How is it that we woke up one day in the early 1980s to find that apparently American industry was suddenly inefficient, our workforce unproductive and our management inept? Almost overnight industry found its sales dropping dramatically, while for many companies foreign competition became excruciatingly intense. This sudden change in the economic climate proved fatal for many companies and has been nearly as hard on our collective morale. In a country used to winning, we began to hear ourselves talked of as losers.

It is with great anticipation that we move closer to AGMA's Fall Technical Conference and Gear Expo '87, which is being held on Oct. 4-6 in Cincinnati, OH. This bold undertaking by both AGMA and the exhibitors in the Expo's 160 booths is an attempt to make a major change in the industry's approach to the exposition of gear manufacturing equipment. By combining the Expo with the Fall Technical Conference, those involved in gear manufacturing will have the opportunity to review the latest equipment, trends, and most innovative ideas, while keeping up with the newest technology in the industry.

"Competitiveness" is the newest corporate buzzword. It is being offered as the solution to all our economic problems. Newspapers, magazines and legislation are pushing us to be more "competitive."

As the time came to write this editorial, the replies to our survey from the last issue were just starting to pour in. We were gratified by the number of responses we received and by the amount of time many of you spent answering in great detail the text questions on the survey. Because of this unusually large response, it will take us some months to log, digest and respond to all the data. Thank you for this nice "problem."

As Gear Technology moves toward its third anniversary, we feel that we have reached a point in our development where it is time to pause, reflect on our accomplishments and plan for the future.

A change has taken place within the industry that is going to have an enormous effect on the marketing, sales, and purchasing of gear manufacturing and related equipment. This change was the American Gear Manufacturers' Association, first biennial combination technical conference and machine tool minishow.

Now that the new tax bill has been passed, the time has come to begin evaluating how it will affect investment strategies in the machine tool business. Your first reaction may be to think that any motivation to invest in capital improvements in your company is gone, because both the investment tax credit and the accelerated depreciation on capital investment have been removed from the tax law. After all, if Uncle Sam is not going to help us out through some short term tax gains, why should we bother? Can we afford to bother?

"It's show time!" Ready or not, on Sept 3, the biennial International Machine Tool Show opens at McCormick Place, Chicago. Planning a show that encompasses displays from over 1000 companies from 29 nations and an associated technical conference presenting more than 200 papers on 50 topics has not been without its problems.

The last two months have been both a time of difficulty and of growth for Gear Technology. Unexpectedly, I found myself in the hospital having surgery, and consequently out of commission for several weeks. At the same time, two individuals on our staff lost family members, and most of this period saw us getting ready for this preshow IMTS issue while being seriously short-staffed.

This issue of Gear Technology, The Journal of Gear Manufacturing, marks the end of our second year of publication. As we approach our third year, it is time to review our statement of purpose. Gear Technology's primary goal was and is to be a reference source and a forum for the American Gear industry, and to advance gear technology throughout the world.