0.7 percent in January after jumping 1.5 percent in December—the biggest gain in 5 years.

As the U.S. strives to become less dependent on foreign energy sources, energy producers are increasingly employing hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," to drill shale deposits and extract natural gas and some oil. That booming market requires a range of parts from shops around the country.

States near the Marcellus Shale, a huge natural gas formation centered in Pennsylvania, are feverishly pursuing a $4 billion ethane "cracker" to be built by Royal Dutch Shell. The cracker will process ethane-rich gas from the Marcellus Shale into ethylene, and the ethylene will be used by the pharmaceutical, chemical and plastics industries.

Manufacturing was a star in 2011 and looks to shine brightly in 2012.