Entries categorized as ‘Manufacturing’
In today’s (March 2, 2010) Daily Executive Briefing from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, an article from the Financial Times is cited; stating specifically:
US Manufacturers Bracing For Skills Shortages.
Despite the fact that manufacturing industry has cut more than two million jobs last two years, the Financial Times (3/1, Weitzman) reported US manufacturers are struggling to find workers with needed skills. The skill shortage may limit manufacturers’ ability to boost output as the economic recovery accelerates. A wide range of manufacturers have voiced concerns over skilled workers reaching retirement age in the near future, and the dearth of younger employees standing ready to replace them.
Categories: Manufacturing · USA Manufacturing Sector · career awareness · workforce development
“Quick—think of an industry that holds up a huge piece of the state’s economy, innovates constantly and offers rewarding jobs.” (“On a Mission to Save Manufacturing,” Worcester Business Journal, January 18, 2010.)
Jack Healy, of the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership and Manufacturing Advancement Center, has been named the Nonprofit Business Leader of the Year by the Worcester Business Journal.
In addition to naming him the Nonprofit Business Leader of the Year, the January 18, 2010 edition of the Worcester Business Journal also features Jack Healy in an article, On a Mission to Save Manufacturing, that discusses some of the work Jack has done over many years to change people’s perceptions and breathe life back into an industry that many believe is failing.
Categories: Advanced Manufacturing · Manufacturing · Manufacturing in Central Massachusetts · Manufacturing in MA · career awareness
Tagged: Jack Healy, MassMAC, MassMEP, Worcester Business Journal
It may not come as much of a surprise that many people have difficulty contextualizing manufacturing. What is it? What product is produced? What kind of an organization manufactures a product?
Manufacturing is a vast employment sector, and I’m not sure there is a clear and concise way to adequately describe it. In an effort to bring some understanding to one of the many facets of the topic, I’d like to refer the reader to “The Factory Fallacy,” written by Peter Zelinski on Modern Machine Shop, about the difference between the terms “factory” and “manufacturing.” Many people seem to use these terms interchangeably, and yet, they are not truly synonymous.
In one paragraph, the author explains the idea of a factory:
The word connotes a large building or complex where an established product is produced through an intricate series of repetitive steps. A job shop, for example, is not really a factory. Neither is a tool and die shop, nor is a prototyping firm, nor are a great many contract suppliers. Yet all of these places engage in manufacturing.
Read the entire article for a more thorough discussion of the differences between these two terms, and the ways in which people tend to use the terms interchangeably.
Categories: Advanced Manufacturing · General Info · Manufacturing · USA Manufacturing Sector
Tagged: Modern Machine Shop, Peter Zelinski, The Factory Fallacy
The Alliance for Innovative Manufacturing, out of the The Product Realization Network at Stanford University, has an interactive guide that helps people learn more about manufacturing. General topics, with more than 50 different videos, include “How Things are Made,” “Careers in Manufacturing,” and “Manufacturing Processes.”
In addition to the videos, the interactive guide poses questions to viewers, asking them to think about how products are made; viewers can also see the responses that other people have submitted.
To watch the videos and find out more about different types of manufacturing, processes, and careers, visit The Alliance for Innovative Manufacturing site.
Categories: Advanced Manufacturing · General Info · Manufacturing · career awareness
Tagged: Alliance for Innovative Manufacturing, Stanford University
Explore careers in manufacturing online with the Manufacturing Career Guide. The guide includes job descriptions, skill and education requirements, and also lists some wage and salary information. The site also includes additional resources, video links, and tutorials.
Categories: Advanced Manufacturing · General Info · Manufacturing · career awareness · education awareness
Tagged: career information, Manufacturing Career Guide
Two articles about a New England manufacturer have recently appeared in two local papers (The Worcester Telegram and The Boston Globe).
Not only does the company — Dickinson Brands, Inc. — use a zero-waste distilling method, but they have also experienced double-digit growth, even during this recent recession.
For more information, or to view the articles about Dickinson Brands, Inc., click on the links above (see highlighted text).
Categories: General Info · Manufacturing · recession
Tagged: Dickinson Brands, sustainability, Witch Hazel, zero-waste
From an article by the Associated Press on Boston.com, dated July 2, 2009:
Brighter news on manufacturing is offering more hope that the longest recession since World War II is near an end. But with construction and many other segments of the economy still weak and unemployment rising, any rebound is likely to be slow.
A key gauge of manufacturing showed yesterday that industry activity declined less than expected in June. The Institute of Supply Management’s manufacturing index was 44.8 – the best showing since last August, a month before the financial crisis erupted with force.
Categories: Manufacturing · USA Manufacturing Sector · recession
The Mass-TEC staff have been working with Worcester Family Engagement Coalition, Uniting Our Voices, Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts, Citywide Parent Planning Advisory Council, and Latino Education Institute to pull together all the pieces for the second, two-evening Family Academy: Career Choices for Our Children event.
The first evening — tonight — will include a presentation by Workforce Central Career Center on the Massachusetts Career Information System (MassCIS) to each of the parent groups (i.e., English speakers, Spanish speakers, and Vietnamese speakers). When a group is not learning about MassCIS, they will be speaking with employees and employee/owners from area advanced manufacturing companies. We have six employees scheduled to sit on informal panels and discuss their experiences in the field with the parent groups. Presently, employees and owners hail from Metso Automation, JP Mfg, Phillips Precision, Intel Corporation, and Saint-Gobain.
The second evening — tomorrow — includes a tour of the Intel fab in Hudson. The tours will be broken up into three separate groups, and will be led by different Intel employees and an interpreter.
I believe the turnout for this event is nearing 50 people, including some children (grades 7 – 12).
Categories: Advanced Manufacturing · Manufacturing · Manufacturing in Central Massachusetts · Outreach Events · career awareness
Tagged: CPPAC, Family Academy, Intel, JP Mfg, LEI, Mass-CIS, Mass-TEC, Metso Automation, Phillips Precision, Saint-Gobain, SEACMA, Uniting Our Voices, WFEC, Workforce Central Career Center
