In this issue's column, Joe lays out the basic truth for most manufacturing companies: If you're not moving forward, you're falling behind.

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that finding skilled people to work in your manufacturing facility is no simple task. But after finding them, and investing in the development of their abilities, what happens when one of them - an employee your company really needs - becomes a troublesome employee? This is among the trickiest situations a manager can face.

At first, monitoring the energy I use at my plant or the energy for each individual machine seemed trivial. Isn't this just an overhead cost I have to pay? I'm certainly not going to turn off a machine that costs too much to run when I have to get a job out for that month. Then, I realized how much savings there was for monitoring power consumption and the ROI was timely.

In manufacturing, we all know that tracking statistics on your operation is essential for understanding how you're doing, as well as identifying areas for improvement. But what does the efficiency metric actually tell you?

The presidents of two manufacturing companies were having a drink in the lobby before the start of their trade association's annual meeting...

To ensure profitability and avoid losses, accurately quoting jobs is the first line of defense.

It's the New Year, and with it comes the opportunity to take a fresh look at your business objectives. Because business development is such a vital part of running a company, I'd like to present some guidelines I have found beneficial for securing new work and new customers.

How can a company grow its business or plan for growth when its niche area only accesses the smaller part of the pie?

Heat treating is a critical operation in gear manufacturing. It can make or break the quality of your final product. Yet it is one that frequently gear manufacturers outsource to someone else. Then the crucial question becomes, how do you know you're getting the right heat treater? How can you guarantee your end product when you have turned over this important process to someone else?

A fundamental characteristic of the gear industry is that it is capital intensive. In the last decade, the gear manufacturing industry has been undergoing an intense drive toward improving and modernizing its capital equipment base. The Department of Commerce reports that annual sales of gear cutting equipment have increased nearly 60% since 1990. While this effort has paid off in increased competitiveness for the American gear industry, it is important to remember that there is another capital crucial to manufacturing success - "human capital."