At the 2009 Precision Machining Technology Show, Noah Graff interviewed David Holscott, consultant to the Precision Machined Product Association Education Foundation.Holscott said he was pleased with the PMTS show’s student attendance, which he projected to be about 225. However, he remains concerned that people still do not sufficiently emphasize to students the importance of post high school education nor do they recognize the potential for vocational schools to lead to fulfilling careers. Question: Do you fear that in five years the U.S. manufacturing sector will not have a sufficient skilled labor force?
Author: Noah Graff
At last week’s PMTS show Lloyd interviewed Wes Skinner, head of ManthBrownell Corporation, of Kirkville, New York. They discussed the ups and downs of the brass market, now dominated by Chase Brass and Mueller Brass in North America. Until recently brass has never sold for more than the price of copper. In the following video Skinner comments on the difficulty in dealing with this brass bar duopoly.
By Lloyd Graff With the machining community so riddled with woe at the moment, the guns and ammo boomlet is manna from heaven. It’s a great time to be in the gun business. The buzz on the Web is that Barack Obama is going to push for a ban on assault riffles, something households need more than refrigerators. Evidently, Obama’s campaign reference, that “bitter” small-town Americans “cling to guns or religion,” has fueled a tremendous surge in gun and ammo sales. People are buying AR-15s, the civilian version of the M-16 military rifle, like 42” HD televisions. At $1000…
Today’s brutal economy is forcing people to do things they would have thought to be preposterous a year and half ago. In Japan, as unemployment grows to levels not seen since World War II, unemployed factory and office workers are going to the countryside to try to be farmers. Recently, I traveled to Japan and witnessed a place with high-tech, amenities I couldn’t imagine beforehand. Restaurants have computers to order from, taxies have doors that open automatically, public toilet seats are heated and ultra fast trains dominate transportation. People used to this world are attempting to learn to farm, in…
By Lloyd Graff The General Motors train is lumbering toward bankruptcy. Does it give you any comfort that Elmer Fudd in pinstripes, otherwise known as Fritz Henderson, is now running the show at GM? Henderson is another GM lifer who has been a successful bureaucrat politician at General Motors—not exactly a guy who looks like the next Lee Iacocca or Steve Jobs. What a mess the company has become. Alfred Sloan must be laughing or crying in his grave as he watches jokes like Rick Wagoner and Elmer Fudd, excuse me, Fritz Henderson, fumble toward bankruptcy. I felt like retching…
By Lloyd Graff, At least three times per summer we hear the sirens blare, signaling the possibility of a tornado in our vicinity. We take cover in the basement or the safest corner and wait for it to pass over. We listen for the “all clear” signal and the absence of thunder. For the machining industry, particularly in the Midwest, the tornado sirens keep shrieking and the all clear has yet to sound. Since September a lousy recession has become a depression worthy event for anybody who cuts or bends metal. The only hiding places have been in guns which…
I had always seen GM head, Rick Wagoner, as a figure like Leonid Brezhnev, the Russian Premier who just seemed like he would rule forever. When Wagoner was finally ousted from GM on March 30th, I was compelled make a video blog to reflect upon the man’s contributions to his company. If Wagoner did remain GM’s ruler for life, what would be the arguments to justify his reign?
By Lloyd Graff Just saw on the Internet that Delphi is selling its brakes and suspension businesses to two Chinese companies and the Chinese government. Sale is set to close in fourth quarter. Does anybody know exactly which plants will be affected. Any of you bloggers doing work for this part of Delphi?
By Noah Graff Here’s what I keep asking. You all are asking it too I’m sure. Is GM’s plight almost entirely the fault of Wagoner. Would a different person, a super genius, an extraordinary motivator make the company thrive, or would anyone have fallen victim to our awful economy? I think that it could have been somewhat different. After all, Toyota and Honda (although they are in tough times too) are not on the brink of bankruptcy. But was Wagoner handcuffed to begin with by crappy designs, terrible UAW agreements…etc.? Could Apple’s Steve Jobs have made GM thrive?
In honor of Rick Wagoner being ousted from GM, we thought it would be nice to reminisce about a brighter time in the company’s history. Here’s a little time capsule to the “Golden Age” of GM.