By Lloyd Graff My birthday is in a couple days. Just another day. A number. Just a number. A day to celebrate. But it haunts me, too. It’s a day closer to my last one. CELEBRATE, celebrate, celebrate. That’s what “they” say. What do “they” know? Do “they” know how it feels to get to the age that your Mother died? Do “they” know how it feels to suffer from the same health stuff your parents had? I know I’m supposed to wake up in gratitude, that I survived the night and get to live another day. Often I do,…
Author: Lloyd Graff
I normally deal in subtleties — close calls on whether to buy a machine, take a gamble, hire a new person, eat a piece of pie. But occasionally a deal comes along that is so breathtakingly clear you just shake your head and say YES! We are in one of those odd moments. When the handwriting on the wall is so clear even a blind man can read it. The investment incentive, Section 179 of the Federal Tax Code, can bring savings of more than a million dollars in taxes in the right situation, and is most likely ending in…
Recently, I spent a nice few hours with Rory Gintert, head of DMC America Inc., a large, successful Korean machine tool builder just starting to sell machines under its own name in America. Gintert showed us a beautiful array of sophisticated CNC machines at their newly finished facility in South Elgin, Illinois. How is it that such a large and ambitious machine tool builder like DMC is unknown here? DMC has been building bread and butter machines for Doosan, Hyundai and Samsung for many years. It kept them busy as they built out their own product line in Asia. Now…
I know I am an outsider. As a Jew, I do not experience Christmas as a religious holiday, but I will ask the following question anyway. Why is Christmas seemingly all about shopping and presents to so many people? I can understand giving to charity at the end of the year as an appropriate expression of giving thanks for the birth of Jesus, but do we need to buy an Xbox to make Christmas a happy day? As a Christmas observer, but not a celebrant, it seems like the most miserable time of year. Besides putting up with awful weather,…
I have made a career out of accurately figuring the value of things — particularly machine tools — and placing bets on my guesses. For a long time the prevailing wind was behind appreciating prices. If I bet on inflation, scarcity would usually bail me out. But now I believe that paradigm is played out. I think Ben Bernanke, student of the Great Depression, sensed the end of scarcity when he became head of the Federal Reserve, but he could not announce it at his confirmation hearing for fear of being hanged for economic heresy. The Fed Blubberers (excuse me,…
Winfried Benz, Managing Director of Licon mt, has observed that the implementation time required in the industry is constantly decreasing. The company is responding to this with optimized processes and an expanded range of products. Q: Mr Benz, Licon mt has announced that it intends to focus on new markets and target groups. What are the motivations for this shift? A: This goes hand-in-hand with our product development. In terms of the size of workpieces to be machined, we have moved from large to smaller parts in the area of twin-spindle machining centers. With our latest development, the twin spindle machining center LiFLEX…
I normally do not write about products or technical stuff because, frankly, squirting mustard on a hot dog is a big mechanical challenge for me. But I am excited enough about a new product today to write a piece about it, because it is on the verge of significantly changing my neighborhood — the machining world. A little robot made by a small Danish company, Universal Robot, is showing this week at FabTech in Chicago. Their product, the UR5, is cheap, versatile and easy to program. I probably couldn’t do it, but I am pretty sure you can. It is…
Business owners, “the moving walkway is now ending.” The punch bowl is being pulled away. Section 179 of the United States Tax Code will essentially evaporate December 31 of this year. It is really going to end, and you are going to kick yourself if you blew big money by not taking advantage of the best goodie package the awful Feds have provided in decades. This is really quite important for any small business that needs a truck, crane or parts cleaner. Even a screw machine or a hundred iPads. If you are making money or even if you are not,…
Thanksgiving comes in 15 days. I offer 15 things I’m thankful for. 1) Living. I don’t take it for granted. Five years ago, it would have ended if not for a great surgeon, luck, and God knows what else. 2) My wife Risa, love of my life, friend forever, always the most beautiful girl in the room. 3) My children, Noah, Ari and Sarah, all adults who try to keep me real and have surpassed being great kids, to become my friends and confidantes, too. 4). The freedom of owning my own business. Despite the stresses of trying to make…
I was watching the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers thug it out on Monday Night Football thinking this is all so Howard Cosell and Dandy Don Meredith. The National Football League is still raking in the bucks but it’s fan base is old and getting older. Kids don’t want NFL jerseys in Chicago, they want hockey and basketball. They want Rose and Toews on their backs. If the NFL is yesterday, Major League Baseball is yesterday-er. I love baseball and I always will, but kids aren’t playing it much anymore in America. Maybe a little in California and Texas but…