By Lloyd Graff Salt is the ultimate commodity. Buy a canister of Morton’s off the very bottom shelf at the supermarket for a buck and a quarter and use it for six months, then buy another. But for a seasoned cook, salt has a flavor that varies with the coarseness of the granule and where it comes from. Sea salt tastes different than mined salt, and rough kosher salt makes better brine than the fine stuff. When I think of salt I envision Tony Maglica, the man behind Mag Instrument, the greatest machining success story of the last 30 years.…
Author: Lloyd Graff
The purge of former college jocks at GM continues. Former pitcher at the University of Michigan, Fritz Henderson (Senior year ERA of 5.91), is out, following the ouster of Rick Wagoner who played basketball at Duke. The culture at the top is changing with the nasty old phone guy Ed Whitacre shaking things up like a juiced up blender. Will ex-Oakland Raider and Chevy spokesman, Howie Long, be the next to hit the road? *********** I recently talked to a long time friend and client, Wes Skinner of Manth Brownell, Kirkville, New York. This year Wes has taken his available…
The Swiss just voted overwhelmingly to bar the building of new minarets in Switzerland. No big deal in and of itself (only four of the country’s 150 mosques have them), but quite significant as a symbol of the discomfort level in the county over the “Islamification” of Europe. Minarets are tower-like structures built on top of mosques that are traditionally used for the call to prayer. None are used for that Switzerland however, because of strict noise pollution rules. Muslims now comprise roughly five percent of the population of Switzerland, traditionally a conservative and insulated country. They have a much…
The default position for many in the machining world has been to flee the automotive business like it was an ominous cloud of swine flu. I admit to lapsing into that mindset, but after reading a provocative article in Inc. Magazine by Bernard Avishai I am becoming a believer in a new golden age of car technology. Avishai used to sell car parts in college in the 1960s and is now a part-time professor at Hebrew University Jerusalem. He is convinced the electric car (plug-in) is coming soon in a big way and will present fabulous opportunities for entrepreneurs, including…
Call me crazy, but General Motors’ shift in advertising from the pathetic Chevrolet and Apple Pie image campaign to a frontal assault on Honda and Toyota, using specs like fuel economy and vehicle value protection, is giving the company real credibility. Howie Long, ex-football bully is a curious choice as the face of the Chevybrand, but no more weird than Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs by Ford. The tribute film to Howie Long below proclaims that he was as brutal as caveman on the field. John Madden is quoted, lauding Long’s exceptional toughness, and another commentator is quoted saying, “Howie Long’s greatest asset was his insecurity. He always was…
I had a long talk today with Miles Free of the Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA). Miles has heavy experience in understanding the technical problems machining companies have in the hostile world of perfect competition which relentlessly drives prices down for even the most proficient contract shops. Quality and delivery are just the price of admission to the poker game of job shop survival. In Miles’ view, the blood sport of contract machining makes the participants risk averse to a fault in venturing out of their area of expertise—making parts. The bidding process they live in everyday is unforgiving of even the…
Productivity in manufacturing rose an unprecedented 13. 5 percent in the third quarter. It means business is rising but the number of employees isn’t. The inflation vigilantes do not accept these numbers. But I’m feeling groovy about productivity gains which will give a big chill to the dollar killers and gold hoarders. Sell your bullion unless you’re going to make soup. ************** After discussing murder in the workplace, Tuesday, how about some good news? Chrysler is breaking even now despite its third grade styling. Costs have been pared to the femur. Fiat’sMarchionne is a serious guy and he has brought in…
I talked to Jim Kucharski, National Sales Manager, of Maier USA, about the health of the company. Maier has made inroads as a new player in the North American CNC Swiss marketplace. It is now pushing in the medical and department of defense markets like the other contenders. With the total Swiss market around 50 percent of last year, everybody is scrapping hard for business. Maier is a family business according to Kucharski, and son Michael recently bought the company out of reorganization in Germany to take out his father’s interest in the business. The senior Maier is a cancer survivor, but has suffered…
Interesting news about the world of heavy trucks. The domestic hauling companies are still flat on their tuchuses, but the suppliers are getting busy. The military demand is getting crazy for trucks and components and some of the big contracts are soon to come. Afghanistan is going to require a different group of vehicles than Iraq. Another leg of demand is China. The Chinese have lots of dollars and a need to move goods around their vast countryside. Evidently they are shopping here for the best and most durable vehicles. The other leg of the stool is the heavy truck…
The Inflation is coming! The inflation is coming! The inflation is coming! It’s all over the news and the bond speculators are fanning the inflation hype like Billy Mays wannabees. I have to ask the dumb question: What planet are they living on? In my world, Wal-Mart and Amazon are in a price war on books with best sellers going for $10 per copy. Home prices continue to fall as properties fester on the market. U.S. unemployment figures stick around 10 percent, but smart guys like Dan DiMicco, head of Nucor, says if you include discouraged workers who don’t show up on the…