Veteran Role Model

It is easy to recite the “Remember Me” lines, “You can shed tears that he is gone, or you can smile because he lived.” Reflecting on the impact a recently passed veteran has had on me, it is difficult to fight those sad emotions.

Two weeks before veterans day, Lt. Cmdr. Donald Thompson passed away at 98 years old. A Navy aviator in World War II, he lived a remarkable life. As has been reported in many places, he fully lived life to the end. I previously shared his war experience in the Battle of the Atlantic, and on this centennial of the Armistice of World War I, it would be easy to focus on the period of his military service. For Don, like all veterans, their military contributions to the country are a portion of who they are. My experience with Don, as my neighbor since I was two years old, was of the whole person, and how has had been an enduring role model.

Reflecting back on our interaction, outside of our family, Don has had the most influence on my parents and me in ways that have profoundly shaped our lives for the better.

Professionalism

Without question, he is the first person I knew that was a professional. Not as a point of status, he wore a suit to work when most everyone I recognized wore a factory uniform. At the time, he was a couple years removed from managing customer service at Lyon Metal Products. Our family was modest, both my parents worked hourly jobs at the office furniture manufacturer in town, and came from modest backgrounds of our extended families. As a child, I certainly did not recognize this in any measurable way, but looking back, his professional manner and the subtle differences of being a leader, as opposed to being led, came through in his interactions.

When I was in fifth grade I interviewed him about working. It was a sizeable report for a ten year old, but I only recall one question I asked. Why did he go to work at Merchants Bank after he retired from his career at Lyon Metal Products? His reasoning, “I still have a lot of suits to wear out.” Though a nod to his dry sense of humor, it reflected his nature as a customer facing professional. And where better to do that than at a bank.

Charisma

A natural friendly, extravert, everyone that came in contact with Don liked him. The volume of people at his funeral and the number of glowing stories on facebook reflect the caring, personal way in which he connected with people. In these outpourings, I an see that my family and I are not the only ones with which he connected, seemingly effortlessly.

As an introvert, I would gravitate to his wife, Doris, and her quiet nature, but was transfixed by the ease at which Don connected with others. He made friends and lasting connections in every aspect and endeavor of his life. This seemed impossible for a shy kid that did not want to introduce himself to anyone. I have strived for that continually, and know the impact of openness and a smile can have on others.

Caring Unconditionally

It is a disservice to quantify such things and the most difficult to put into words. I can say confidently that Don and Doris were the first people, outside of my family, that loved me unconditionally. They may have deeply cared for other people as well, and I hope that there are many others who had the gifts of life with them that I have. It would be too easy to say that they were like grandparents. I do not want that analogy to oversimplify their effect with a stereotypical idealisation, or to marginalize the relationship of my family.

Whether it was a swim meet or a Cub Scouts event, Don would periodically attend my activities. This type of caring and interest in others cannot be understated. Learning that there were people interested in my life was significant. It was a safety net. I knew my parents cared and would support me. Having someone outside of the nuclear family provided an added dimension of confidence. Although they were childhood events, the particulars of which are long gone, this interest and personal caring created confidence. Pursuing the unknown and trying new things is in part from his unconditional love and support through those formative years of my life.

Giving

During his full time work career and part time jobs after retirement, he always maintained charitable efforts. Throughout his adult life, he was a Shriner, supporting their causes. For many years he also volunteered at the nearby hospital and raked up over fourteen hundred hours of service. His giving was my early motivation of helping others. This example has continually motivated me to be involved and give back to others in areas where I can.

Adventure

Although we were only neighbors for four years, Don and Doris’ connection to us endured the rest of their lives. After moving, the frequency of visits with them became more spaced out, measured in months instead of days. When we would stop to see them, there were always stories of trips they had been on and where they were planning to go on vacation. Don drove them everywhere, they hit almost all 48 states during their 66 years of marriage. Doris also shared with us her love of visiting Bavaria.

Absent their vacation adventures, my only concept of travel was going to see my grandma in Florida. The concept of going on vacation, in what seemed a far off place, was unimaginable. The stories and trinkets they brought back made these places attainable. I embraced their stories of adventure. The idea of travel is difficult for some. I think about the twelve countries and twenty-eight states I have visited in my professional career. Though those experiences are not vacation, Don and Doris’s influence has made embracing the unknown destination my default mindset.

Growth Mindset

Don had a growth mindset well before it had a label. He was always trying new things. In his seventies he got on the internet, complete with a Compuserve email address. He spent the decade as an octogenarian working part time in customer service at Home Depot (because he was a people person!), and being an early adopter of a smartphone. In his nineties, he started using facebook (because why not), flew a T-6 Navy trainer aircraft (it was liking riding a bike, he proclaimed) and went skydiving (how did a doctor clear him to do that?).

The growth mindset was ingrained in who he was and remarkable to see from a front row seat. My effort of writing in the last couple of years is definitely a result of his influence, as a creative outlet and tackling a new domain. I hope to maintain such endeavors and continue to be relentless in learning like him.

Closing

We are fortunate to have veterans whose sacrifices in the past, along with those active duty service people enduring today, have made this present possible for us. I am so fortunate the relationship I had with Lt. Cmdr. Don Thompson and the positive after service impact he had on me, as well as all those he touched in his civilian life. Reflecting back, there is no doubt he has significantly contributed to the life I have today.

November 8, 2018November 9, 2018

Thank you Formtek!

Time files. The twelve years here have gone quickly. Strangely, I can reflect back to different periods of time, and they don’t seem long past. The last few months have been a personal struggle; reflecting on what I could do and how I could stay with this organization forever, then posit that if I am going to make a change, for my family’s interest, the time is now. The tug of staying here with this wonderful team has been a steady force, making this decision all the more difficult. Some of you have told me that making a move like this is brave. This is a good company made up of great people, and there is some risk in trading this for unknown challenges. For those that see this change as bravery and am happy for the new future ahead, thank you, your sincere feelings will fuel me through the uncertainty.

I have struggled to come up with what to say, and how I may thank everyone here. I could go around and thank everyone for something, and that is a reflection of the healthy team we have here. Instead, to emphasize the magnitude of their significance, I want to focus on a few.

The thanks start and end with Brian. He knows this, as I have told him many times. He is the one that hired me and that pushed for me when Joe didn’t want me because I was too young. Brian selflessly stepped aside so I could be the sales manager and he stayed with the organization. Without his short-term sacrifice, I would have not not had the growth and opportunities that I do today.

It is also important for me to thank Bruce and Darren. They have been extremely supportive of my development. A lot of the things I have worked on or crazy back to back travel itineraries were not assignments from them, but instead was my pursuit of opportunities that I saw for the business. I have benefited tremendously from being provided that latitude and hope that these development efforts will be beneficial for the organization for years after I am gone.

The last one I want to single out is Paul. He and I have traveled a lot of places, in search of sales, as well as setting up and tearing down numerous trade shows. For the past 10 years, we have spoken, skyped or texted almost every single day. I consider Paul a true friend, and my future will not be the same without this daily interaction.

I could not think of how best to sum up all the moments and experiences that have occurred over the years. Recently I read The Tao of Pooh, and I came across a passage the seemed like a perfect fit to describe my time at Formtek:

“The honey doesn’t taste so good once it is being eaten; the goal doesn’t mean so much once it is reached; the reward is not so rewarding once it has been given. If we add up all the rewards in our lives, we won’t have very much. But if we add up the spaces between the rewards, we’ll come up with quite a bit. And if we add up the rewards and the spaces, then we’ll have everything–every minute of the time that we spent. What if we could enjoy it?”

I have enjoyed my time at Formtek. Not only the high points of our success, the rewards, but the process and path to those successes, the time in between. I can say that I came in to work here, striving for success and how we could be our best.

I leave here fondly thinking of Formtek.

Good luck, all the best, and thank you very much!

July 13, 2018July 13, 2018

Leadership Imperative in Fast Food Management

leadership and cultural develop needed in fast food

Not to overstate the impact, but this is a pivotal moment for the fast food industry to be better employers. With seven major players in that market agreeing to forego their anti-employee ‘No Poach,’ clause. For many workers, a job in fast food is a stepping stone on a career path to a livable wage. Granted, there is some that move into supervisory roles and management who can flourish in the industry. At the minimum wage levels for ‘associates,’ it is not a career. Despite this, the impact for associates can be profound. With the no-poach clause removed, employees are effectively at-will. Now, food franchise leadership must differentiate themselves to retain employees. Yes, the ability to move around more freely will pressure the wage levels and that will be balanced with the move to further automate stores. Now, like any industry, they must inspire and lead effectively to retain workers.

There are two fast food restaurants near our office, which are different brands, within walking distance. Based on proximity, they are recruiting from the same pool of candidates. What continually amazes me about these two stores, is the distinct contrast in the customer service between them. The store that has been here longer has predictably poor service. [poor leadership?] On a number of occasions I have received my sandwich and then, driven to the office, only to find that it is a bun with condiments only, the star of the show (egg, chicken, beef, etc) is missing! After an initial attempt going back to the store, the general indifference from the associate made the effort appear fruitless. Based on the lines at each register and drive-thru queue wrapping the entire parking lot, it seems that my dissatisfaction will not be a blip on their radar.

The other store, which is opened in the last seven years, is a completely different experience. Every time I go in or use the drive-thru, the experience is prompt, accurate and positive. Over the time they have been opened, I notice the faces change, but the experience remains the same. [good leadership?] With the predictable, positive experience, I go back. Colleagues remark that they do not like the food there, but it is easy and dependable, so when they are in a pinch, that is where they grab a quick bite to eat.

It would be easy to lament that for several generations, fast food was the common first job, to learn responsibility, experience leadership from an adult that is not from home, school or church, and to gain the skills of money management. Certainly, there are a lot of first jobs that can teach those skills, but with the transition from fast-food to fast-casual and the decline of teenagers with summer jobs, the face of fast food has gotten older. With the ‘No Poach’ clause, these older workers, with the skills developed in fast food, were relatively captive, unless they could make the leap to another industry. With that barrier removed, employees can now move around and earn more where their skills may pay better. But the impact now is greater than the wage.

The difference in customer experience between the two restaurants belies a greater issue: leadership and culture. The first store does not hire all the indifferent employees and the second store filters through and only picks the good ones, over and over. The restaurants, and particularly the franchisees, have to assess their culture and the leadership environment they foster, or lack thereof, to make the jobs they offer a meaningful experience for the employees. The head of the International Franchise Association indicates that these minimum wage jobs were not meant to be livable or permanent. If that is the case, then beyond the explicit task of getting the job done, these store owners need to focus on the value of the job to the employee, for the time the employee is there, to develop their skills for that next job, and to foster the environment and a leadership culture. Then, when the inevitable employee turnover occurs, the next wave of personnel embrace the established culture and can propel it forward, in a sustainable way.

For anyone leadership looking for a valuable tool to share with employees, here is a great podcast from organizational psychologist Adam Grant on emotions at work. And for further reading for leaders, take a look at A More Beautiful Question.

March 14, 2018March 19, 2018

Where Are the Women in Manufacturing

How do we get women passionate for science into manufacturing

Last week, diving deep into the speculative end of the Section 232 Steel tariff pool, and prepping for a trip to China, I neglected to keep tabs on a couple job postings that we have listed. Since the beginning of the year, we have been looking for someone with a technical background to develop a mid-level sales position. Getting back to them now, and looking through all the candidates, it struck me, where are the women in manufacturing?

In the roughly two months of receiving resumes, there have been a wide range of applicants, both qualified and not, but through it all, zero female candidates. No gender diversity, across LinkedIn, alumni job boards, local classifieds and recruiters. Seeing this, I am both perplexed and concerned: is this female candidate void a mirror, reflecting our deficiency, or a window to see the larger issue in the industry?

Or maybe it is both and the fact is that we have a long way to go. It feels like support for STEM is everywhere. For the last several years, coaching high schoolers, there were many girls I worked with who were good students with an interest in math and science and a work ethic I admired. I would hire any of them to work in this role, but besides not being old enough to work in manufacturing, they also have no interest. It seems that all the support of students in STEM is only the beginning. We also have to connect and inspire girls to the opportunities in manufacturing and other technical industries.

Eighteen years ago when I was entering university to study mechanical engineering, it was generally accepted that females studying engineering were rare. At the time, roughly 1/3 of the engineering student population were female and that fraction was generous, I do not recall a class as an undergraduate or a teaching assistant where 1/3 of the students were women.

Fast forward to now, and despite a decade of intense STEM support across the country, alumni relations informed me the rate of female enrollment is unchanged from when I was in college. WHAT?! How is that possible? I realize it is a midsize school, and there may be some big-name programs elsewhere that can tout growth of female enrollment, but this is not an isolated problem. How are there not more females interested in engineering? If the broad topic of engineering is not gaining interest, then the subset of manufacturing does not have a chance!

My view is distorted by my spheres of influence. Working with manufacturing companies every day and participating in a technical advisory at the local community college, I am almost constantly surrounded by like-minded people who support STEM and increasing opportunities in our industry. Plus, I infer the connection between STEM and technical careers, but that may be a leap for others outside of technical industries. As a high school coach, on the other hand, with many student’s parents being doctors, lawyers, business owners, and entrepreneurs, the fact that I worked in manufacturing was overlooked in favor of the more altruistic label as a volunteer youth athletics, so there is certainly some negative bias to overcome.

And even if we succeed in encouraging teenagers to pursue these technical careers, there are several years before they will be in the workforce. What about filling the immediate roles that are available? How do we motivate and attract women to this industry and careers? The point above, regarding my influences and connections, is that I do not have the answers.

A few years ago we hired a sales person that came from selling wholesale beauty products to salons. When she was going to college for fashion, did she think one day she would be helping maintenance workers troubleshoot hydraulic components and selling them replacement parts? Doubtful. And you know what, she is awesome at it! How did we get her? Pure luck. Human resources or I cannot claim any special insight. This is not to pat ourselves on the back. Being lucky is not going to solve the gender imbalance in manufacturing.

So what do we do? To paraphrase Sheryl Sandberg, how do we overcome them not doing something where they do not see themselves? I can think of several great women leaders in manufacturing that I have had an opportunity to work with, but the reality is, on the scale that the industry needs, there are not enough of them that can serve as role models for students. Women in Manufacturing is a great organization and I hope they can build even more momentum to encourage their peers to be a force in this industry.

And how else can we grow manufacturing? Take a chance! Reach across and embrace candidates from other industries. Manufacturing can be taught and if someone has the interest and willingness to learn and apply themselves, there is no doubt the employee and business will benefit. With the impending retail apocalypse, how many experienced store managers and key holders could kick butt given a chance in manufacturing? Probably thousands. Let’s figure out how to attract them, and ambitious individuals from other areas, to the opportunities in manufacturing.

March 6, 2018March 19, 2018

Section 232 Steel Tariffs – How to Respond

On heels of the Commerce Departments Section 232 Report, the Trump Administration indicated they will impose aluminum and steel tariffs on those imported materials: 25% on Steel and 10% on aluminum. As written about previously, there are several concerns about the basis of the section 232 report and its assumptions of how steel is a national security concern. With the steel tariffs imminent, it is time to move from critiquing the report to considering what effects this may have on business and in the market. What situations could this protectionist move cause? How will interest rates affect consumers of steel? How will steel sourcing change the trucking market.

Inventory

Inventory costs will increase, a concern for manufacturers that fund their inventory through revolving credit. This will decrease how much inventory they can effectively carry or it will impede them from using their credit line for other needs, such as unplanned maintenance. With the Federal Reserve expected to increase interest rates three times this year, that will amplify the inventory challenge for manufacturers by making it more expensive to service their credit facilities.

Challenge: Cost Increases

Response: ???

Raise Prices?

When input costs increase, particularly raw materials, there are a few options in response. Manufacturers could raise prices. In an expanding market, it is possible to do so with minimal concern of losing market share. But in a tight market, and in the current environment, where customers could search for another vendor, who may have a lower price as they are working off older, less expensive inventory, there is a potential to lose business.

Product Redesign

The challenge can be put to engineering to redesign products to decrease the requirement of expensive materials. Is the material cost impact enough that a product can be redesigned to use non-metallic material? For example, with the cost of steel going up and oil remaining steady, could a manufactured sheet metal component be replaced by molded plastic? This has already occurred in consumer products, such as Honda’s polymer lawn mower deck.

Lean Lean Lean

Manufacturing operations may review how to reduce the non-material costs of production. This is typically thought of as reducing labor, which can be accomplished by re-evaluating the manufacturing process and adopting automation. Depending on the industry and whether the manufacturer is an OEM or a subcontractor will change whether selling price can be adjusted, product redesigned or changes in the manufacturing process.

The Capital Question

One solution is increasing automation. Those well-capitalized manufacturing companies can invest in more automation to reduce the labor component of their manufactured product cost. Hopefully, the employee can be redeployed on some other function in the business, and based on the shortage of technical workers, this should be realistic.

In an environment where raw material costs and interest rates are increasing, the investment in automation is limited to those that can pay cash for capital expenditures or are able to service an increased debt load. The option of investing in capital equipment is limited to those with sufficient, unused cash in the bank, as increased material cost and stagnant prices reduce cash flow.

Choices: Inaction and Investment

For those companies manufacturing who have used the last 8 years to right the balance sheet and build a rainy day fund, this is a time to separate themselves from illiquid competitors. The question then becomes strategy:

Do you keep prices down, absorb the cost increase and wait out competitors, who cannot do so, in an effort to gain market share?
Do you take this as a challenge to make that next step in automation, to decrease the labor cost of the product being manufactured?

The biggest concern I see is these market challenges causing a greater dichotomy among manufacturers of steel products. As mentioned in the previous review of the Section 232, right after the Commerce Department’s announcement, a local midwest distributor took the opportunity send out 15% price increases on steel material. Manufacturers can invest in automation, to reduce labor, as a way to counteract that material cost increase. For those manufacturers that have not been able to pay down debt and do not have the flexibility to invest in automation, the gap will expand between them and their market’s leaders.

December 20, 2016January 1, 2018

Communities Left Behind and the Rise of Populism

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6UU12_lM720/VERVtVUJb-I/AAAAAAAAAUU/fwAswBKgbf8/s1600/Youngstown_Sheet%26Tube_Abandoned.jpg

It is always a fun going to a new pool, where I have not coached or visited in many years: see what changes have occurred, new starting blocks, different lane lines, and to check out the record board. It is a peak into history at some places and in others, a way to connect with high performing student-athletes perhaps All-Americans or Olympians, who may have competed there in the past.

This evening coaching a high school swim meet, before warm-ups I found myself staring at the record board for longer than I care to realize. I had not been to this pool before and the high school is in an area where there are two Big Three auto plants in the community. What most captured my attention, looking at the pool’s scoreboard, it seems to be an analogy of middle America, particularly here in the Midwest Rust Belt. This place, the pool like the community, was booming and peaked in the mid-60s when the Ford engine plant and the GM plant in the next town over employed more than 10,000 people.

How do we measure progress and identify those communities that have been left behind — This Scoreboard is Updated as of 12-2016

This town and the school have been in steady decline since 1980, until 2010. The plants that counted employees in the thousands now count in the hundreds. That shrink inevitably caused a declining tax base. To remain economically feasible for the community, this school district was forced to merge with the neighboring town in 2011.

I took a picture of the scoreboard because it is, in a way, an illustration of this decline. I go to a lot of pools and nowhere are the peak performances so centered in the distant past like this place. For those unfamiliar with swimming record boards, the second and fourth columns are the record setter, listed as first initial, last name, high school name, and year the record was set (two digits). There has been a huge increase in swimming technology and performance in the last decade, which has catapulted performances and records everywhere, the full breadth of that topic is a series of posts in its own right. Looking at the dates on the record board (centered in the 1970s) makes me think this community, with its primarily low technology, outmoded jobs, was left behind.

As I look at it I think, is this the type of decline that the populist voter experienced, this left behind feel, whether it is due to insufficient opportunities or their jobs being replaced by automation or exported to some low-cost country? Are these the communities that incited and excited the new presidency. Where the populist idea ‘making things great again’ resonates. The reality is the average American, regardless of sex or race, is better off today than they were in 1965, but the average American white male with only a high school diploma is much worse off. Those are the ones that strived for and passed down the jobs at the Big Three plants, only to have those well paying, low barrier occupations replaced by automation, outsourced to a supplier, or eliminated completely.

I grew up in a community like this, so the experience and this visual illustration really hit me. The experience and visit tonight generated conflicting emotions of interest, nostalgia, and empathy. Like most issues, the real answers here are complex and prone to heated debate.

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company image from http://postindustrialrustbelt.blogspot.com/2014/10/rust-belt.html

June 15, 2009January 1, 2018

What Are We Going Through

An edited version of this article, THE NEW MANUFACTURING LANDSCAPE, appeared in the September 2009 issue of FF Journal

The recession of the last 18 months and its causes have been well documented. The decrease is spending and capital availability has cascaded throughout manufacturing, resulting in layoffs, rolling shutdowns, and factory liquidations. The cutbacks have created a range of challenges for those of us in manufacturing and manufacturing services. Spread thin, limited internal personnel, a lack of cross training, outsourcing and furloughs have caused an uncertain landscape for employees.

Outsourcing

Since the 1980s, layoffs of production, engineering and support personnel have been a common action to reduce costs during declines in business activity. These layoffs, along with retirements, have wittled away the manufacturing base in the United States to the point it is today. For many companies, with the pool of direct labor stripped to its core of personnel required to conduct business, other avenues have been pursued to cut costs. With the decreased business activity, it has created an environment for manufacturers to take the chance and outsource administrative activities, such as human resources, purchasing, and even accounting. As automotive and appliance manufacturers have done over the last several decades; small and medium producers are testing the waters with local outsourcing of component and production activities that may be done by job shops. Though these outsourcing activities may be a necessary step for businesses to survive this economic climate, it presents new challenges. For example, the outsourcing to local job shops may reduce the need for some on-hand inventory, but the manufacturer is no longer in control of the lead times or the opportunity to fill rush orders, which are more common as everyone has shed inventory to meet demand. This can be frustrating for customers and manufacturers alike: eventhough no one is ‘busy,’ ie., at or near full production, leadtimes for manufacturered items are nearly unchanged, or longer than usual.

In-Sourcing

Several years ago, because of the overwhelming cost savings touted by offshoring components, for some manufacturers it was automatic to try this. As offshore costs have approached parity with local capabilities, in-sourcing has become an admirable way for manufacturers to maintain a level of self-reliance and insure work for their remaining core of employees. In-sourcing has presented complications, though. For example, a manufacturer of scaffolding brought back their production of planks. Upon assembly they found their planks and fasteners, still offshored, no longer fit together per their print. Since they had purchased this fabricated subassembly for years, it had changed from the original specifications but went unnoticed because the deviated subassembly still fit within the overall system. Because the supply of offshored planks could not be instantly turned on, it was necessary to retool their plank. Additionally, a manufacturer of vacuums found their quality problems increased when they insourced production because they no longer had technical personnel familiar with the critical assembly of their equipment.

Cross Training

The recession and layoffs have pushed a lot of companies to no longer have backups in their workforce, there is one person to do each job or there are a handful of personnel that are doing all the various disciplines that are now required on a smaller scale. This has emphasized the need for cross training core personnel; on a given day it may require an engineer to design a component, purchase the materials, and schedule the production. It’s as if small business structure is being projected onto larger businesses.

Productivity?

Since this recession has proliferated the use of furloughs to meet business demand, it has caused a delay in opportunities. For the companies with liquidity to pursue capital projects, the possibility of purchasing new equipment or automation to increase productivity or in-house capabilties, the rolling layoffs impede the justification process. For example, a company furloughing on a four week rotation, the week off and week of catching up can cause the process of justifying a capital project by two or three fold, when considering the time required to coordinate technical personnel with outside vendors, review quotations and successive revisions.

Taking Risks (expanding in a down economy)

Developing technologies and new industries are a common sources for increasing economic activity or ‘green shoots,’ as has become the common buzzword lately. Even as some companies pursue the opportunities to create or expand their business to pursue these new opportunities, they are finding substantial roadblocks, particularly fiancial. Major banks and financing companies have restricted leasing to any LLC without several years of credit history or businesses of any kind that are less than a year old. It’s also disheartening that banks are resistant to finance capital equipment, even when the suppliers are willing to back the loans to some rate. For example, a small business that was not eligible for equipment financing because the banks no longer considered their debt ratio acceptable. The business was eventually able to lease the equipment, a used model financed directly by the manufacturer, at a 12% interest rate.

Inventory & Maintenance

As demand decreased, manufactruers have been forced to lower minimum order sizes. A few tubing manufacturers have been forced decrease their minimum production run from 100,000 feet to 30,000 feet to maintain orders. This adjustment to demand has caused the manufacturers to changeover tooling every single shift. These lower production quantities have resulted in more changeover time for products, higher scrap rate and more wear and tear on equipment. In the short term, manufacturers have met the maintenance needs of these demands by using parts from one of their mothballed production lines to keep the other one(s) running. When happens when the economy picks back up? Will the mothballed and scavenged equipment be operable to bring back online?

Flexible Employment

Where is manufacturing going? What will it look like when things rebound. Several manufacturers have commented that they will never have the number of employees they did before. They have found their ability to do more with less. A portion of our current unemployment rate are baby boomers who are still willing and able to work as well as people only a few years out of school that were fulfilling entry level roles. It seems that we are coming to a new era of freelance employment. Industry veterans, who may have been pushed out earlier than they desired, may be available on a a consulting basis. Additional personnel may fit into the puzzle as temporary employees, to fulfill fluctuations in business demand, since companies may choose to stick with their core of compotent, cross trained personnel.