Despite a 1.5 percentage point decrease in March, manufacturers were optimistic about industry growth moving out of the first quarter of 2018. Showing similar signs, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) again dropped in April. With a decrease of 2.0 percentage points from March’s 59.3 reading to 57.3 in April, what…
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One of the biggest challenges when it comes to tracking your operating costs is knowing your company’s operational overhead. Overhead can represent a huge chunk of your business’ expenses. Overhead costs often don’t fluctuate like production costs since they are operating expenses that are independent of your production. However, they are also costs that must…
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In our previous blog on in-house robotic transportation, we took a close look at how quickly manufacturers are implementing automation and how they’re applying it to pallet handling. Here in part two, we’ll look beyond pallets at moving raw materials and finished products within manufacturing plants and how it can benefit manufacturers who invest in…
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Is your manufacturing facility set up to meet demand for your products, or are you consistently experiencing production delays? Could you streamline the way you move materials through your facility, avoiding injury risks along the way? Are you happy with the quality of goods you produce, or are you worried competitors are far ahead as…
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It seems like all over the world, people are waking up to the dangers of climate change and the importance of taking advantage of renewable resources and sustainable energy. But some countries are doing a little bit of a better job leading the way in this area. These countries are providing a great example for…
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Over the past few years we have seen many industries grow like never before. This is great, but as business flourishes one common problem comes up again and again – space. Any thriving operation is going to run into this issue at one point or another. But before you start to think about relocating or…
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Americans have always thought of the U.S. as one of the predominant countries when it comes to world manufacturing. But those who have followed more recent manufacturing industry news have probably realized that China has a very impressive manufacturing system itself. In the current global industrial services market, where does U.S. manufacturing rank on the…
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In March 2016, Tesla started taking preorders for the Model 3 sedan; interested customers had to deposit $1,000 to reserve their vehicles. With over 400,000 orders on the books, Tesla CEO Elon Musk set a production target of 5,000 cars per week by the end of 2017. Having fallen behind that quota and still lagging four…
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Safety management is extremely important when it comes to running your business, especially in the manufacturing industry where heavy machinery creates an added level of risk. A solid safety management policy is crucial to protecting your employees and your business from liability. Here are five measures to take to improve the quality of your safety…
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While offshoring was a major manufacturing trend in the last few decades, a new one is taking its place at a surprising rate: reshoring. When companies reshore manufacturing jobs, whether through investing in new facilities in the United States or by moving more of their processes to existing stateside facilities, they can achieve a variety…
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