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Jim Destefani
Senior Editor
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Training Crisis?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of unfilled skilled labor jobs in U.S. manufacturing will be 5.3 million. By 2015, the bureau expects that number to jump to 14 million.
You might think 14 million open jobs--especially jobs that pay a decent living wage--in the next few years would be viewed as a big opportunity by educators and students. But you’d be wrong, and one big reason for that is manufacturing’s image problem in the U.S. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) recently commissioned a study that showed many students see manufacturing as a world of dirty, dark, sweatshops offering long hours and low pay. The perception among high school and college students is that there seems to be no sense of loyalty from manufacturing companies and very little security.
Any possible solution to this problem needs to start in elementary school. If we can teach
somewhat controversial “relationship” education to 10-year-olds, surely we can get them and their teachers better informed about the possibilities and opportunities offered by a career in manufacturing.
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ALSO In this issue..
- Finisher’s Perspective
- Re: Finisher’s Perspective
- Plating
- Powder Coating
- Mechanical Finishing
- New Products
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Share your views, win an Amazon gift certificate.
What do you think? How can we best address the coming shortage of skilled labor in manufacturing? Give us your opinion and you’ll have a chance to win a $50 Amazon.com gift card. Responses may be published in the next Digital Dispatch. Click here to respond.
Last month we asked for opinions on whether the ongoing problems with shoddy Chinese-made products would impact the buying habits of American consumers or boost for American manufacturers. Responses were split about evenly between the “glass is half full” people, who think consumers would pay more to get U.S.-made goods; and the “glass is half empty” folks, who believe either consumers won’t pay more and/or we don’t actually make much of anything in the U.S. any more anyway. Here are a couple we liked.
Tom Linehan of Quality Spraying Technologies said…
Some consumers who have, and love, children and pets will look at the apparent risks of buying China-made products and judge them unacceptable. Those people--millions of them--have already started looking for American-made products. This will be a virtuous cycle: the more active promotion of “100% American made,” the larger the market will grow.
Beau Stephens of Smith & Nephew said…
For the American manufacturer, it could be a great opportunity provided they compete on a cost basis with China. It would be a great time to re-invest in product finishing and coating technology to improve efficiencies and reduce production costs to compete with foreign manufacturers.
We like Beau’s thinking about investing in improved finishing technology, so he’s this month’s winner of a $50 Amazon gift card. Thanks to everyone who responded
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Feature Article—Improving Process Efficiency
Modifying plating tank layouts can significantly improve raw material use, water use and throughput; reduce waste generation; and facilitate application of chemical recovery technologies. To read more, click here.
Plating Clinic—Plating Specifications
How should electroplating specifications be called out on engineering drawings? To read the answer of our plating expert Art Kushner, click here.
Plating Forum--Finish for Stainless Steel
This reader is seeking recommendations for finishing Type 316 stainless steel welded parts to be used in a highly corrosive environment.
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Feature Article—Putting Coatings to the Test
Weathering and light exposure are important causes of damage to coatings. To read about two procedures for accelerated environmental testing of coating materials, click here.
Powder Coating Clinic—Touching Up Powder Coating
What is the best way to touch-up powder-coated surfaces, and what effect would liquid touch-up paint have on salt spray test results? To read the answer of our powder coating expert Nick Liberto, click here.
Powder Coating Forum—Inspection Procedure for Powder
This reader is looking for a written procedure detailing inspection of powder-coated parts.
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Feature article--Understanding Vibratory Finishing Revisited
This article summarizes the basics of vibratory finishing, including the four key elements--parts, media, compound solutions and equipment—and how they interact. To read more, click here.
Mechanical Finishing Clinic--New Vibratory Finishing Compound Wearing Down Too Fast
After a compound switch, this reader noticed excessive wear of the ceramic media used for vibratory finishing. What’s the problem? To read the response of our mass finishing expert Steve Marcus, click here.
Mechanical Finishing Forum—Vibratory Finishing of Titanium Parts
This readers wants to use vibratory finishing to produce a 20-24 Ra finish on titanium parts 14 x 14 x 4 inches in size.
From the product repository of PF Online:
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