A better question would be “Why,  exactly did you take off the guards?”

The hazards are real.

Respect the horsepower and sharp edges of our steel tools.

No one should get hurt  to make something. Not at work. Not in our shops at home.

Machine guards are there for our protection.

We are  the reason for the guards.

USE THEM.

Good luck with the skin graft…

It turns out that  her book The Outstanding Organization won a 2013 Shingo Research Prize.

Shingo Prize worthy.

The book and its message are heavily pointed at achieving institutional clarity through reducing chaos.

That is a great takeaway, but was not the best one for me.

The One Lesson that I took from Karen’s presentation was that the Shewart Cycle- Plan- Do- Study- Adjust- is the authentic model for continuous improvement.

First proposed by Walter Shewart,  and edited, published, and improved by Deming,  the Shewart cycle  was recast by Japanese executives into PDCA- Plan-Do-Check-Act- and this is how many of us have learned it.

According to Karen Martin

• In the 1980′s Deming felt that the model had been corrupted by translation difficulties.
• Deming recommended replacing PDCA with PDSA- which he felt was closer to Shewart’s original intent.
• “Deming continued to refer to the cycle  as PDSA and dubbed it the ”Shewart cycle for learning and improvement.” (The Outstanding Organization, pp.128-129.)

So why am I a fan of Karen Martin’s PDSA reframing?

Certainly not because of this little bit of historico-semantic revisionism?

Actually, it is because unlike all of the other graphics that you can find on PDSA on google images, Karen Martin’s book  has depicted this cycle as Shewart and Deming have relayed it- a continuous, ongoing process of continuous feedback- ongoing process improvement.

It is not a wheel, PDSA is a continuous cycle of cycles!

This is the One Lesson I Learned from Karen Martin.

• Ditch  the PDCA wheel visual-Embrace the continuous cycle of cycles model of PDSA.

Here is a whiteboard trailer for the book.

And, congratulations on the Shingo Research Prize.

We need to turn this trend around. We need their talent too.

Why has womens’ representation in manufacturing dropped for two decades?

PMPA Vice President Darlene Miller testified before the Senate Joint Economic Committee last week on the topic of Women in Manufacturing.
As a shop owner, STEP Women in Manufacturing honoree, and member of the President’s Job Council, Darlene has some real world insight into the issue.

Here are her 4 Steps to Encourage Women in Manufacturing Careers

1)      It is absolutely essential that businesses engage with local community colleges to assure relevant skills sets are being taught;

2)      Equipment needs to be current, not old and outdated. We have high tech $400,000-$500,000  equipment per machine.

3)      We really need really excellent math and problem solving skills; we need to tell the Schools what those are.

4)      We need to get into middle schools to  engage female students at a younger age to potential careers.

Watch the testimony:

Read the report:
Women in Manufacturing PDF

Healthy and strong!

Team play. Synergy. Working together.

Thanks Charles.

Core Powered Inc.

So what are the top 10 demanded U.S. manufactured exports?

1. Transportation Equipment
2. Chemicals
3. Machinery
4. Computer and Electronic Products
5. Petroleum and Coal Products
6. Food
7. Primary Metal
8. Medical Equipment, Sporting Goods, and Miscellaneous
9. Fabricated Metal Products
10. Electrical Equipment 

(source:  Brookings EXPORT NATION 2012)

Here is what the report had to say about Manufacturing:

“Manufacturing comprised the majority of U.S. exports in 2010. While on a declining trend as a share of U.S. exports, manufacturing has seen a comeback in the first year of recovery. About 61 percent of U.S. exports, manufacturing industries produced three-quarters of the additional U.S. sales abroad between 2009 and 2010. The sector’s sales abroad increased by 14.5 percent and expanded faster than U.S. exports overall. Machinery, transportation equipment, and chemicals delivered one-half of manufacturing exports growth.”

“Manufacturing contributed disproportionately to export recovery in the large metros (metropolitan areas). While manufacturing accounted for 59 percent of the exports sold by industries located in the large metros in 2010, it delivered almost 76 percent of the exports growth in these metros. Midwestern metros illustrated this trend, with 85 percent of their exports growth generated by manufacturing industries.”

“Manufacturing industries delivered the majority of export sales growth in 94 out of the largest 100 metros in 2010.”

Here are the facts on US Manufactured Goods Exports. Where do you fit in?

Precision machining companies produce components that are key to functionality of transportation equipment, machinery, computers and electronic products, medical equipment,  and electrical equipment.

Our parts are used to harvest, process, and package food, and to produce and refine petroleum and coal products.

We are a sub-industry of Fabricated Metals- number 9 on the list.

What are USA’s Top 10 Manufactured Exports?

They are all items that would not be exportable if it were not for the role of  our precision machined products.

Why does manufacturing – especially precision machined manufacturing-  matter?

Ask an economist.

Or look at exports.

Recession photo

According to BLS

• The labor force participation rate—the percentage of the population working or looking for work—for all mothers with children under age 18 was 70.5 percent in 2012, little different from the prior year.
• Mothers with younger children are less likely to be in the labor force than mothers with older children. In 2012, the labor force participation rate of mothers with children under 6 years old (64.8 percent) was lower than the rate of those whose youngest child was 6 to 17 years old (75.1 percent). The participation rate of mothers with infants under a year old was 57.0 percent.
• Among employed mothers, those with preschoolers are more likely to work part time than are mothers with children ages 6 to 17. About 29 percent of employed mothers with children under age 6 worked part time in 2012, compared with 23 percent of employed mothers with children ages 6 to 17.

The economic reality that is today means that the majority of mothers with children  under age 18 needs to work.

We salute them for the great job that they do as mothers.

And  for making a difference as the great contributors on the job that they are.

Thanks Moms!

BLS Mothers

Recent veterans have a demonstrated ability to work in teams and perform under pressure.

They understand that showing up on time is important.

They have experience acquiring data and acting on it.

They have demonstrated their ability to follow directions, respond appropriately to challenges, and work well with others.

In many cases, their lives and the lives of their comrades depended on it.

Team experience is relevant experience.

I can’t think of someone more qualified to make a human safety critical component for your car’s anti-lock braking system or for the airbag system or …

If you are interested in learning more about how to tap this valuable resource of human talent for your shop, check the link here

For more info on Get Skills To Work for Employers

For more info on Get Skills To Work for Veterans

Photo credit

Safety Awareness is just as important on the drive in to work and on the way home these days.

While many of us take comfort in the fact that we can drive on autopilot- as long as we have had the first cup of coffee before inserting the ignition keys- the fact is that we need to be on the alert for changes that just might put us at greater risk than anything that we might face on the job.

Excavations, construction workers, construction equipment, and high horsepower vehicles are all hazards that might ‘ambush us’ now that Orange Barrel Season is upon us and in full swing.

I have a half mile of orange barrels after turning out of my neighborhood onto the state road- not even a quarter mile from my driveway.

“Safety First”  in Orange Barrel Season means being on the lookout for driving hazards  ”Before getting to work!”

Four of every five victims in a work zone crash are motorists, not highway workers, which is why it is particularly important for drivers to remain alert while driving through work zones. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has taken steps in the past several years to improve work zone design, strengthen enforcement near work zones, and heighten awareness among drivers for bringing the number of work zone fatalities to record lows.

Orange Barrel season is the opposite of Hunting Season.

No points for this!

“It’s a bad outcome if you “bag one!”

FHWA Statistic

Orange Barrel Season

Damaged Orange Barrel

Mismatch exists between jobs and education.

Stuart E. Eizenstat and Robert I. Lerman, wrote about the need for apprenticeships in The Washington Post earlier this week.

Here are 7 key reasons they say the  U.S. should be developing apprenticeship programs

1. The United States is on the verge of a manufacturing comeback
2. Too few workers with the skills needed
3. The skills gap is real.
4. U.S. unemployment remains at  7.5 percent
5. Only one out of two African American men in their early 20s has a job
6. Inadequate number of skilled workers for intermediate-level technical occupations
7. There is a dearth of skilled machinists, welders, robotics programmers and those who maintain equipment.

The central answer to the mismatch between jobs and employment is a 21st-century apprenticeship program.

1. Apprenticeships have grown rapidly in other countries, tripling in Australia since 1996 and jumping tenfold — to more than 500,000 entrants last year — in England since 1990.
2. The Group of 20 ministers of labor, the International Labor Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development strongly recommend expanding apprenticeship programs.
3. Apprenticeships could help reduce youth unemployment
4. Apprenticeships could  widen opportunities for young people
5. Apprenticeships could help eliminate the mismatch of skills that is holding manufacturing back.

Government spending on colleges and universities tops $300 billion per year; outlays to apprenticeship programs total less than $40 million annually.

That is 7500 times more spending for college- where many graduates remain unemployed without needed skills for employment that will earn the return on their eductaional ‘investment.’

If we are serious about the U.S. remaining a manufacturing leader, perhaps it is time to look at how we are spending our education/ training dollars.

The need for skilled workers in manufacturing that we can’t find and the numbers of unemployed recent college graduates suggests that we can do better.

7500 times more monies spent on college than apprenticeships? Really?

Does anyone besides me think that perhaps paying 7500 times more for college education than to train folks to get valuable skills leading to employment might be out of balance?

 Punk accountant

As I write this post at 10:50 A.M., the DJIA is up 171 points- attributed to this “great jobs report.”

Here are some facts:

1) Nonfarm payrolls expanded 165,000 for April.

2) Headline Unemployment rate (U3) dropped 0.1 to 7.5%

3) Revisions of prior months’ reports were all positive and totalled ~114,000

On the basis of these facts, the Wall Streeters are “Making Happy.”

Making Happy!

Not so fast, Math Guys.

The average weekly hours in this report contracted from 34.6 hours to 34.4 hours.

No big deal right? A little more part-time employment, eh?

Here’s what Dr. Ken Mayland, blue chip economic forecaster has to say about this:

“The contraction of average weekly hours  from 34.6 hours to 34.4 hours  is almost a stunning reduction in the labor input into the economy. In very rough round numbers, holding workweek hours constant, this would be the equivalent of a 650,000 reduction in payrolls.”

“The labor input into the economy is down to the February level. In spite of a 0.2% pick-up of wages, average weekly earnings are down 0.4% — so the compensation portion of personal income will be weak.”

What the heck are those Wall Streeters thinking?

Despite the “jobs gains and positive revisions,” the real bottom line is that this is a – dare we say it- “dreadful” employment report.

Dreadful employment report.

Photo credit A decade in the making
Photocredit Dreadful jobs report