Monthly Archives: September 2010

The Fight for US Manufacturing

Posted on September 17, 2010 | 1 Comment

An new article in the Washington Post highlights the fight for manufacturing jobs being waged by foreign countries will ing to invest in manufacturing companies for the purpose of job creation.  With traditional manufacturing jobs disappearing to offshore, near shore and other outsourcing models, the fight to retain US Manufacturing competitiveness is tougher than ever. 

While China and Mexico are willing to offer cash incentives to attract companies, the best incentives the US seems to be able to offer are secured loans that are available as long as the company has sufficient collateral.  This will rarely be the case in a new and growing company.  It’s time that the government levels the playing field for all manufacturing companies, not just subsidies to money losing entities like the airlines and auto makers.  Where are the incentives for growing companies that can create real US jobs?  It’s time Washington looks at the fight we are in to maintain the country as a cornerstone of manufacturing.  It’s time to mobilize manufacturing as a political force with the ability to create the jobs lost over the last decade.  Let your congressman know how you feel.

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Posted in Environment, Green Manunfacturing, Leadership, Offshoring

The Green Benefits of LED lighting

Posted on September 9, 2010 | 1 Comment

This article on Reuters caught my eye this last week, as we have been working hard on the designs for VirTex Assembly’s new facility.  One of the largest considerations we have is ways that we can reduce, not only our overall consumption, but our peak demands.  LEDs offer a number of important benefits in a manufacturing environment over traditional halogen based lighting.  Halogen lights give off nearly 90% of the energy they consume as heat.  This is wasted energy and requires additional energy to remove this heat using air conditioning.  Even fluorescent lights can waste nearly 50% of the energy used. 

In addition to being more efficient than fluorescent lights, LEDs can be dimmed and have little to no maintenance cost.   they also can offer better visibility and a more natural look than fluorescent lighting.  This may translate to better employee morale in a building with little outside lighting.  Take a look at LED lights if you are looking to upgrade your facility or move into a new one.  It may be one of the simplest and most effective green changes you can make.

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Posted in Green Manunfacturing, Leadership, Lean Manufacturing

Stealth Regulation of ‘Green’

Posted on September 2, 2010 | 2 Comments

There is a good update on some topics at the 2010 Green Manufacturing Summit in the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel this week.  A topic of interest was the discussion by Foley & Lardner of the requirements being placed on suppliers by their customers, as well as state versions of Cap and Trade.  These requirements, which are driven largely by Fortune 50 OEMs.   60 companies including 3M, Pfizer, Siemens and Kraft Foods are cooperating on a standard to require their supply base to reduce their green house gas emissions.  These 60 companies have set a goal to reduce greenhouse gases from their supply chain by 20 million tons over the next 5 years.  This will likely be a much more effective approach than a government mandate and will be much cheaper as it will be enforced by industry. 

Maybe more meaningful reforms could happen in the health care insurance industry if they chose to clean up their own backyards, rather than continue the turf wars that reduce effective competition.  Legislation is rarely the most productive or cost-effective method of enforcement. 

I think it is time for all companies to look at their manufacturing practices and see where they can have a green impact.  It’s the right thing to do, and frequently makes good fiscal sense too.

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Posted in Environment, Green Manunfacturing, Leadership