Most Recent

• Manufacturing Money: How grants help manufacturers fund success (even during a recession)

  By Micki Vandeloo, president, Lakeview Consulting

  In 2007-'08, the U.S. economy, as everyone knows, was in the tank. And manufacturers were especially hard-hit. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, from December 2007 to June 2009, manufacturing lost 14.6% of its workforce. The only time in U.S. history when manufacturing shed a…

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• How to win your pitch to managers

  By Christine LaFave Grace, managing editor

  Thomas Kurtz is director of business development at Tulsa, OK-based Noria Corp., which offers lubrication and oil analysis training and services. Kurtz also is a level-two machinery lubrication technician and a level-three machine lubricant analyst (both certifications from the International…

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• Is your department under control?

  By Joe Anderson, CMRP, CRL, B. Braun Medical

  If you were asked, “What is the opposite of control in one word?” what would you say? Among the people I have asked, most have said “chaos.” I would tend to agree.Do you feel your department is under control? Be honest. If your answer is “no,” the next question is, how do you gain…

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• The secret to smart instrument success

  By Jerry Spindler, Endress +Hauser

  Process instruments have been digital (smart) for many years. In fact, microprocessor-based measuring devices for flow, level, pressure, temperature, etc., have been available since the 1980s. However, a vast majority of units purchased and installed still rely on the 4-20 mA analog output of the…

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• Survey results: Does your facility value production speed over quality?

  A recent New York Times article about Boeing's production of 787 Dreamliners asserted that Boeing's North Charleston, SC, plant had "a culture that often valued production speed over quality." The newspaper's review of internal emails and documents suggested that this culture led to Boeing "at…

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• Manufacturing Money: Why manufacturers need grants but don’t pursue them

  By Micki Vandeloo, president, Lakeview Consulting

  Pretend you are sitting in your office. Someone knocks on the door, and when you open it, you see a person with a big smile on his face, holding a check for $10,000, made out to your company. You look at him, think for a second, and then slam the door in his face and walk back to your desk like…

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