Manufacturing companies have begun embracing their environmental responsibility, and are actively finding ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Learn more about what manufacturing companies are doing to become more sustainable.
Cybersecurity is important for all companies, small and large. As summer comes to an end, now is the perfect time to beef up your security. Learn more, and find a link to the full article in this post.
Great news for manufacturers in the Hudson Valley: The August 2018 results for the Empire State Manufacturing Survey once again indicate robust growth, and the optimistic projections for the future imply more good news is on the way. Learn more, and find a link to the full report in this post.
The United States education system has been slowly removing vocational training from high schools since the 1960s. High school curriculum is now much more focused on preparing students for college. Bringing back vocational training would help expose these students to other options and would be beneficial to high school students and the entire manufacturing industry at large. Read more in this post.
As I travel around the Hudson Valley meeting with various leaders in industry, I hear the same concern: “We can’t find enough qualified employees to fill the positions that are being left vacant by retirement, innovation, etc.” This is where a value added strategy can benefit employers: developing collaborative partnerships with education.
Belden, a manufacturing company in Richmond, Indiana, extrudes, weaves, and coats wires that are used in television and Internet installation. The company has been in operation for over a century and is the second largest employer in Wayne County. However, more recently the company is getting attention for their drug treatment program. The program, paid for by the company, allows job applicants …
Each month the Federal Reserve Bank of New York distributes the Empire State Manufacturing Survey to about 200 manufacturing companies throughout New York State to analyze industry performance. Around 100 of the 200 companies contacted complete the questionnaire, which asks them to report on specific performance indicators and offer their projections for the upcoming months. The respondents are …
Lane Mitchell has been working at Schatz Bearing Corporation for the last 11 months as a Tool & Die Maker, and he’s also the newest feature in our video about careers in manufacturing. The Council of Industry’s project, Go Make It, has recently worked with Stage 6 Media to create a video that would highlight Lane’s journey as a toolmaker.
Lane was in high school when jobs within the manufacturing …
By Guest Blogger Amy Greiner
Good news! Economic activity in the lower Hudson Valley continues to flourish and move solidly forward. New multi-family buildings, medical, biotechnology and healthcare projects remain as the primary market-drivers, helping the spur a rate of construction in the region that’s not only out-pacing other industries, but also affecting them.
A look at multi-family construction …
Industry would do itself a bigger service by introducing manufacturing education earlier and more frequently throughout the educational paths trod by its desired workers, from middle school birds-eye surveys to more detailed high-school and college level courses.
Could augmented reality, or AR, be the way forward for the manufacturing workforce? Can AR, an interactive experience of a real-world environment whose elements are "augmented" by computer-generated perceptual information, solve manufacturing problems?
In this post, we feature seven Hudson Valley companies creating wonderful lighting products, including Niche Modern, a formerly Brooklyn-based company now located in Beacon, NY. Learn more about these innovative local manufacturers.
There’s been so much written lately about the future of manufacturing and how new technology, everything from robots to 3D printing, will change the industry. But what will the factory look like when all this emerging tech finally comes together? This fascinating article uses real world examples to paint a picture of what a factory in the Internet-of-Things era might look like:
The contours …
Business activity continued to grow strongly in New York State, according to firms responding to the June 2018 Empire State Manufacturing Survey, the monthly survey of manufacturers in New York State conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Headline general business conditions index climbed five points to 25.0, indicating a faster pace of growth than in May. Both the new orders index …
Fun Fact readers: the laptop used to type this post, and many others on this blog, is a custom ordered one. As the latest gadgets become central parts of our lives, collecting our personal information and helping us through the day, is it really surprising that research shows a growing number of people want products made to their exact specifications?
The study revealed the most important reasons …
3D Printing has been a big focus here at the Council, and all over the world really. It’s the sort of innovation that once seemed confined to only the most fanciful science fiction stories made into reality, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn’t be at least a little interested. In this bit of speculation on the tech’s future, the evolving concept of the …
Demand for traditional vehicles is waning, and General Motors is preparing for the shift by investing in Cruise Automation, Lyft and other autonomous vehicle technologies, says General Motors CEO Mary Barra. “Autonomous technology that’s safer than a car with a human driver is coming, and it’s going to get better and better and better with technologies like artificial intelligence …
Demand for low-volume custom orders is increasing, creating opportunities for small companies on their own and in partnership with larger manufacturers. World Emblem CEO Randy Carr explains how:
The rise in adoption rates of just-in-time manufacturing processes places increasing pressure on large and small manufacturers to shorten delivery times from weeks to days—or even overnight. Working …
Ford is suspending production of its F-150 trucks. The FDA is warning of a nationwide shortage of EpiPens and their generic alternative.
In a strange coincidence, these two high profile glitches in the manufacturing process are occurring at the same time. Fortunately, there is no reason to think this is a sign of things to come. The FDA attributed the EpiPen shortage to manufacturing problems. …
Another day, another apprenticeship program, or should I say, a pre-apprenticeship program? This one located in Connecticut and combines in-class education with a special online curriculum called Tooling-U that allows students to graduate with full credentials and sometimes even a job.
Hernandez, 18, is graduating this month with a pre-apprenticeship at AdChem Manufacturing Technologies Inc. …
Desktops are so last decade. Human-machine interfaces are among the use cases for tablets on the factory floor, notes Panacea Technologies executive William Aja, pointing out the technology’s ability to improve life-cycle management:
Before you grab your pitchfork as many industry professionals might like to, hear me out. Tablet-controlled factories are becoming a reality, and thin client …
American manufacturing has been enjoying a a period of tremendous growth, but there’s an unexpected downside to that: Manufacturers face rising overtime costs as they need to keep workers on longer to keep up with production demands.
For companies shelling out more pay at time-and-a-half rates, the wage drain cuts into profits and can affect new investments. For workers who qualify for …
The Federal Reserve Back of New York reports still more good news for manufacturers as business continue to grow, with the only bad mark being firms’ reported optimism about the next six months declining again:
The headline general business conditions index, at 15.8, remained firmly in positive territory, although its seven-point decline from its March level pointed to a somewhat slower …
We’ve written a lot on this blog about various apprenticeship programs popping up around the country, the practice has taken off as more and more people are realizing its benefits. This program in Maryland stands out by taking a competency-based approach that focuses on skill proficiency instead of time logged.
The apprenticeship program through Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership …
Automation for manufacturing purposes has made some substantial progress recently as machines sophisticated and inexpensive enough to handle low-volume orders and ever-changing production:
New systems, software and processes are replacing so-called islands of automation with seamless, automated manufacturing lines that boost overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) from 30 to 80% or more. Like …
