Reshoring

Alan Beaulieu, President of ITR Economics

February 13, 2013 By Brent Smith Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Alan Beaulieu, President of ITR Economics

Today we were happy to speak with Alan Beaulieu, President of ITR Economics. With over 60 years of continuous operating economic research ITR Economics stands as one of the most experienced consulting firms in the United States. Alan was kind enough to share a glance into his well proven crystal ball as to what the future may hold for US Manufacturing. With a proven accuracy rate of 94.7% over the past 60 years this is a discussion that you don’t want to miss.

SHOW NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

1. The history of ITR Economics and how they have maintained an accuracy rate of 96.4% for the past few quarters.

2. The value that ITR Economics provides its customers by providing non-biased forecasting.

3. How can you use economic forecasting to best prepare your business for the future.

4. Alan discusses some of the factors that influence the methodology for maintaining such a high accuracy rate.

5. Why does Alan believe the outlook looks positive for 2013?

6. How can organizations grow during a recession.

7. Does the turmoil is Washington affect an organization’s decision making.

8. We discuss interest rates.

9. To learn more about Alan Beaulieu and ITR Economics click here!

###
To be notified by email when a new show featuring industry experts is published, join our mailing list here!

Or subscribe to our show in iTunes here. If you enjoyed the show, please leave a comment and a positive customer rating too. Much appreciated!
Thanks for listening!

Filed Under: STEM Tagged With: #MFG, Dreamland Interactive, Economic Forecast, Forecasting, ITR Economics, Manufacturing, Manufacuturing Revival, Reshoring, STEM

Dan Meckstroth of MAPI: Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation

February 5, 2013 By Brent Smith Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

[If you are reading this on email, click here to listen to the episode!]

Dan Meckstroth, Vice President and Chief Economist of MAPI

We were glad to have the opportunity to speak with Dan Meckstroth, Vice President and Chief Economist with MAPI: Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation. MAPI is a 80 year old professional service organization representing large multinational manufacturers in the United States. MAPI provides peer discussion groups and additionally distributes a quarterly industrial outlook report. On today’s show Dan discusses with us the most recent quarterly report (the Q4 2012) which was released this past December.

SHOW NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Dan provides the top line highlights of the Q4 2012 report

2. What sectors are expecting growth for 2013 and 2014

3. How did the financial cliff affect consumer spending

4. What effect will sequestration and the debt ceiling debate have on the economy

5. Why are so many organizations sitting on their excess capital

6. Dan explains consumer demand and the factors that drive it

7. How future policy moves in Washington could have an impact on economic outlook

8. We discuss the outlook for a variety of industries

9. Listen to hear Dan’s advice to manufacturers for preparing for what is expected in the future.

10. Learn more about MAPI by clicking here

###
To be notified by email when a new show featuring industry experts is published, join our mailing list here!
Or subscribe to our show in iTunes here. If you enjoyed the show, please leave a comment and a positive customer rating too. Much appreciated!
Thanks for listening!

Filed Under: Innovation, Uncategorized Tagged With: 2013, Dan Meckstroth, Dreamland Interactive, Economic Forecast, Economic Outlook, Manufacturing Revival Radio, MAPI, Q4 Report, Reshoring, US Economy

Nigel Southway of the Toronto Chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers

February 1, 2013 By Brent Smith 2 Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Nigel Southway, Chair of the Toronto Chapter of Society of Manufacturing Engineers

[If you are reading this on email, click here to listen to the episode!]

When you are at War, You Change the Rules to Win

We are excited to announce our very first repeat guest on Manufacturing Revival Radio. A big thanks to Nigel Southway, Chair of the Toronto Chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, for sharing his time and insights with us. Lately we have been hearing a lot about Reshoring and the optimism that surrounds it for American Manufacturing. As Nigel informed us, our neighbors to the North are sharing the same optimism for Canadian Manufacturing. Today’s conversation was focused specifically on the gap that currently exist in the skilled workforce necessary to fully bring Manufacturing back.

We Capitalize Equipment, Why not Education

Nigel walked us through his concept of a “Fully Integrated Apprenticeship Program.” As an individual who went through a similar program in the 1960′s, Nigel is a living example of the success that such a program can offer. During our discussion we cover the who, what, why, and how’s of implementing such a program successfully. We discuss who responsible for providing such programs. Is it Government, Education Systems, Private Sector, or a combination of all three?
Nigel pointed out that in North America it’s time to change our mindset about investing in labor.

We covered so much information during our interview that it is impossible to highlight even a tenth of it here. Please do yourself a favor and listen to this entire fascinating discussion.

###
To be notified by email when a new show featuring industry experts is published, join our mailing list here!

Or subscribe to our show in iTunes here. If you enjoyed the show, please leave a comment and a positive customer rating too. Much appreciated!

Thanks for listening!

Filed Under: STEM Tagged With: Apprenticeship, Education, Labor, Labor Investment, Manufacturing Revival Radio, Nigel Southway, Reshoring, Skill, SME, STEM, Training, Workforce

Harry Moser of The Reshoring Initiative

January 15, 2013 By tyoungblood 1 Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Harry Moser, Founder of the Reshoring Initiative

Total Cost of Ownership

If the words total cost of ownership are not currently on your mind, I can almost guarantee that after listening to today’s interview that will no longer be. We were glad to welcome Harry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative, to join us for a discussion about a topic that we hope is sweeping the nation in 2013. The Reshoring Initiative is an organization devoted to helping US manufacturers realize the true cost associated with offshore manufacturing and educating them on the critical role they play in the future of the US economy. Today’s discussion revealed some eye opening statistics and possibilities that the Reshoring Initiative is working to make realities.

What is the true cost of Offshoring Manufacturing?

We’ve all heard the reasons why so many companies in the past have shipped their manufacturing jobs overseas. Lower labor cost and raw materials cost have always been the primary drivers. Often companies are able to look at these lower cost and compare them to the additional incurred expenses of freight and justify their actions. However, as we learned today more often than not organizations are not looking at the true cost of their decisions. How about the additional cost of warehousing these shipped goods, or the expenses of traveling overseas to set up and inspect your facilities? Let’s also not forget the intangibles, such as the loss of innovation when you move engineering away from the manufacturing.

Mr. Moser left us speechless (which almost never happens) with some of his startling statistics. Consider this, when looking at offshoring on a purely cost basis manufacturing in the US cost 69% higher than manufacturing in China. However, when an organization properly calculates the total cost of ownership (TCO) US manufacturing actually drops to 4% lower than Chinese Manufacturing. Want to hear about Mr. Moser’s plan to bring back 1 million plus jobs to US soil? Take a moment and listen to the entire interview. You can also stay up-to-date with the Reshoring Initiative by following them on Twitter here.

###
To be notified by email when a new show featuring industry experts is published, join our mailing list here!

Or subscribe to our show in iTunes here. If you enjoyed the show, please leave a comment and a positive customer rating too. Much appreciated!

Thanks for listening!

Filed Under: Innovation Tagged With: Innovation, Jobs, Manufacturing, Reshoring, Total Cost of Ownership, US Manufacturing

Joel Hans of Manufacturing.net

January 7, 2013 By tyoungblood Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

The CNN of Manufacturing news

Joel Hans, Managing Editor of Manufacturing.net

We found the perfect guest to help us kick start a new year of Manufacturing Revival Radio. This week we welcome Joel Hans, Managing Editor for Manufacturing.net. Manufacturing.net is a leading source for news and information for all things Manufacturing. Joel shared with us the goals of manufacturing.net and also provided some insight into what to expect in Manufacturing for 2013.

Manufacturing.net is an amazing resource for professionals looking for the latest industry news. Joel explained to us how his publication utilizes a wide range of sources in order to provide a constant stream of new and insightful content. We were intrigued to hear about how Manufacturing.net also houses a team of writers who are constantly working on exclusive in-depth articles focused emerging trends and relevant issues that affect today’s Manufacturers.

What to expect in 2013?

As our conversation turned towards what to expect for 2013 Joel expounded upon some of the trends he expects for 2013. One common theme that has the potential to be a game-changer to US Manufacturing is the reshoring of many companies foreign operations. Download the interview to listen to Joel discuss how the possible reshoring of some leading consumer electronics manufacturers could play a significant role in bringing attention to Manufacturing’s Revival in 2013!

###
To be notified by email when a new show featuring industry experts is published, join our mailing list here!

Or subscribe to our show in iTunes here. If you enjoyed the show, please leave a comment and a positive customer rating too. Much appreciated!

Thanks for listening!

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: 3D Printing, Lean, Manufacturing, Reshoring