Economy

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-08-10

Where Have All the Contests Gone?

My hometown is abuzz with anticipation over the completion of the Milwaukee Bucks’ new arena. This is the THIRD new arena since I participated in a...

VOICES | 2017-08-01

Economic and Industrial Market Commentary - Gear Industry

At the mid-year point of 2017, it appears that the U.S. economy, and the manufacturing sector in particular, are gradually accelerating, with most markets seeing an upside breakout from the flat or down conditions of 2015 and 2016.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-08-01

Failure as Tourist

Civil or transport engineering failures are very public. They tend to get investigated far more thoroughly than typical mechanical engineering prob...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-06-09

A Lesson Learned and Acted On

I have been getting lots of windshield time this year between business travel, house hunting, relocation, and even a few days of vacation. Our fabu...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2017-02-09

Engineering Economy in 1912

In the same issue of Industrial Engineering that Percy C. Day published his treatise on herringbone gears, Sterling H. Bunnell offered

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-11-01

Wither Manufacturing?

In a recent episode of my favorite zombie apocalypse show, SyFy’s Z Nation, a character celebrates the restarting of a hydroelec...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-10-11

The Birth of an Industry

Do you know your company’s origin story? I have worked at seven different gear companies and have visited dozens more; all of them seem to have an ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-08-09

Personal Milestone

Today begins my ninth year as a consulting engineer! It shocks me that I have now worked for myself longer than as an employee at any oth...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-07-12

Be Careful What You Wish For

We used to warn our children to “be careful what you wish for, you might get it.” Recently I blogged in favor of jump starting the econom...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-07-07

Recycled Materials

Continuing with the environmental theme of the previous blog, an impressive change has occurred in the recycling industry since I was col...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-03-10

Your Results May Vary

We have all seen the Internet meme of politicians wearing corporate logos so the public will know who their backers are. I would like to ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-03-08

What Good Are the Leading Indicators?

"Wall Street predicted nine of the last FIVE recessions," Paul Samuelson, Nobel Prize winner in economics, 1966. We get a lot more economic news...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2016-01-26

Observations on Air Travel, Continued

My first airline trip of the New Year ended like the last one of the previous year: in a middle seat of a fully loaded plane fighting a respiratory...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-10-29

Train to Gain

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...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-10-08

Old School Technology Boosts High Technology

A popular cable car customizing show recently featured a segment on using 3-D printing to produce a prototype part. There wasn’t anything original ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-08-25

Oil Price Quandary

Like most curmudgeons, I can do a five minute ramp on how cheap gasoline was when I was a kid and how outrageous the price is now. Living in Chicag...

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2015-08-01

Tooth Flank Fracture - Basic Principles and Calculation Model for a Sub-Surface-Initiated Fatigue Failure Mode of Case-Hardened Gears

Cracks initiated at the surface of case-hardened gears may lead to typical life-limiting fatigue failure modes such as pitting and tooth root breakage. Furthermore, the contact load on the flank surface induces stresses in greater material depth that may lead to crack initiation below the surface if the local material strength is exceeded. Over time the sub-surface crack propagation may lead to gear failure referred to as “tooth flank fracture” (also referred to as “tooth flank breakage”). This paper explains the mechanism of this subsurface fatigue failure mode and its decisive influence factors, and presents an overview of a newly developed calculation model.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-06-18

How Do You Learn?

We hear a lot of chatter about the “crisis in education” — as if this was a completely new and unexpected situation. My home state, long proud of i...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-05-14

Final Points...

W.Edward Deming’s quality management system was credited with resurrecting and changing Japan’s manufacturing economy after World War II. Experts t...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-04-28

Who Do You Think You Are?

I watch too much television. My excuse is that most of it is what was classified as “educational” back before cable exploded to 500 channels plus m...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2015-02-12

Where is My Flying Car?

It was great fun reading news stories on the Back to the Future anniversary, and which inventions actually happened. Sorry, but a Hover Board jus...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-11-13

A Good Waste of Time

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-09-02

Shared Responsibilities

[starbox] Coming off the Labor Day weekend, I had time to reflect on what the holiday means beyond marking the end of summer, retiring (for the ...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-08-05

Make No Small Plans

[starbox] “Make no small plans” has been attributed to a variety of people over the years, but that doesn’t undermine its importance to fledglin...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-07-10

If You Are Going to Make Buggy Whips…

[starbox] If you are going to make buggy whips, they better be good ones. That is the lesson I took away from reading about hundred-year-old Wis...

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-03-19

Limited Opportunities for One-Trick Ponies

When you work as an engineer for smaller companies you get to wear a lot of hats.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2013-11-01

US Gear Industry Doing Well, but Challenges Await

If you are like most navigators of the printed page, the first thing you read in this final 2013 issue of Gear Technology was our State of the Gear Industry Survey. And who would blame you? It’s not Sabermetrics, but once you’ve read it you’ll have a pretty clear snapshot of last year and a peek into the next. But if you also like to get a little closer to the bone about things, what follows are the collected opinions of five well-regarded people in the gear industry speaking to a number of issues with relevance.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2013-11-01

2013 State of the Gear Industry

Gear Technology’s annual State-of- the-Gear-Industry survey polls gear manufacturers about the latest trends and opinions relating to the overall health of the gear industry. As in years past, the survey was conducted anonymously, with invitations sent by e-mail to gear manufacturing companies around the world.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2013-11-01

Measured Optimism

Gear manufacturers are generally an optimistic bunch, as revealed by our 2013 State-of-the-Gear-Industry Survey, which appears in this issue.

VOICES | 2013-08-01

Where Did All the Displaced Manufacturing Workers Go

Following is a report from The Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI). Founded in 1933, the alliance contributes to the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing by providing economic research, professional development, and an independent, expert source of manufacturing information.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2013-06-01

Boom or Bust - Are You in the Right Markets

Over the past few months we've talked with a lot of gear manufacturers. Many of them tell us business is strong, while others are struggling with reduced demand. The difference between them isn't so much in the quality of their manufacturing operations, but rather trends in the end markets they serve.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2013-03-01

Turn Off the Noise

Trying to figure out what’s going on in this crazy economy of ours seems a bit like reading tea leaves—one part pseudoscience and three parts wild conjecture. Of course some pundits are telling us that this bull market has legs, while others insist that we’re due for a major correction. Some pump us up with positive news, while others remind us about scary stuff like the budget deficit, the European financial crisis and unemployment.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2012-11-01

Manufacturing and Pursuit of the American Dream: Reality or Fool's Quest

It wasn’t so very long ago that a high school-educated, able-bodied person with a will to work typically had little trouble finding a decent job in manufacturing. Whether at an area job shop, an OEM plant or auto plant—work was to be had. Work that paid well enough to marry, buy a home, feed, raise and educate a family—with even enough left over for a modest retirement pension.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2012-11-01

If Only We Had a Crystal Ball...

Before we get into projections and prognostications about the future, let’s take a minute to review 2012. For many in the gear industry, the year was better than expected. Some manufacturers had a very successful year leading up to an even more successful manufacturing trade show (IMTS 2012). Others were searching for more business, hoping that the general state of the economy wouldn’t make things worse. In some cases, it did.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2012-11-01

The Results Are In

The past several months have been filled with uncertainty. Everyone wanted to wait and see who would be our next president and how the political landscape might change. Now the elections are over, and the polls are all closed, so we should all be getting back to business, right? Publisher Michael Goldstein shares insight from our state-of-the-gear-industry survey.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2012-10-01

My Glass is Half Full

Publisher Michael Goldstein is confident that the manufacturing economy will continue to grow throughout next year, no matter who wins the 2012 presidential election.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2012-01-01

The Difference Between Busy and Profitable

Over the past several months, many gear manufacturers and industry suppliers have been telling me how busy they are. Their backlogs are the largest in history, their sales the highest they’ve been in many years. They’ve invested in new capabilities, new machinery and people.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2011-11-01

Best of Times, Worst of Times

An American renaissance in manufacturing is needed—and long overdue.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2011-09-01

Heat Treat Society

Co-located ASM and AGMA shows are a hot ticket.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2011-06-01

Are YOU Having Your Best Year Ever

Publisher Michael Goldstein discusses why some gear manufacturing companies are enjoying record years.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2011-05-01

The Global Gear Industry - Insights, Projections, Facts and Figures

A series of short reports on global manufacturing growth and the gear industry's role.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2010-11-01

The Slow Climb

Publisher Michael Goldstein talks about the slow but steady pace of the recovery of the manufacturing economy.

ADDENDUM | 2010-09-01

Manufacturing Software...To Go

ITAMCO develops gear-related apps for the iPhone and related devices.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2010-03-01

Are We Going the Way of the Mayans and Romans

A review of "A Nation on Borrowed Time," a book by Joe Arvin and Scott Newton about the decline of America's ability to create wealth through manufacturing, and its effect on the overall economy.

PRODUCT NEWS | 2010-03-01

Product News

The complete Product News section from the March/April 2010 issue of Gear Technology.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2010-01-01

Design, Development and Application of New, High-Performance Gear Steels

QuesTek Innovations LLC is applying its Materials by Design computational design technology to develop a new class of high-strength, secondary hardening gear steels that are optimized for high-temperature, low-pressure (i.e., vacuum) carburization. The new alloys offer three different levels of case hardness (with the ability to “dial-in” hardness profiles, including exceptionally high case hardness), and their high core strength, toughness and other properties offer the potential to reduce drivetrain weight or increase power density relative to incumbent alloys such as AISI 9310 or Pyrowear Alloy 53.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2010-01-01

Where Are We Now

The struggles of the manufacturing economy in 2009 are well documented. Even among those of us with long careers, most of us have never seen activity come to a screeching halt the way it did last year. 2009 was tough on all of us. So, what should we expect in 2010?

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2009-06-01

Paying the Tab

The U.S. economy has been out of kilter for some time. But Uncle Sam isn't going to bail you out. You're going to have to do it yourself.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2009-03-01

Tale of Two Gear Industries

The good news and the bad news about the gear industry and its role in the overall economy.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2009-01-01

Green Gravy

Step right up! Get your U.S. government gravy here! We’re the U.S. Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, and we’re printing money like we’re—well—the U.S. reasury. If you’ve got trouble, then get your assets in line!

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2009-01-01

The Capacity of Superfinished Vehicle Components to Increase Fuel Economy, Part I

This paper will present data from both laboratory and field testing demonstrating that superfinished components exhibit lower friction, operating temperature, wear and/ or higher horsepower, all of which translate directly into increased fuel economy.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2008-11-01

Don't Panic

The world economy is in turmoil. A year ago, the Dow Jones industrial average was more than 14,000. As I write this, after eight straight days of massive losses and a week of wild up-and-down swings, the average sits at about 8,900.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2008-09-01

Industry News

The complete Industry News section from the September/October 2008 issue of Gear Technology.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2008-05-01

Just a Bad Dream

There's a monster under the bed of the nation's economy. It has the same power over many adults as a child's nightmare.

VOICES | 2008-01-01

Letters to the Editor

Matt McBride of Riverside Spline & Gear responds to last issue's Voices piece by Fred Young, and Tom Schmitt of Schmitt Design responds to last issue's publisher's page.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2006-04-12

Alpha Gear Introduces Economy Line of Gearheads

The LP+/LPB+ value line of gearheads from alpha gear Inc. offer efficiency with low torsional backlash for less demanding applications. ...

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 2003-11-01

Postcard from Gear Expo

Where were you? We were hoping to see you here at Gear Expo. We were surprised that you didn't make it. Anyway, we had a really good show, along with more than a hundred other leading companies in the gear industry who exhibited this year.

PRODUCT NEWS | 1999-05-01

Product News

Welcome to our Product News page. Here we feature new products of interest to the gear and gear products markets.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1998-09-01

Looking Arond the Corner

Listen carefully these days and you'll hear a faint rumbling among the economic masses. It's probably nothing to worry about. It'll most likely go away. It's only the naysayers and skeptics who predict that the end is near. They've been doing to far almost all eight years of our current economic boom, and they've been wrong so far.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1998-03-01

Riding Out The Good Times

Happy days are here again, says the old song, and given the current economic numbers, one can scarcely argue. Productivity is up; unemployment is down; inflation is practically nonexistent; the budget deficit is shrinking fast.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1997-09-01

Looking to The Future

Economic times are good right now in America and in the gear industry. We're in the seventh year of an up cycle. The tough shake-outs of the 1980s and early 90s are over. Orders are up. Backlogs are at comfortable levels. We're looking at what promises to be the biggest, most successful trade show in the industry's history coming up in Detroit in October. The most pressing question on the immediate horizon seems to be "How long can the good times go on?"

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1996-11-01

Two columns for the price of one...

Just back from IMTS and once again, I'm struck by the enormous vitality and strength of the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy. It has made a phoenix-like rise from the grave dug for it by pundits in the '80s and has come back more robust and competitive than ever.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1996-09-01

The Politics of Denial

A good many things bother me about election years - the annoying sound bites, the negative commercials, the endless political over-analysis. But what bothers me most about the coming election is this: So far (when I'm writing this, it's admittedly early in the campaign) there's little or no talk about what is one of the most critical national issues of the next thirty years - our growing government debt.

EVENTS | 1994-05-01

Calendar

Complete calendar for May/June 1994.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 1994-05-01

Choosing An ISO 9000 Consultant: Why, When & How

On of the key questions confronting any company considering ISO 9000 certification is, how much is this going to cost? The up-front fees are only the beginning. Dissect the ISO 9000 certification procedure with an eye for hidden costs, and two segments of the process will leap out - the cost of consultants and the cost of making in-house improvements for the sake of passing certification. Most of these costs can be controlled by careful selection f the right consultant in the first place.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1994-01-01

Random Thoughts for the New Year...

Another year has passed and, because of the short term ups and downs of the economy, it's still hard to judge whether we are in an appreciably different place than we were a year ago. The economy doesn't seem to be worse than it was, but it also doesn't seem to be a whole lot better.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1993-09-01

It's Still the Economy, Stupid!

Two items of interest have crossed my desk in the last couple of weeks. One of them is a copy of a speech by Harry E. Figge, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Figge, International Inc., and the other is an article by Peter Brimelow in the July 19, 1993, issue of Forbes. The two items are directly related to one another, the Brimelow article being a response to the points raised in Figge's speech and in much grater detail in his book, Bankruptcy 1995: The Coming Collapse of America and How to Stop It. Both the speech and the response are well worth our attention.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1992-03-01

Investment Tax Credits - A Good Idea Whose Time Has Come

Of timing is crucial in the successful implementation of good ideas, then now is the time to reinstate a good idea that fell into disfavor in the mid-1980s. Now is the time to include the investment tax credit as part of whatever inevitable tax structure tinkering is going to take place during this election year.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1990-03-01

Capital Gains, Societal Gains, or No Gains At All

Taxes may be one of the only two sure things in life, but that doesn't make them popular. Nobody is happy to pay them, and the bigger the amount due, the unhappier the taxpayer. Conversely, politicians know that coming out in favor of a tax cut is the equivalent of voting for apple pie and motherhood. It's a sure-fire success at the ballot box.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1988-01-01

The Seeds of Our Future Are Now Being Planted

A medieval philosopher once said that if he knew for certain the world was to end tomorrow, he would be sure to take time to plant an apple tree in his garden today. The recent events in the world financial capitals have seemed a bit like prior notice of something cataclysmic, but like the philosopher, we can still find some reasons for hope in the face of an uncertain future. The good news for our industry is that four important efforts on the part of various organizations promise to have long-term positive effects on both the gear and machine tool businesses.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1987-11-01

Don't Sell Us Short!

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.

VOICES | 1987-01-01

Stopping the Great American Giveaway

Inviting an American shipbuilding industry official to discuss the subject of meeting foreign competition is like inviting Jackie Gleason to speak on dieting. I am painfully aware of the commercial shipbuilding industry situation. Let me tell you a little about it.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1986-11-01

The Competitive Edge

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?

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1985-11-01

Editorial

Three things have happened in the last few weeks, that lead me to believe the worst is over - not that great times are ahead, but that things will get better.

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1985-09-01

Notes From the Editors Desk

While on holiday in England during July, my thoughts for this page were on the proposed changes to our tax law, and how they would adversely affect America's industry. But with the President undergoing cancer surgery, Congress deadlocked on deficit reduction and the budget on the back burner, nothing new was being said or done regarding a new tax law

PUBLISHER'S PAGE | 1984-10-01

Notes from the Editor's Desk

History comes around full circle. It is interesting to talk to gear manufacturers who service the defense, aerospace, automotive and computer industries and find that their sales, production and backlogs reflect excellent and, in some cases, record breaking business.