While there are a variety of National Chocolate Days throughout the year, there is no other day people correlate with confectionary delights more than February 14th. When it comes to traditional Valentines Day gifts, the National Confectioners Association revealed via survey that Americans overwhelmingly prefer chocolate to flowers. With a projected $1.057 billion in U.S…. Read more
In the wake of what was one of the most disappointing Super Bowl games in history, news from the big game has been largely diverted to the part of the event that actually promised entertainment: the advertisements. While some of the commercials were more successful than others (“Is there anything more American than America?” Yikes!),… Read more
Manufacturing.net has been counting down its list of Most Innovative Industrial Companies for 2013, and it recently named Bolthouse Farms its number one pick. The manufacturing industry has been dealing with a lot of change lately, implementing new ideas to recover from the recession and continue to grow. Lean manufacturing, reshoring, aging workforce, labor shortages,… Read more
Most of the nation is experiencing record-breaking low temperatures and snowfall this winter, and the effects are widespread. While some businesses are forced to halt daily operations, others are seeing an atypical spike in sales. When it comes to cold weather, the manufacturing industry has to be especially cautious about the temperature’s effects on equipment… Read more
While the region of the country will dictate what kind of employee shortage manufacturing is seeing – from CNC operators to software writers – they’re seeing a shortage nonetheless. With automation becoming more prevalent, certain shortages are not emergencies. However, the manufacturing industry as a whole is under the gun to recruit young talent. Joel… Read more
In order to remain profitable, manufacturers have to be in touch with what their customers really want from them. With initiatives like lean and JIT working for many companies, manufacturers are ever aware of what will set them apart from their competitors. They have their eye on things like environmental impact, safety, timeliness, and cost… Read more
Gleason Cutting Tools Corp made news in Material Handling & Logistics for its lean operation. According to Tom Andels’ article, “Make: Lean is a Supply Chain Exercise for Gleason,” Gleason has made lean manufacturing a collaborative effort with its customers and vendors. The result is not just greater profit for Gleason. Collaborating also helps the… Read more
Material Handling and Logistics (MH&L) recently published an article about Franklin Electric titled, “Do These Boxes Make Me Look Leaner?” While the boxes referred to are a big part of the company’s latest successful lean efforts, the article pinpoints a number of tools and mottos that were integral to the company’s overall success. For those… Read more
Supply Chain Insights LLC (SCI) recently released their 2012 Supply Chain Metrics That Matter on contract manufacturing. In its research, SCI collected financial data from 2000-2012 from contract manufacturers (CMs) listed in the Fortune Global 500. By the end of the report, SCI warns brand owners to “tread carefully” when it comes to CMs. What… Read more
Reshoring and the state of US manufacturing have been hot national topics lately. The cost to offshore manufacturing is rising to a level that has a number of companies considering plans to relocate their facilities back to the U.S. This has American consumers excited; in fact, there is an entire movement to promote and assist… Read more