Every order a company takes involves risk. Even after they ship, products are subject to warranty claims and, in the event of customer bankruptcies...

Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday that needs to go global. Local conditions need not be “perfect” to celebrate the good things in our liv...

Almost every conversation I have with gear industry friends these days seems to start with “How’s business?” When incoming orders are slow it helps...

Before going on an extended blog series on my “points system” for evaluating business opportunities, I want to talk about the importance of issuing...

Continuing my rant on the difficulties in getting quotes…

Not all the b...

Traditionally, cost estimating is the basis for pricing. I was very surprised the first time a mentor pointed out that the two are often quite disc...

We interrupt this blog to salute all our VETERANS on this national holiday set aside to remember them. The gear industry as we know it really got i...

The guys who taught me to estimate all had great memories for part shapes, features — even part numbers. It takes years to develop that kind of tal...

What task has to be done at every gear shop that no one enjoys? If you’ve followed this blog with any regularity you know how much I admire the uns...

One thing that struck me during the Gear Expo was the large amount of grey hair on the heads of those in the exhibit hall. While it was great to se...